A revised geographical range for Liolaemus elongates Koslowsky, 1896 (Squamata: Liolaemini in Argentina: review of reported and new-data based distribution with new localities

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Ignacio Minoli

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Estimating the effective geographical ranges of species is central to species-oriented conservation and management. In this paper, we review the geographical distribution of Liolaemus elongatus Koslowsky, 1896 with three new records for northern Chubut and southern Río Negro provinces, Argentina. Based on detailed locality records pooled from multiple data sources, including new records obtained for this study, we revise the range of L. elongatus sensu stricto and provide geographical distribution maps comparing the previously recognized range to that proposed herein. Our results show that L. elongatus possesses a much more limited geographic distribution than previously thought, being restricted to areas south of 38°S latitude; the newly proposed range is merely half the species formerly recognized geographical distribution.

Species are not most abundant in the centre of their geographic range or climatic niche.

Science.gov (United States)

Dallas, Tad; Decker, Robin R; Hastings, Alan

2017-12-01

The pervasive idea that species should be most abundant in the centre of their geographic range or centre of their climatic niche is a key assumption in many existing ecological hypotheses and has been declared a general macroecological rule. However, empirical support for decreasing population abundance with increasing distance from geographic range or climatic niche centre (distance-abundance relationships) remains fairly weak. We examine over 1400 bird, mammal, fish and tree species to provide a thorough test of distance-abundance relationships, and their associations with species traits and phylogenetic relationships. We failed to detect consistent distance-abundance relationships, and found no association between distance-abundance slope and species traits or phylogenetic relatedness. Together, our analyses suggest that distance-abundance relationships may be rare, difficult to detect, or are an oversimplification of the complex biogeographical forces that determine species spatial abundance patterns. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Circumpolar variation in morphological characteristics of Greater White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons

Science.gov (United States)

Ely, Craig R.; Fox, A.D.; Alisauskas, R.T.; Andreev, A.; Bromley, R.G.; Degtyarev, Andrei G.; Ebbinge, B.; Gurtovaya, E.N.; Kerbes, R.; Kondratyev, Alexander V.; Kostin, I.; Krechmar, A.V.; Litvin, K.E.; Miyabayashi, Y.; Moou, J.H.; Oates, R.M.; Orthmeyer, D.L.; Sabano, Yutaka; Simpson, S.G.; Solovieva, D.V.; Spindler, Michael A.; Syroechkovsky, Y.V.; Takekawa, John Y.; Walsh, A.

2005-01-01

Capsule: Greater White-fronted Geese show significant variation in body size from sampling locations throughout their circumpolar breeding range. Aims: To determine the degree of geographical variation in body size of Greater White-fronted Geese and identify factors contributing to any apparent patterns in variation. Methods: Structural measures of >3000 geese from 16 breeding areas throughout the Holarctic breeding range of the species were compared statistically. Results: Palearctic forms varied clinally, and increased in size from the smallest forms on the Kanin and Taimyr peninsulas in western Eurasia to the largest forms breeding in the Anadyr Lowlands of eastern Chukotka. Clinal variation was less apparent in the Nearctic, as both the smallest form in the Nearctic and the largest form overall (the Tule Goose) were from different breeding areas in Alaska. The Tule Goose was 25% larger than the smallest form. Birds from Greenland (A. a. flavirostris) were the second largest, although only slightly larger than geese from several North American populations. Body size was not correlated with breeding latitude but was positively correlated with temperature on the breeding grounds, breeding habitat, and migration distance. Body mass of Greater White-fronted Geese from all populations remained relatively constant during the period of wing moult. Morphological distinctness of eastern and western Palearctic forms concurs with earlier findings of complete range disjunction. Conclusions: Patterns of morphological variation in Greater White-fronted Geese across the Holarctic can be generally attributed to adaptation to variable breeding environments, migration requirements, and phylo-geographical histories. 

Population genetics and the evolution of geographic range limits in an annual plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Moeller, David A; Geber, Monica A; Tiffin, Peter

2011-10-01

Abstract Theoretical models of species' geographic range limits have identified both demographic and evolutionary mechanisms that prevent range expansion. Stable range limits have been paradoxical for evolutionary biologists because they represent locations where populations chronically fail to respond to selection. Distinguishing among the proposed causes of species' range limits requires insight into both current and historical population dynamics. The tools of molecular population genetics provide a window into the stability of range limits, historical demography, and rates of gene flow. Here we evaluate alternative range limit models using a multilocus data set based on DNA sequences and microsatellites along with field demographic data from the annual plant Clarkia xantiana ssp. xantiana. Our data suggest that central and peripheral populations have very large historical and current effective population sizes and that there is little evidence for population size changes or bottlenecks associated with colonization in peripheral populations. Whereas range limit populations appear to have been stable, central populations exhibit a signature of population expansion and have contributed asymmetrically to the genetic diversity of peripheral populations via migration. Overall, our results discount strictly demographic models of range limits and more strongly support evolutionary genetic models of range limits, where adaptation is prevented by a lack of genetic variation or maladaptive gene flow.

Combining Inferential and Deductive Approaches to Estimate the Potential Geographical Range of the Invasive Plant Pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum

Science.gov (United States)

Ireland, Kylie B.; Hardy, Giles E. St. J.; Kriticos, Darren J.

2013-01-01

Phytophthora ramorum, an invasive plant pathogen of unknown origin, causes considerable and widespread damage in plant industries and natural ecosystems of the USA and Europe. Estimating the potential geographical range of P. ramorum has been complicated by a lack of biological and geographical data with which to calibrate climatic models. Previous attempts to do so, using either invaded range data or surrogate species approaches, have delivered varying results. A simulation model was developed using CLIMEX to estimate the global climate suitability patterns for establishment of P. ramorum. Growth requirements and stress response parameters were derived from ecophysiological laboratory observations and site-level transmission and disease factors related to climate data in the field. Geographical distribution data from the USA (California and Oregon) and Norway were reserved from model-fitting and used to validate the models. The model suggests that the invasion of P. ramorum in both North America and Europe is still in its infancy and that it is presently occupying a small fraction of its potential range. Phytophthora ramorum appears to be climatically suited to large areas of Africa, Australasia and South America, where it could cause biodiversity and economic losses in plant industries and natural ecosystems with susceptible hosts if introduced. PMID:23667628

The measure of success: geographic isolation promotes diversification in Pachydactylus geckos.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinicke, Matthew P; Jackman, Todd R; Bauer, Aaron M

2017-01-11

Geckos of the genus Pachydactylus and their close relatives comprise the most species-rich clade of lizards in sub-Saharan Africa. Many explanations have been offered to explain species richness patterns of clades. In the Pachydactylus group, one possible explanation is a history of diversification via geographic isolation. If geographic isolation has played a key role in facilitating diversification, then we expect species in more species-rich subclades to have smaller ranges than species in less diverse subclades. We also expect traits promoting geographic isolation to be correlated with small geographic ranges. In order to test these expectations, we performed phylogenetic analyses and tested for correlations among body size, habitat choice, range sizes, and diversification rates in the Pachydactylus group. Both body size and habitat use are inferred to have shifted multiple times across the phylogeny of the Pachydactylus group, with large size and generalist habitat use being ancestral for the group. Geographic range size is correlated with both of these traits. Small-bodied species have more restricted ranges than large-bodied species, and rock-dwelling species have more restricted ranges than either terrestrial or generalist species. Rock-dwelling and small body size are also associated with higher rates of diversification, and subclades retaining ancestral conditions for these traits are less species rich than subclades in which shifts to small body size and rocky habitat use have occurred. The phylogeny also illustrates inadequacies of the current taxonomy of the group. The results are consistent with a model in which lineages more likely to become geographically isolated diversify to a greater extent, although some patterns also resemble those expected of an adaptive radiation in which ecological divergence acts as a driver of speciation. Therefore, the Pachydactylus group may represent an intermediate between clades in which radiation is adaptive versus

Body size and geographic range do not explain long term variation in fish populations: a Bayesian phylogenetic approach to testing assembly processes in stream fish assemblages.

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Stephen J Jacquemin

Full Text Available We combine evolutionary biology and community ecology to test whether two species traits, body size and geographic range, explain long term variation in local scale freshwater stream fish assemblages. Body size and geographic range are expected to influence several aspects of fish ecology, via relationships with niche breadth, dispersal, and abundance. These traits are expected to scale inversely with niche breadth or current abundance, and to scale directly with dispersal potential. However, their utility to explain long term temporal patterns in local scale abundance is not known. Comparative methods employing an existing molecular phylogeny were used to incorporate evolutionary relatedness in a test for covariation of body size and geographic range with long term (1983 - 2010 local scale population variation of fishes in West Fork White River (Indiana, USA. The Bayesian model incorporating phylogenetic uncertainty and correlated predictors indicated that neither body size nor geographic range explained significant variation in population fluctuations over a 28 year period. Phylogenetic signal data indicated that body size and geographic range were less similar among taxa than expected if trait evolution followed a purely random walk. We interpret this as evidence that local scale population variation may be influenced less by species-level traits such as body size or geographic range, and instead may be influenced more strongly by a taxon's local scale habitat and biotic assemblages.

Geographic heterogeneity in cycling under various weather conditions: Evidence from Greater Rotterdam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Helbich, M.; Böcker, L.; Dijst, M.J.

2014-01-01

With its sustainability, health and accessibility benefits, cycling has nowadays been established on research and policy agendas. Notwithstanding the decision to cycle is closely related to local weather conditions and interwoven with the geographical context, research dealing with both aspects is

Greater sage-grouse winter habitat use on the eastern edge of their range

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher C. Swanson; Mark A. Rumble; Nicholas W. Kaczor; Robert W. Klaver; Katie M. Herman-Brunson; Jonathan A. Jenks; Kent C. Jensen

2013-01-01

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) at the western edge of the Dakotas occur in the transition zone between sagebrush and grassland communities. These mixed sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) and grasslands differ from those habitats that comprise the central portions of the sage-grouse range; yet, no information is available on winter habitat selection within this...

Developing landscape habitat models for rare amphibians with small geographic ranges: a case study of Siskiyou Mountains salamanders in the western USA

Science.gov (United States)

Nobuya Suzuki; Deanna H. Olson; Edward C. Reilly

2007-01-01

To advance the development of conservation planning for rare species with small geographic ranges, we determined habitat associations of Siskiyou Mountains salamanders (Plethodon stormi) and developed habitat suitability models at fine (10 ha), medium (40 ha), and broad (202 ha) spatial scales using available geographic information systems data and...

Climatic and geographic predictors of life history variation in Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus: A range-wide synthesis.

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Eric T Hileman

Full Text Available Elucidating how life history traits vary geographically is important to understanding variation in population dynamics. Because many aspects of ectotherm life history are climate-dependent, geographic variation in climate is expected to have a large impact on population dynamics through effects on annual survival, body size, growth rate, age at first reproduction, size-fecundity relationship, and reproductive frequency. The Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus is a small, imperiled North American rattlesnake with a distribution centered on the Great Lakes region, where lake effects strongly influence local conditions. To address Eastern Massasauga life history data gaps, we compiled data from 47 study sites representing 38 counties across the range. We used multimodel inference and general linear models with geographic coordinates and annual climate normals as explanatory variables to clarify patterns of variation in life history traits. We found strong evidence for geographic variation in six of nine life history variables. Adult female snout-vent length and neonate mass increased with increasing mean annual precipitation. Litter size decreased with increasing mean temperature, and the size-fecundity relationship and growth prior to first hibernation both increased with increasing latitude. The proportion of gravid females also increased with increasing latitude, but this relationship may be the result of geographically varying detection bias. Our results provide insights into ectotherm life history variation and fill critical data gaps, which will inform Eastern Massasauga conservation efforts by improving biological realism for models of population viability and climate change.

Feasibility of Close-Range Photogrammetric Models for Geographic Information System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

The objective of this project was to determine the feasibility of using close-range architectural photogrammetry as an alternative three dimensional modeling technique in order to place the digital models in a geographic information system (GIS) at SLAC. With the available equipment and Australis photogrammetry software, the creation of full and accurate models of an example building, Building 281 on SLAC campus, was attempted. After conducting several equipment tests to determine the precision achievable, a complete photogrammetric survey was attempted. The dimensions of the resulting models were then compared against the true dimensions of the building. A complete building model was not evidenced to be obtainable using the current equipment and software. This failure was likely attributable to the limits of the software rather than the precision of the physical equipment. However, partial models of the building were shown to be accurate and determined to still be usable in a GIS. With further development of the photogrammetric software and survey procedure, the desired generation of a complete three dimensional model is likely still feasible.

Phylogenetic fields through time: temporal dynamics of geographical co-occurrence and phylogenetic structure within species ranges.

Science.gov (United States)

Villalobos, Fabricio; Carotenuto, Francesco; Raia, Pasquale; Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre F

2016-04-05

Species co-occur with different sets of other species across their geographical distribution, which can be either closely or distantly related. Such co-occurrence patterns and their phylogenetic structure within individual species ranges represent what we call the species phylogenetic fields (PFs). These PFs allow investigation of the role of historical processes--speciation, extinction and dispersal--in shaping species co-occurrence patterns, in both extinct and extant species. Here, we investigate PFs of large mammalian species during the last 3 Myr, and how these correlate with trends in diversification rates. Using the fossil record, we evaluate species' distributional and co-occurrence patterns along with their phylogenetic structure. We apply a novel Bayesian framework on fossil occurrences to estimate diversification rates through time. Our findings highlight the effect of evolutionary processes and past climatic changes on species' distributions and co-occurrences. From the Late Pliocene to the Recent, mammal species seem to have responded in an individualistic manner to climate changes and diversification dynamics, co-occurring with different sets of species from different lineages across their geographical ranges. These findings stress the difficulty of forecasting potential effects of future climate changes on biodiversity. © 2016 The Author(s).

A geographical basis for long-range dose assessment calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, H.; Hage, G.

1989-01-01

Releases of radioactive material into the atmosphere have effects that are distributed over the earth's surface. As a result, geographical information can play an important role in understanding the impact of an emergency. The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is an emergency response organization that utilizes complex computer models to provide real-time assessments of the consequences of such releases. These models are one component of a sophisticated system that also includes data-gathering systems, data analysis techniques, and highly trained operational personnel. The products of this service are isopleths of the material concentration plotted over a base map of geographic features. The components mentioned in this paper are being added to the operation ARAC system. This will provide a means of producing fast, high-quality assessments of the consequences of major releases of radioactive material with effects extending to continental and global regions

A Diverse Range of Novel RNA Viruses in Geographically Distinct Honey Bee Populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Remnant, Emily J; Shi, Mang; Buchmann, Gabriele; Blacquière, Tjeerd; Holmes, Edward C; Beekman, Madeleine; Ashe, Alyson

2017-08-15

Understanding the diversity and consequences of viruses present in honey bees is critical for maintaining pollinator health and managing the spread of disease. The viral landscape of honey bees ( Apis mellifera ) has changed dramatically since the emergence of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor , which increased the spread of virulent variants of viruses such as deformed wing virus. Previous genomic studies have focused on colonies suffering from infections by Varroa and virulent viruses, which could mask other viral species present in honey bees, resulting in a distorted view of viral diversity. To capture the viral diversity within colonies that are exposed to mites but do not suffer the ultimate consequences of the infestation, we examined populations of honey bees that have evolved naturally or have been selected for resistance to Varroa This analysis revealed seven novel viruses isolated from honey bees sampled globally, including the first identification of negative-sense RNA viruses in honey bees. Notably, two rhabdoviruses were present in three geographically diverse locations and were also present in Varroa mites parasitizing the bees. To characterize the antiviral response, we performed deep sequencing of small RNA populations in honey bees and mites. This provided evidence of a Dicer-mediated immune response in honey bees, while the viral small RNA profile in Varroa mites was novel and distinct from the response observed in bees. Overall, we show that viral diversity in honey bee colonies is greater than previously thought, which encourages additional studies of the bee virome on a global scale and which may ultimately improve disease management. IMPORTANCE Honey bee populations have become increasingly susceptible to colony losses due to pathogenic viruses spread by parasitic Varroa mites. To date, 24 viruses have been described in honey bees, with most belonging to the order Picornavirales Collapsing Varroa -infected colonies are often overwhelmed

A Diverse Range of Novel RNA Viruses in Geographically Distinct Honey Bee Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Mang; Buchmann, Gabriele; Blacquière, Tjeerd; Beekman, Madeleine; Ashe, Alyson

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Understanding the diversity and consequences of viruses present in honey bees is critical for maintaining pollinator health and managing the spread of disease. The viral landscape of honey bees (Apis mellifera) has changed dramatically since the emergence of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, which increased the spread of virulent variants of viruses such as deformed wing virus. Previous genomic studies have focused on colonies suffering from infections by Varroa and virulent viruses, which could mask other viral species present in honey bees, resulting in a distorted view of viral diversity. To capture the viral diversity within colonies that are exposed to mites but do not suffer the ultimate consequences of the infestation, we examined populations of honey bees that have evolved naturally or have been selected for resistance to Varroa. This analysis revealed seven novel viruses isolated from honey bees sampled globally, including the first identification of negative-sense RNA viruses in honey bees. Notably, two rhabdoviruses were present in three geographically diverse locations and were also present in Varroa mites parasitizing the bees. To characterize the antiviral response, we performed deep sequencing of small RNA populations in honey bees and mites. This provided evidence of a Dicer-mediated immune response in honey bees, while the viral small RNA profile in Varroa mites was novel and distinct from the response observed in bees. Overall, we show that viral diversity in honey bee colonies is greater than previously thought, which encourages additional studies of the bee virome on a global scale and which may ultimately improve disease management. IMPORTANCE Honey bee populations have become increasingly susceptible to colony losses due to pathogenic viruses spread by parasitic Varroa mites. To date, 24 viruses have been described in honey bees, with most belonging to the order Picornavirales. Collapsing Varroa-infected colonies are often

National Geographic Education. An Interview with Gilbert M. Grosvenor, President and Chairman of the Board, National Geographic Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Jumper, Sidney R.

1991-01-01

Presents an interview with Gilbert Grosvenor, president and chairman of the board of the National Geographic Society. Examines student and public ignorance about geography. Describes the Society's Geography Education Project, Geographic Alliance Project, and Education Foundation. Includes Grosvenor's call for greater emphasis on geography in…

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS IN THE ECONOMIC AND GEOGRAPHIC AREAS OF THE AZERBAIJAN PART OF THE GREATER CAUCASUS

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F. M. Jafarova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The aim is to study the political, economic and environmental aspects of food security, which is an important component of national security; to study the issues of the use of environmentally friendly agricultural products, as well as the environmental safety of livestock products.Methods. Determination of the dynamics of livestock production on the basis of the comparative statistical analysis, the study of animal breeding territorial organization through a systematic approach.Results. The region has favorable conditions for the production of ecologically clean agricultural products, using environmentally friendly feed. We should develop manufacturing industries to meet international standards and provide the population with healthy food.Conclusion. We revealed the ecological safety of livestock products in the economic and geographic regions of the Azerbaijan part of the Greater Caucasus.

Fire patterns in the range of the greater sage-grouse, 1984-2013 — Implications for conservation and management

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Matthew L.; Matchett, John R.; Shinneman, Douglas J.; Coates, Peter S.

2015-09-10

Fire ranks among the top three threats to the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) throughout its range, and among the top two threats in the western part of its range. The national research strategy for this species and the recent U.S. Department of the Interior Secretarial Order 3336 call for science-based threats assessment of fire to inform conservation planning and fire management efforts. The cornerstone of such assessments is a clear understanding of where fires are occurring and what aspects of fire regimes may be shifting outside of their historical range of variation. This report fulfills this need by describing patterns of fire area, fire size, fire rotation, and fire season length and timing from 1984 to 2013 across the range of the greater sage-grouse. This information need is further addressed by evaluating the ecological and management implications of these fire patterns. Analyses are stratified by major vegetation types and the seven greater sage-grouse management zones, delineated regionally as four western and three eastern management zones. Soil temperature and moisture indicators of resilience to fire and resistance to cheatgrass invasion, and the potential for establishment of a grass/fire cycle, are used as unifying concepts in developing fire threat assessments for each analysis strata.

Geographical National Condition and Complex System

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WANG Jiayao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The significance of studying the complex system of geographical national conditions lies in rationally expressing the complex relationships of the “resources-environment-ecology-economy-society” system. Aiming to the problems faced by the statistical analysis of geographical national conditions, including the disunity of research contents, the inconsistency of range, the uncertainty of goals, etc.the present paper conducted a range of discussions from the perspectives of concept, theory and method, and designed some solutions based on the complex system theory and coordination degree analysis methods.By analyzing the concepts of geographical national conditions, geographical national conditions survey and geographical national conditions statistical analysis, as well as investigating the relationships between theirs, the statistical contents and the analytical range of geographical national conditions are clarified and defined. This investigation also clarifies the goals of the statistical analysis by analyzing the basic characteristics of the geographical national conditions and the complex system, and the consistency between the analysis of the degree of coordination and statistical analyses. It outlines their goals, proposes a concept for the complex system of geographical national conditions, and it describes the concept. The complex system theory provides new theoretical guidance for the statistical analysis of geographical national conditions. The degree of coordination offers new approaches on how to undertake the analysis based on the measurement method and decision-making analysis scheme upon which the complex system of geographical national conditions is based. It analyzes the overall trend via the degree of coordination of the complex system on a macro level, and it determines the direction of remediation on a micro level based on the degree of coordination among various subsystems and of single systems. These results establish

Full Range of Motion Induces Greater Muscle Damage Than Partial Range of Motion in Elbow Flexion Exercise With Free Weights.

Science.gov (United States)

Baroni, Bruno M; Pompermayer, Marcelo G; Cini, Anelize; Peruzzolo, Amanda S; Radaelli, Régis; Brusco, Clarissa M; Pinto, Ronei S

2017-08-01

Baroni, BM, Pompermayer, MG, Cini, A, Peruzzolo, AS, Radaelli, R, Brusco, CM, and Pinto, RS. Full range of motion induces greater muscle damage than partial range of motion in elbow flexion exercise with free weights. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2223-2230, 2017-Load and range of motion (ROM) applied in resistance training (RT) affect the muscle damage magnitude and the recovery time-course. Because exercises performed with partial ROM allow a higher load compared with those with full ROM, this study investigated the acute effect of a traditional RT exercise using full ROM or partial ROM on muscle damage markers. Fourteen healthy men performed 4 sets of 10 concentric-eccentric repetitions of unilateral elbow flexion on the Scott bench. Arms were randomly assigned to partial-ROM (50-100°) and full-ROM (0-130°) conditions, and load was determined as 80% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) in the full- and partial-ROM tests. Muscle damage markers were assessed preexercise, immediately, and 24, 48, and 72 hours after exercise. Primary outcomes were peak torque, muscle soreness during palpation and elbow extension, arm circumference, and joint ROM. The load lifted in the partial-ROM condition (1RM = 19.1 ± 3.0 kg) was 40 ± 18% higher compared with the full-ROM condition (1RM = 13.7 ± 2.2 kg). Seventy-two hours after exercise, the full-ROM condition led to significant higher soreness sensation during elbow extension (1.3-4.1 cm vs. 1.0-1.9 cm) and smaller ROM values (97.5-106.1° vs. 103.6-115.7°). Peak torque, soreness from palpation, and arm circumference were statistically similar between conditions, although mean values in all time points of these outcomes have suggested more expressive muscle damage for the full-ROM condition. In conclusion, elbow flexion exercise with full ROM seems to induce greater muscle damage than partial-ROM exercises, even though higher absolute load was achieved with partial ROM.

Biofouling community composition across a range of environmental conditions and geographical locations suitable for floating marine renewable energy generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Macleod, Adrian K; Stanley, Michele S; Day, John G; Cook, Elizabeth J

2016-01-01

Knowledge of biofouling typical of marine structures is essential for engineers to define appropriate loading criteria in addition to informing other stakeholders about the ecological implications of creating novel artificial environments. There is a lack of information regarding biofouling community composition (including weight and density characteristics) on floating structures associated with future marine renewable energy generation technologies. A network of navigation buoys were identified across a range of geographical areas, environmental conditions (tidal flow speed, temperature and salinity), and deployment durations suitable for future developments. Despite the perceived importance of environmental and temporal factors, geographical location explained the greatest proportion of the observed variation in community composition, emphasising the importance of considering geography when assessing the impact of biofouling on device functioning and associated ecology. The principal taxa associated with variation in biofouling community composition were mussels (Mytilus edulis), which were also important when determining loading criteria.

Regional Extinctions and Quaternary Shifts in the Geographic Range of Lestodelphys halli, the Southernmost Living Marsupial: Clues for Its Conservation.

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Anahí E Formoso

Full Text Available The Patagonian opossum (Lestodelphys halli, the southernmost living marsupial, inhabits dry and open environments, mainly in the Patagonian steppe (between ~32 °S and ~49 °S. Its rich fossil record shows its occurrence further north in Central Argentina during the Quaternary. The paleoenvironmental meaning of the past distribution of L. halli has been mostly addressed in a subjective framework without an explicit connection with the climatic "space" currently occupied by this animal. Here, we assessed the potential distribution of this species and the changes occurred in its geographic range during late Pleistocene-Holocene times and linked the results obtained with conservation issues. To this end, we generated three potential distribution models with fossil records and three with current ones, using MaxEnt software. These models showed a decrease in the suitable habitat conditions for the species, highlighting a range shift from Central-Eastern to South-Western Argentina. Our results support that the presence of L. halli in the Pampean region during the Pleistocene-Holocene can be related to precipitation and temperature variables and that its current presence in Patagonia is more related to temperature and dominant soils. The models obtained suggest that the species has been experiencing a reduction in its geographic range since the middle Holocene, a process that is in accordance with a general increase in moisture and temperature in Central Argentina. Considering the findings of our work and the future scenario of global warming projected for Patagonia, we might expect a harsh impact on the distribution range of this opossum in the near future.

Regional Extinctions and Quaternary Shifts in the Geographic Range of Lestodelphys halli, the Southernmost Living Marsupial: Clues for Its Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Formoso, Anahí E.; Martin, Gabriel M.; Teta, Pablo; Carbajo, Aníbal E.; Sauthier, Daniel E. Udrizar; Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J.

2015-01-01

The Patagonian opossum (Lestodelphys halli), the southernmost living marsupial, inhabits dry and open environments, mainly in the Patagonian steppe (between ~32°S and ~49°S). Its rich fossil record shows its occurrence further north in Central Argentina during the Quaternary. The paleoenvironmental meaning of the past distribution of L. halli has been mostly addressed in a subjective framework without an explicit connection with the climatic “space” currently occupied by this animal. Here, we assessed the potential distribution of this species and the changes occurred in its geographic range during late Pleistocene-Holocene times and linked the results obtained with conservation issues. To this end, we generated three potential distribution models with fossil records and three with current ones, using MaxEnt software. These models showed a decrease in the suitable habitat conditions for the species, highlighting a range shift from Central-Eastern to South-Western Argentina. Our results support that the presence of L. halli in the Pampean region during the Pleistocene-Holocene can be related to precipitation and temperature variables and that its current presence in Patagonia is more related to temperature and dominant soils. The models obtained suggest that the species has been experiencing a reduction in its geographic range since the middle Holocene, a process that is in accordance with a general increase in moisture and temperature in Central Argentina. Considering the findings of our work and the future scenario of global warming projected for Patagonia, we might expect a harsh impact on the distribution range of this opossum in the near future. PMID:26203650

Do differences in the administrative structure of populations confound comparisons of geographic health inequalities?

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Jackson, Andrew L

2010-08-18

Abstract Background Geographical health inequalities are naturally described by the variation in health outcomes between areas (e.g. mortality rates). However, comparisons made between countries are hampered by our lack of understanding of the effect of the size of administrative units, and in particular the modifiable areal unit problem. Our objective was to assess how differences in geographic and administrative units used for disseminating data affect the description of health inequalities. Methods Retrospective study of standard populations and deaths aggregated by administrative regions within 20 European countries, 1990-1991. Estimated populations and deaths in males aged 0-64 were in 5 year age bands. Poisson multilevel modelling was conducted of deaths as standardised mortality ratios. The variation between regions within countries was tested for relationships with the mean region population size and the unequal distribution of populations within each country measured using Gini coefficients. Results There is evidence that countries whose regions vary more in population size show greater variation and hence greater apparent inequalities in mortality counts. The Gini coefficient, measuring inequalities in population size, ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 between countries; an increase of 0.1 was accompanied by a 12-14% increase in the standard deviation of the mortality rates between regions within a country. Conclusions Apparently differing health inequalities between two countries may be due to differences in geographical structure per se, rather than having any underlying epidemiological cause. Inequalities may be inherently greater in countries whose regions are more unequally populated.

Whitebark pine, population density, and home-range size of grizzly bears in the greater yellowstone ecosystem.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel D Bjornlie

Full Text Available Changes in life history traits of species can be an important indicator of potential factors influencing populations. For grizzly bears (Ursus arctos in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE, recent decline of whitebark pine (WBP; Pinus albicaulis, an important fall food resource, has been paired with a slowing of population growth following two decades of robust population increase. These observations have raised questions whether resource decline or density-dependent processes may be associated with changes in population growth. Distinguishing these effects based on changes in demographic rates can be difficult. However, unlike the parallel demographic responses expected from both decreasing food availability and increasing population density, we hypothesized opposing behavioral responses of grizzly bears with regard to changes in home-range size. We used the dynamic changes in food resources and population density of grizzly bears as a natural experiment to examine hypotheses regarding these potentially competing influences on grizzly bear home-range size. We found that home-range size did not increase during the period of whitebark pine decline and was not related to proportion of whitebark pine in home ranges. However, female home-range size was negatively associated with an index of population density. Our data indicate that home-range size of grizzly bears in the GYE is not associated with availability of WBP, and, for female grizzly bears, increasing population density may constrain home-range size.

Whitebark pine, population density, and home-range size of grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Bjornlie, Daniel D.; van Manen, Frank T.; Ebinger, Michael R.; Haroldson, Mark A.; Thompson, Daniel J.; Costello, Cecily M.

2014-01-01

Changes in life history traits of species can be an important indicator of potential factors influencing populations. For grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), recent decline of whitebark pine (WBP; Pinus albicaulis), an important fall food resource, has been paired with a slowing of population growth following two decades of robust population increase. These observations have raised questions whether resource decline or density-dependent processes may be associated with changes in population growth. Distinguishing these effects based on changes in demographic rates can be difficult. However, unlike the parallel demographic responses expected from both decreasing food availability and increasing population density, we hypothesized opposing behavioral responses of grizzly bears with regard to changes in home-range size. We used the dynamic changes in food resources and population density of grizzly bears as a natural experiment to examine hypotheses regarding these potentially competing influences on grizzly bear home-range size. We found that home-range size did not increase during the period of whitebark pine decline and was not related to proportion of whitebark pine in home ranges. However, female home-range size was negatively associated with an index of population density. Our data indicate that home-range size of grizzly bears in the GYE is not associated with availability of WBP, and, for female grizzly bears, increasing population density may constrain home-range size.

Whitebark pine, population density, and home-range size of grizzly bears in the greater yellowstone ecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Bjornlie, Daniel D; Van Manen, Frank T; Ebinger, Michael R; Haroldson, Mark A; Thompson, Daniel J; Costello, Cecily M

2014-01-01

Changes in life history traits of species can be an important indicator of potential factors influencing populations. For grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), recent decline of whitebark pine (WBP; Pinus albicaulis), an important fall food resource, has been paired with a slowing of population growth following two decades of robust population increase. These observations have raised questions whether resource decline or density-dependent processes may be associated with changes in population growth. Distinguishing these effects based on changes in demographic rates can be difficult. However, unlike the parallel demographic responses expected from both decreasing food availability and increasing population density, we hypothesized opposing behavioral responses of grizzly bears with regard to changes in home-range size. We used the dynamic changes in food resources and population density of grizzly bears as a natural experiment to examine hypotheses regarding these potentially competing influences on grizzly bear home-range size. We found that home-range size did not increase during the period of whitebark pine decline and was not related to proportion of whitebark pine in home ranges. However, female home-range size was negatively associated with an index of population density. Our data indicate that home-range size of grizzly bears in the GYE is not associated with availability of WBP, and, for female grizzly bears, increasing population density may constrain home-range size.

A framework for examining climate-driven changes to the seasonality and geographical range of coastal pathogens and harmful algae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Jacobs

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Climate change is expected to alter coastal ecosystems in ways which may have predictable consequences for the seasonality and geographical distribution of human pathogens and harmful algae. Here we demonstrate relatively simple approaches for evaluating the risk of occurrence of pathogenic bacteria in the genus Vibrio and outbreaks of toxin-producing harmful algae in the genus Alexandrium, with estimates of uncertainty, in U.S. coastal waters under future climate change scenarios through the end of the 21st century. One approach forces empirical models of growth, abundance and the probability of occurrence of the pathogens and algae at specific locations in the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound with ensembles of statistically downscaled climate model projections to produce first order assessments of changes in seasonality. In all of the case studies examined, the seasonal window of occurrence for Vibrio and Alexandrium broadened, indicating longer annual periods of time when there is increased risk for outbreaks. A second approach uses climate model projections coupled with GIS to identify the potential for geographic range shifts for Vibrio spp. in the coastal waters of Alaska. These two approaches could be applied to other coastal pathogens that have climate sensitive drivers to investigate potential changes to the risk of outbreaks in both time (seasonality and space (geographical distribution under future climate change scenarios.

The distribution and habitat preferences of the declining species Orobanche arenaria Borkh at the northern limit of its geographical range

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renata Piwowarczyk

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Three new sites of Orobanche arenaria were discovered during floristic investigations in the Wyżyna Małopolska upland in central Poland. The new localities are concentrated in the Ponidzie area (Garb Pińczowski ridge and Niecka Połaniecka basin and form the northern limit of the geographical range of O. arenaria. The paper presents information on the distribution of Orobanche arenaria in Poland, the abundance at the sites and habitats occupied by the species.

Racial and geographic variation in coronary heart disease mortality trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gillum Richard F

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Magnitudes, geographic and racial variation in trends in coronary heart disease (CHD mortality within the US require updating for health services and health disparities research. Therefore the aim of this study is to present data on these trends through 2007. Methods Data for CHD were analyzed using the US mortality files for 1999–2007 obtained from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Age-adjusted annual death rates were computed for non-Hispanic African Americans (AA and European Americans (EA aged 35–84 years. The direct method was used to standardize rates by age, using the 2000 US standard population. Joinpoint regression models were used to evaluate trends, expressed as annual percent change (APC. Results For both AA men and women the magnitude in CHD mortality is higher compared to EA men and women, respectively. Between 1999 and 2007 the rate declined both in AA and in EA of both sexes in every geographic division; however, relative declines varied. For example, among men, relative average annual declines ranged from 3.2% to 4.7% in AA and from 4.4% to 5.5% in EA among geographic divisions. In women, rates declined more in later years of the decade and in women over 54 years. In 2007, age-adjusted death rate per 100,000 for CHD ranged from 93 in EA women in New England to 345 in AA men in the East North Central division. In EA, areas near the Ohio and lower Mississippi Rivers had above average rates. Disparities in trends by urbanization level were also found. For AA in the East North Central division, the APC was similar in large central metro (−4.2, large fringe metro (−4.3, medium metro urbanization strata (−4.4, and small metro (−3.9. APC was somewhat higher in the micropolitan/non-metro (−5.3, and especially the non-core/non-metro (−6.5. For EA in the East South Central division, the APC was higher in large central metro (−5.3, large fringe metro (−4.3 and medium metro

Low acclimation capacity of narrow-ranging thermal specialists exposes susceptibility to global climate change.

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Markle, Tricia M; Kozak, Kenneth H

2018-05-01

Thermal acclimation is hypothesized to offer a selective advantage in seasonal habitats and may underlie disparities in geographic range size among closely-related species with similar ecologies. Understanding this relationship is also critical for identifying species that are more sensitive to warming climates. Here, we study North American plethodontid salamanders to investigate whether acclimation ability is associated with species' latitudinal extents and the thermal range of the environments they inhabit. We quantified variation in thermal physiology by measuring standard metabolic rate (SMR) at different test and acclimation temperatures for 16 species of salamanders with varying latitudinal extents. A phylogenetically-controlled Markov chain Monte Carlo generalized linear mixed model (MCMCglmm) was then employed to determine whether there are differences in SMR between wide- and narrow-ranging species at different acclimation temperatures. In addition, we tested for a relationship between the acclimation ability of species and the environmental temperature ranges they inhabit. Further, we investigated if there is a trade-off between critical thermal maximum (CTMax) and thermal acclimation ability. MCMCglmm results show a significant difference in acclimation ability between wide and narrow-ranging temperate salamanders. Salamanders with wide latitudinal distributions maintain or slightly increase SMR when subjected to higher test and acclimation temperatures, whereas several narrow-ranging species show significant metabolic depression. We also found significant, positive relationships between acclimation ability and environmental thermal range, and between acclimation ability and CTMax. Wide-ranging salamander species exhibit a greater capacity for thermal acclimation than narrow-ranging species, suggesting that selection for acclimation ability may have been a key factor enabling geographic expansion into areas with greater thermal variability. Further

Determining Home Range and Preferred Habitat of Feral Horses on the Nevada National Security Site Using Geographic Information Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burns, Ashley V. [Univ. of Denver, CO (United States)

2014-05-30

Feral horses (Equus caballus) are free-roaming descendants of domesticated horses and legally protected by the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which mandates how feral horses and burros should be managed and protected on federal lands. Using a geographic information system to determine the home range and suitable habitat of feral horses on the federally managed Nevada National Security Site can enable wildlife biologists in making best management practice recommendations. Home range was estimated at 88.1 square kilometers. Site suitability was calculated for elevation, forage, slope, water presence and horse observations. These variables were combined in successive iterations into one polygon. Suitability rankings established that 85 square kilometers are most suitable habitat, with 2,052 square kilometers of good habitat 1,252 square kilometers of fair habitat and 122 square kilometers of least suitable habitat.

Wyoming greater sage-grouse habitat prioritization: A collection of multi-scale seasonal models and geographic information systems land management tools

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O'Donnell, Michael S.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Doherty, Kevin E.; Fedy, Bradley C.

2015-01-01

With rapidly changing landscape conditions within Wyoming and the potential effects of landscape changes on sage-grouse habitat, land managers and conservation planners, among others, need procedures to assess the location and juxtaposition of important habitats, land-cover, and land-use patterns to balance wildlife requirements with multiple human land uses. Biologists frequently develop habitat-selection studies to identify prioritization efforts for species of conservation concern to increase understanding and help guide habitat-conservation efforts. Recently, the authors undertook a large-scale collaborative effort that developed habitat-selection models for Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) across large landscapes in Wyoming, USA and for multiple life-stages (nesting, late brood-rearing, and winter). We developed these habitat models using resource selection functions, based upon sage-grouse telemetry data collected for localized studies and within each life-stage. The models allowed us to characterize and spatially predict seasonal sage-grouse habitat use in Wyoming. Due to the quantity of models, the diversity of model predictors (in the form of geographic information system data) produced by analyses, and the variety of potential applications for these data, we present here a resource that complements our published modeling effort, which will further support land managers.

Diversity and Geographical Distribution of Flavobacterium psychrophilum Isolates and Their Phages: Patterns of Susceptibility to Phage Infection and Phage Host Range

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Castillo, Daniel; Christiansen, Rói Hammershaimb; Espejo, Romilio

2014-01-01

in disease control requires detailed knowledge about the diversity and dynamics of host susceptibility to phage infection. For this reason, we examined the genetic diversity of 49 F. psychrophilum strains isolated in three different areas (Chile, Denmark, and USA) through direct genome restriction enzyme...... analysis (DGREA) and their susceptibility to 33 bacteriophages isolated in Chile and Denmark, thus covering large geographical (>12,000 km) and temporal (>60 years) scales of isolation. An additional 40 phage-resistant isolates obtained from culture experiments after exposure to specific phages were...... examined for changes in phage susceptibility against the 33 phages. The F. psychrophilum and phage populations isolated from Chile and Denmark clustered into geographically distinct groups with respect to DGREA profile and host range, respectively. However, cross infection between Chilean phage isolates...

Geographical PCB and DDT patterns in shearwaters (Calonectris sp.) breeding across the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean archipelagos.

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Roscales, Jose L; Muñoz-Arnanz, Juan; González-Solís, Jacob; Jiménez, Begoña

2010-04-01

Although seabirds have been proposed as useful biomonitors for organochlorine contaminants (OCs) in marine environments, their suitability is still unclear. To understand the geographic variability and the influence of seabird trophic ecology in OC levels, we analyzed PCBs, DDTs, delta(13)C, and delta(15)N in the blood of adult Calonectris shearwaters throughout a vast geographic range within the northeast Atlantic Ocean (from Cape Verde to Azores) and the Mediterranean Sea (from the Alboran Sea to Crete). OC concentrations were greater in birds from the Mediterranean than in those from the Atlantic colonies, showing higher and lower chlorinated PCB profiles, respectively. This large-scale pattern may reflect the influence of historical European runoffs in the Mediterranean basin and diffused sources for OCs in remote Atlantic islands. Spatial patterns also emerged within the Atlantic basin, probably associated with pollutant long-range transport and recent inputs of DDT in the food webs of shearwaters from Cape Verde and the Canary islands. Moreover, a positive association of OC concentrations with delta(15)N within each locality points out diet specialization as a major factor explaining differences in OCs at the intraspecific level. Overall, this study highlights wide range breeding seabirds, such as Calonectris shearwaters, as suitable organisms for biomonitoring large geographic trends of organochlorine contamination in the marine environment.

Range expansion by Passer montanus in North America

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Burnett, J.L.; Roberts, C.P.; Allen, Craig R.; Brown, M.B.; Moulton, M.P.

2017-01-01

Passer montanus became established in a small area of central North America following its introduction in 1870. P. montanus underwent minimal range expansion in the first 100 years following introduction. However, the North American population of P. montanus is now growing in size and expanding in geographic distribution, having expanded approximately 125 km to the north by 1970. We quantify the distance of spread by P. montanus from its introduction site in the greater St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois, USA area, using distributional (presence) data from the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count surveys for the period of 1951 to 2014. Linear regressions of the average annual range center of P. montanus confirmed significant shifts to the north at a rate of 3.3 km/year (P Linear regressions of the linear and angular distance of range center indicates significant northern movement (change in angle of mean range center; P < 0.001) since 1951. Our results quantify the extent of a northward range expansion, and suggesting a probable spread of this species northward.

Inferring the past and present connectivity across the range of a North American leaf beetle: combining ecological niche modeling and a geographically explicit model of coalescence.

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Dellicour, Simon; Fearnley, Shannon; Lombal, Anicée; Heidl, Sarah; Dahlhoff, Elizabeth P; Rank, Nathan E; Mardulyn, Patrick

2014-08-01

The leaf beetle Chrysomela aeneicollis occurs across Western North America, either at high elevation or in small, isolated populations along the coast, and thus has a highly fragmented distribution. DNA sequence data (three loci) were collected from five regions across the species range. Population connectivity was examined using traditional ecological niche modeling, which suggested that gene flow could occur among regions now and in the past. We developed geographically explicit coalescence models of sequence evolution that incorporated a two-dimensional representation of the hypothesized ranges suggested by the niche-modeling estimates. We simulated sequence data according to these models and compared them to observed sequences to identify most probable scenarios regarding the migration history of C. aeneicollis. Our results disagreed with initial niche-modeling estimates by clearly rejecting recent connectivity among regions, and were instead most consistent with a long period of range fragmentation, extending well beyond the last glacial maximum. This application of geographically explicit models of coalescence has highlighted some limitations of the use of climatic variables for predicting the present and past range of a species and has explained aspects of the Pleistocene evolutionary history of a cold-adapted organism in Western North America. © 2014 The Author(s). Evolution © 2014 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Greater sage-grouse winter habitat use on the eastern edge of their range

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Swanson, Christopher C.; Rumble, Mark A.; Grovenburg, Troy W.; Kaczor, Nicholas W.; Klaver, Robert W.; Herman-Brunson, Katie M.; Jenks, Jonathan A.; Jensen, Kent C.

2013-01-01

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) at the western edge of the Dakotas occur in the transition zone between sagebrush and grassland communities. These mixed sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) and grasslands differ from those habitats that comprise the central portions of the sage-grouse range; yet, no information is available on winter habitat selection within this region of their distribution. We evaluated factors influencing greater sage-grouse winter habitat use in North Dakota during 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 and in South Dakota during 2006–2007 and 2007–2008. We captured and radio-marked 97 breeding-age females and 54 breeding-age males from 2005 to 2007 and quantified habitat selection for 98 of these birds that were alive during winter. We collected habitat measurements at 340 (177 ND, 163 SD) sage-grouse use sites and 680 random (340 each at 250 m and 500 m from locations) dependent sites. Use sites differed from random sites with greater percent sagebrush cover (14.75% use vs. 7.29% random; P 2 use vs. 0.94 plants/m2 random; P ≤ 0.001), but lesser percent grass cover (11.76% use vs. 16.01% random; P ≤ 0.001) and litter cover (4.34% use vs. 5.55% random; P = 0.001) and lower sagebrush height (20.02 cm use vs. 21.35 cm random; P = 0.13) and grass height (21.47 cm use vs. 23.21 cm random; P = 0.15). We used conditional logistic regression to estimate winter habitat selection by sage-grouse on continuous scales. The model sagebrush cover + sagebrush height + sagebrush cover × sagebrush height (wi = 0.60) was the most supported of the 13 models we considered, indicating that percent sagebrush cover strongly influenced selection. Logistic odds ratios indicated that the probability of selection by sage-grouse increased by 1.867 for every 1% increase in sagebrush cover (95% CI = 1.627–2.141) and by 1.041 for every 1 cm increase in sagebrush height (95% CI = 1.002–1.082). The

Contrasting growth forecasts across the geographical range of Scots pine due to altitudinal and latitudinal differences in climatic sensitivity.

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Matías, Luis; Linares, Juan C; Sánchez-Miranda, Ángela; Jump, Alistair S

2017-10-01

Ongoing changes in global climate are altering ecological conditions for many species. The consequences of such changes are typically most evident at the edge of a species' geographical distribution, where differences in growth or population dynamics may result in range expansions or contractions. Understanding population responses to different climatic drivers along wide latitudinal and altitudinal gradients is necessary in order to gain a better understanding of plant responses to ongoing increases in global temperature and drought severity. We selected Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) as a model species to explore growth responses to climatic variability (seasonal temperature and precipitation) over the last century through dendrochronological methods. We developed linear models based on age, climate and previous growth to forecast growth trends up to year 2100 using climatic predictions. Populations were located at the treeline across a latitudinal gradient covering the northern, central and southernmost populations and across an altitudinal gradient at the southern edge of the distribution (treeline, medium and lower elevations). Radial growth was maximal at medium altitude and treeline of the southernmost populations. Temperature was the main factor controlling growth variability along the gradients, although the timing and strength of climatic variables affecting growth shifted with latitude and altitude. Predictive models forecast a general increase in Scots pine growth at treeline across the latitudinal distribution, with southern populations increasing growth up to year 2050, when it stabilizes. The highest responsiveness appeared at central latitude, and moderate growth increase is projected at the northern limit. Contrastingly, the model forecasted growth declines at lowland-southern populations, suggesting an upslope range displacement over the coming decades. Our results give insight into the geographical responses of tree species to climate change

Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti in the continental United States: a vector at the cool margin of its geographic range.

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Eisen, Lars; Moore, Chester G

2013-05-01

After more than a half century without recognized local dengue outbreaks in the continental United States, there were recent outbreaks of autochthonous dengue in the southern parts of Texas (2004-2005) and Florida (2009-2011). This dengue reemergence has provoked interest in the extent of the future threat posed by the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.), the primary vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses in urban settings, to human health in the continental United States. Ae. aegypti is an intriguing example of a vector species that not only occurs in the southernmost portions of the eastern United States today but also is incriminated as the likely primary vector in historical outbreaks of yellow fever as far north as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, from the 1690s to the 1820s. For vector species with geographic ranges limited, in part, by low temperature and cool range margins occurring in the southern part of the continental United States, as is currently the case for Ae. aegypti, it is tempting to speculate that climate warming may result in a northward range expansion (similar to that seen for Ixodes tick vectors of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in Scandinavia and southern Canada in recent decades). Although there is no doubt that climate conditions directly impact many aspects of the life history of Ae. aegypti, this mosquito also is closely linked to the human environment and directly influenced by the availability of water-holding containers for oviposition and larval development. Competition with other container-inhabiting mosquito species, particularly Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse), also may impact the presence and local abundance of Ae. aegypti. Field-based studies that focus solely on the impact of weather or climate factors on the presence and abundance of Ae. aegypti, including assessments of the potential impact of climate warming on the mosquito's future range and abundance, do not consider the potential confounding

Cougar survival and source-sink structure on Greater Yellowstone's Northern Range

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Ruth, T.K.; Haroldson, M.A.; Murphy, K.M.; Buotte, P.C.; Hornocker, M.G.; Quigley, H.B.

2011-01-01

We studied survival and causes of mortality of radiocollared cougars (Puma concolor) on the Greater Yellowstone Northern Range (GYNR) prior to (1987–1994) and after wolf (Canis lupus) reintroduction (1998–2005) and evaluated temporal, spatial, and environmental factors that explain variation in adult, subadult, and kitten survival. Using Program MARK and multimodel inference, we modeled cougar survival based on demographic status, season, and landscape attributes. Our best models for adult and independent subadults indicated that females survived better than males and survival increased with age until cougars reached older ages. Lower elevations and increasing density of roads, particularly in areas open to cougar hunting north of Yellowstone National Park (YNP), increased mortality risks for cougars on the GYNR. Indices of ungulate biomass, cougar and wolf population size, winter severity, rainfall, and individual characteristics such as the presence of dependent young, age class, and use of Park or Wilderness were not important predictors of survival. Kitten survival increased with age, was lower during winter, increased with increasing minimum estimates of elk calf biomass, and increased with increasing density of adult male cougars. Using our best model, we mapped adult cougar survival on the GYNR landscape. Results of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated a good model fit for both female (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.70–0.92, n = 35 locations) and male cougars (AUC = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.74–0.94, n = 49 locations) relative to hunter harvest locations in our study area. Using minimum estimates of survival necessary to sustain the study population, we developed a source-sink surface and we identify several measures that resource management agencies can take to enhance cougar population management based on a source-sink strategy.

Probable causes of increasing brucellosis in free-ranging elk of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

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Cross, P.C.; Cole, E.K.; Dobson, A.P.; Edwards, W.H.; Hamlin, K.L.; Luikart, G.; Middleton, A.D.; Scurlock, B.M.; White, P.J.

2010-01-01

While many wildlife species are threatened, some populations have recovered from previous overexploitation, and data linking these population increases with disease dynamics are limited. We present data suggesting that free-ranging elk (Cervus elaphus) are a maintenance host for Brucella abortus in new areas of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Brucellosis seroprevalence in free-ranging elk increased from 0-7% in 1991-1992 to 8-20% in 2006-2007 in four of six herd units around the GYE. These levels of brucellosis are comparable to some herd units where elk are artificially aggregated on supplemental feeding grounds. There are several possible mechanisms for this increase that we evaluated using statistical and population modeling approaches. Simulations of an age-structured population model suggest that the observed levels of seroprevalence are unlikely to be sustained by dispersal from supplemental feeding areas with relatively high seroprevalence or an older age structure. Increases in brucellosis seroprevalence and the total elk population size in areas with feeding grounds have not been statistically detectable. Meanwhile, the rate of seroprevalence increase outside the feeding grounds was related to the population size and density of each herd unit. Therefore, the data suggest that enhanced elk-to-elk transmission in free-ranging populations may be occurring due to larger winter elk aggregations. Elk populations inside and outside of the GYE that traditionally did not maintain brucellosis may now be at risk due to recent population increases. In particular, some neighboring populations of Montana elk were 5-9 times larger in 2007 than in the 1970s, with some aggregations comparable to the Wyoming feeding-ground populations. Addressing the unintended consequences of these increasing populations is complicated by limited hunter access to private lands, which places many ungulate populations out of administrative control. Agency-landowner hunting access

A spatial database of bedding attitudes to accompany Geologic map of the greater Denver area, Front Range Urban Corridor, Colorado

Science.gov (United States)

Trimble, Donald E.; Machette, Michael N.; Brandt, Theodore R.; Moore, David W.; Murray, Kyle E.

2003-01-01

This digital map shows bedding attitude symbols display over the geographic extent of surficial deposits and rock stratigraphic units (formations) as compiled by Trimble and Machette 1973-1977 and published in 1979 (U.S. Geological Survey Map I-856-H) under the Front Range Urban Corridor Geology Program. Trimble and Machette compiled their geologic map from published geologic maps and unpublished geologic mapping having varied map unit schemes. A convenient feature of the compiled map is its uniform classification of geologic units that mostly matches those of companion maps to the north (USGS I-855-G) and to the south (USGS I-857-F). Published as a color paper map, the Trimble and Machette map was intended for land-use planning in the Front Range Urban Corridor. This map recently (1997-1999), was digitized under the USGS Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project (see cross-reference). In general, the mountainous areas in the west part of the map exhibit various igneous and metamorphic bedrock units of Precambrian age, major faults, and fault brecciation zones at the east margin (5-20 km wide) of the Front Range. The eastern and central parts of the map (Colorado Piedmont) depict a mantle of unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age and interspersed outcroppings of Cretaceous or Tertiary-Cretaceous sedimentary bedrock. The Quaternary mantle is comprised of eolian deposits (quartz sand and silt), alluvium (gravel, sand, and silt of variable composition), colluvium, and few landslides. At the mountain front, north-trending, dipping Paleozoic and Mesozoic sandstone, shale, and limestone bedrock formations form hogbacks and intervening valleys.

Geographic disparity in kidney transplantation under KAS.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Sheng; Massie, Allan B; Luo, Xun; Ruck, Jessica M; Chow, Eric K H; Bowring, Mary G; Bae, Sunjae; Segev, Dorry L; Gentry, Sommer E

2017-12-12

The Kidney Allocation System fundamentally altered kidney allocation, causing a substantial increase in regional and national sharing that we hypothesized might impact geographic disparities. We measured geographic disparity in deceased donor kidney transplant (DDKT) rate under KAS (6/1/2015-12/1/2016), and compared that with pre-KAS (6/1/2013-12/3/2014). We modeled DSA-level DDKT rates with multilevel Poisson regression, adjusting for allocation factors under KAS. Using the model we calculated a novel, improved metric of geographic disparity: the median incidence rate ratio (MIRR) of transplant rate, a measure of DSA-level variation that accounts for patient casemix and is robust to outlier values. Under KAS, MIRR was 1.75 1.81 1.86 for adults, meaning that similar candidates across different DSAs have a median 1.81-fold difference in DDKT rate. The impact of geography was greater than the impact of factors emphasized by KAS: having an EPTS score ≤20% was associated with a 1.40-fold increase (IRR =  1.35 1.40 1.45 , P geographic disparities with KAS (P = .3). Despite extensive changes to kidney allocation under KAS, geography remains a primary determinant of access to DDKT. © 2017 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

3D Virtual Reality Applied in Tectonic Geomorphic Study of the Gombori Range of Greater Caucasus Mountains

Science.gov (United States)

Sukhishvili, Lasha; Javakhishvili, Zurab

2016-04-01

Gombori Range represents the southern part of the young Greater Caucasus Mountains and stretches from NW to SE. The range separates Alazani and Iori basins within the eastern Georgian province of Kakheti. The active phase of Caucasian orogeny started in the Pliocene, but according to alluvial sediments of Gombori range (mapped in the Soviet geologic map), we observe its uplift process to be Quaternary event. The highest peak of the Gombori range has an absolute elevation of 1991 m, while its neighboring Alazani valley gains only 400 m. We assume the range has a very fast uplift rate and it could trigger streams flow direction course reverse in Quaternary. To check this preliminary assumptions we are going to use a tectonic and fluvial geomorphic and stratigraphic approaches including paleocurrent analyses and various affordable absolute dating techniques to detect the evidence of river course reverses and date them. For these purposes we have selected river Turdo outcrop. The river itself flows northwards from the Gombori range and nearby region`s main city of Telavi generates 30-40 m high continuous outcrop along 1 km section. Turdo outcrop has very steep walls and requires special climbing skills to work on it. The goal of this particularly study is to avoid time and resource consuming ground survey process of this steep, high and wide outcrop and test 3D aerial and ground base photogrammetric modelling and analyzing approaches in initial stage of the tectonic geomorphic study. Using this type of remote sensing and virtual lab analyses of 3D outcrop model, we roughly delineated stratigraphic layers, selected exact locations for applying various research techniques and planned safe and suitable climbing routes for getting to the investigation sites.

Tracing the geographic origin of traded leopard body parts in the indian subcontinent with DNA-based assignment tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Mondol, Samrat; Sridhar, Vanjulavalli; Yadav, Prasanjeet; Gubbi, Sanjay; Ramakrishnan, Uma

2015-04-01

Illicit trade in wildlife products is rapidly decimating many species across the globe. Such trade is often underestimated for wide-ranging species until it is too late for the survival of their remaining populations. Policing this trade could be vastly improved if one could reliably determine geographic origins of illegal wildlife products and identify areas where greater enforcement is needed. Using DNA-based assignment tests (i.e., samples are assigned to geographic locations), we addressed these factors for leopards (Panthera pardus) on the Indian subcontinent. We created geography-specific allele frequencies from a genetic reference database of 173 leopards across India to infer geographic origins of DNA samples from 40 seized leopard skins. Sensitivity analyses of samples of known geographic origins and assignments of seized skins demonstrated robust assignments for Indian leopards. We found that confiscated pelts seized in small numbers were not necessarily from local leopards. The geographic footprint of large seizures appeared to be bigger than the cumulative footprint of several smaller seizures, indicating widespread leopard poaching across the subcontinent. Our seized samples had male-biased sex ratios, especially the large seizures. From multiple seized sample assignments, we identified central India as a poaching hotspot for leopards. The techniques we applied can be used to identify origins of seized illegal wildlife products and trade routes at the subcontinent scale and beyond. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

The shape and temporal dynamics of phylogenetic trees arising from geographic speciation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pigot, Alex L; Phillimore, Albert B; Owens, Ian P F; Orme, C David L

2010-12-01

Phylogenetic trees often depart from the expectations of stochastic models, exhibiting imbalance in diversification among lineages and slowdowns in the rate of lineage accumulation through time. Such departures have led to a widespread perception that ecological differences among species or adaptation and subsequent niche filling are required to explain patterns of diversification. However, a key element missing from models of diversification is the geographical context of speciation and extinction. In this study, we develop a spatially explicit model of geographic range evolution and cladogenesis, where speciation arises via vicariance or peripatry, and explore the effects of these processes on patterns of diversification. We compare the results with those observed in 41 reconstructed avian trees. Our model shows that nonconstant rates of speciation and extinction are emergent properties of the apportioning of geographic ranges that accompanies speciation. The dynamics of diversification exhibit wide variation, depending on the mode of speciation, tendency for range expansion, and rate of range evolution. By varying these parameters, the model is able to capture many, but not all, of the features exhibited by birth-death trees and extant bird clades. Under scenarios with relatively stable geographic ranges, strong slowdowns in diversification rates are produced, with faster rates of range dynamics leading to constant or accelerating rates of apparent diversification. A peripatric model of speciation with stable ranges also generates highly unbalanced trees typical of bird phylogenies but fails to produce realistic range size distributions among the extant species. Results most similar to those of a birth-death process are reached under a peripatric speciation scenario with highly volatile range dynamics. Taken together, our results demonstrate that considering the geographical context of speciation and extinction provides a more conservative null model of

Mesoniviruses are mosquito-specific viruses with extensive geographic distribution and host range.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasilakis, Nikos; Guzman, Hilda; Firth, Cadhla; Forrester, Naomi L; Widen, Steven G; Wood, Thomas G; Rossi, Shannan L; Ghedin, Elodie; Popov, Vsevolov; Blasdell, Kim R; Walker, Peter J; Tesh, Robert B

2014-05-20

The family Mesoniviridae (order Nidovirales) comprises of a group of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA ([+]ssRNA) viruses isolated from mosquitoes. Thirteen novel insect-specific virus isolates were obtained from mosquitoes collected in Indonesia, Thailand and the USA. By electron microscopy, the virions appeared as spherical particles with a diameter of ~50 nm. Their 20,129 nt to 20,777 nt genomes consist of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA with a poly-A tail. Four isolates from Houston, Texas, and one isolate from Java, Indonesia, were identified as variants of the species Alphamesonivirus-1 which also includes Nam Dinh virus (NDiV) from Vietnam and Cavally virus (CavV) from Côte d'Ivoire. The eight other isolates were identified as variants of three new mesoniviruses, based on genome organization and pairwise evolutionary distances: Karang Sari virus (KSaV) from Java, Bontag Baru virus (BBaV) from Java and Kalimantan, and Kamphaeng Phet virus (KPhV) from Thailand. In comparison with NDiV, the three new mesoniviruses each contained a long insertion (180 - 588 nt) of unknown function in the 5' region of ORF1a, which accounted for much of the difference in genome size. The insertions contained various short imperfect repeats and may have arisen by recombination or sequence duplication. In summary, based on their genome organizations and phylogenetic relationships, thirteen new viruses were identified as members of the family Mesoniviridae, order Nidovirales. Species demarcation criteria employed previously for mesoniviruses would place five of these isolates in the same species as NDiV and CavV (Alphamesonivirus-1) and the other eight isolates would represent three new mesonivirus species (Alphamesonivirus-5, Alphamesonivirus-6 and Alphamesonivirus-7). The observed spatiotemporal distribution over widespread geographic regions and broad species host range in mosquitoes suggests that mesoniviruses may be common in mosquito populations worldwide.

Geographic divergence and colour change in response to visual backgrounds and illumination intensity in bearded dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadena, Viviana; Smith, Kathleen R; Endler, John A; Stuart-Fox, Devi

2017-03-15

Animals may improve camouflage by both dynamic colour change and local evolutionary adaptation of colour but we have little understanding of their relative importance in colour-changing species. We tested for differences in colour change in response to background colour and light intensity in two populations of central bearded dragon lizards ( Pogona vitticeps ) representing the extremes in body coloration and geographical range. We found that bearded dragons change colour in response to various backgrounds and that colour change is affected by illumination intensity. Within-individual colour change was similar in magnitude in the two populations but varied between backgrounds. However, at the endpoints of colour change, each population showed greater similarity to backgrounds that were representative of the local habitat compared with the other population, indicating local adaptation to visual backgrounds. Our results suggest that even in species that change colour, both phenotypic plasticity and geographic divergence of coloration may contribute to improved camouflage. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Random-growth urban model with geographical fitness

Science.gov (United States)

Kii, Masanobu; Akimoto, Keigo; Doi, Kenji

2012-12-01

This paper formulates a random-growth urban model with a notion of geographical fitness. Using techniques of complex-network theory, we study our system as a type of preferential-attachment model with fitness, and we analyze its macro behavior to clarify the properties of the city-size distributions it predicts. First, restricting the geographical fitness to take positive values and using a continuum approach, we show that the city-size distributions predicted by our model asymptotically approach Pareto distributions with coefficients greater than unity. Then, allowing the geographical fitness to take negative values, we perform local coefficient analysis to show that the predicted city-size distributions can deviate from Pareto distributions, as is often observed in actual city-size distributions. As a result, the model we propose can generate a generic class of city-size distributions, including but not limited to Pareto distributions. For applications to city-population projections, our simple model requires randomness only when new cities are created, not during their subsequent growth. This property leads to smooth trajectories of city population growth, in contrast to other models using Gibrat’s law. In addition, a discrete form of our dynamical equations can be used to estimate past city populations based on present-day data; this fact allows quantitative assessment of the performance of our model. Further study is needed to determine appropriate formulas for the geographical fitness.

New Geographical Insights of the Latest Expansion of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 Into the Greater Mekong Subregion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Si-Jun Zheng

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Banana is the most popular and most exported fruit and also a major food crop for millions of people around the world. Despite its importance and the presence of serious disease threats, research into this crop is limited. One of those is Panama disease or Fusarium wilt. In the previous century Fusarium wilt wiped out the “Gros Michel” based banana industry in Central America. The epidemic was eventually quenched by planting “Cavendish” bananas. However, 50 years ago the disease recurred, but now on “Cavendish” bananas. Since then the disease has spread across South-East Asia, to the Middle-East and the Indian subcontinent and leaped into Africa. Here, we report the presence of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4 in “Cavendish” plantations in Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. A combination of classical morphology, DNA sequencing, and phenotyping assays revealed a very close relationship between the Foc TR4 strains in the entire Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS, which is increasingly prone to intensive banana production. Analyses of single-nucleotide polymorphisms enabled us to initiate a phylogeography of Foc TR4 across three geographical areas—GMS, Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East revealing three distinct Foc TR4 sub-lineages. Collectively, our data place these new incursions in a broader agroecological context and underscore the need for awareness campaigns and the implementation of validated quarantine measures to prevent further international dissemination of Foc TR4.

Storytelling in Interactive 3D Geographic Visualization Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Thöny

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The objective of interactive geographic maps is to provide geographic information to a large audience in a captivating and intuitive way. Storytelling helps to create exciting experiences and to explain complex or otherwise hidden relationships of geospatial data. Furthermore, interactive 3D applications offer a wide range of attractive elements for advanced visual story creation and offer the possibility to convey the same story in many different ways. In this paper, we discuss and analyze storytelling techniques in 3D geographic visualizations so that authors and developers working with geospatial data can use these techniques to conceptualize their visualization and interaction design. Finally, we outline two examples which apply the given concepts.

Increase in nuisance blooms and geographic expansion of the freshwater diatom Didymosphenia geminata

Science.gov (United States)

Spaulding, S.A.; Elwell, E.

2007-01-01

The diatom Didymosphenia geminata (Lyngbye) Schmidt is emerging as an organism with an extraordinary capacity to impact stream ecosystems on a global scale. In recent years, streams in New Zealand, North America, Europe, and Asia have been colonized by unprecedented masses of “didymo” and its extracellular stalks (fig. 1). This diatom is able to dominate stream surfaces by covering up to 100 percent of substrate with thicknesses of greater than 20 cm, greatly altering physical and biological conditions within streams. This species is expanding its geographic range in North America and the rate that nuisance blooms are reported by the public and local media are increasing, yet little scientific investigation of the phenomenon in North America has been initiated.

Generation of 3D Virtual Geographic Environment Based on Laser Scanning Technique

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DU Jie; CHEN Xiaoyong; FumioYamazaki

2003-01-01

This paper demonstrates an experiment on the generation of 3D virtual geographic environment on the basis of experimental flight laser scanning data by a set of algorithms and methods that were developed to automatically interpret range images for extracting geo-spatial features and then to reconstruct geo-objects. The algorithms and methods for the interpretation and modeling of laser scanner data include triangulated-irregular-network (TIN)-based range image interpolation ; mathematical-morphology(MM)-based range image filtering,feature extraction and range image segmentation, feature generalization and optimization, 3D objects reconstruction and modeling; computergraphics (CG)-based visualization and animation of geographic virtual reality environment.

Inferring geographic isolation of wolverines in California using historical DNA

Science.gov (United States)

Michael K. Schwartz; Keith B. Aubry; Kevin S. McKelvey; Kristine L. Pilgrim; Jeffrey P. Copeland; John R. Squires; Robert M. Inman; Samantha M. Wisely; Leonard F. Ruggiero

2007-01-01

Delineating a species' geographic range using the spatial distribution of museum specimens or even contemporary detection-non-detection data can be difficult. This is particularly true at the periphery of a species range where species' distributions are often disjunct. Wolverines (Gulo gulo) are wide-ranging mammals with discontinuous and...

Evolution of research in health geographics through the International Journal of Health Geographics (2002-2015).

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Sandra; Laperrière, Vincent; Borderon, Marion; Padilla, Cindy; Maignant, Gilles; Oliveau, Sébastien

2016-01-20

Health geographics is a fast-developing research area. Subjects broached in scientific literature are most varied, ranging from vectorial diseases to access to healthcare, with a recent revival of themes such as the implication of health in the Smart City, or a predominantly individual-centered approach. Far beyond standard meta-analyses, the present study deliberately adopts the standpoint of questioning space in its foundations, through various authors of the International Journal of Health Geographics, a highly influential journal in that field. The idea is to find space as the common denominator in this specialized literature, as well as its relation to spatial analysis, without for all that trying to tend towards exhaustive approaches. 660 articles have being published in the journal since launch, but 359 articles were selected based on the presence of the word "Space" in either the title, or the abstract or the text over 13 years of the journal's existence. From that database, a lexical analysis (tag cloud) reveals the perception of space in literature, and shows how approaches are evolving, thus underlining that the scope of health geographics is far from narrowing.

Tree range expansion in eastern North America fails to keep pace with climate warming at northern range limits.

Science.gov (United States)

Sittaro, Fabian; Paquette, Alain; Messier, Christian; Nock, Charles A

2017-08-01

Rising global temperatures are suggested to be drivers of shifts in tree species ranges. The resulting changes in community composition may negatively impact forest ecosystem function. However, long-term shifts in tree species ranges remain poorly documented. We test for shifts in the northern range limits of 16 temperate tree species in Quebec, Canada, using forest inventory data spanning three decades, 15° of longitude and 7° of latitude. Range shifts were correlated with climate warming and dispersal traits to understand potential mechanisms underlying changes. Shifts were calculated as the change in the 95th percentile of latitudinal occurrence between two inventory periods (1970-1978, 2000-2012) and for two life stages: saplings and adults. We also examined sapling and adult range offsets within each inventory, and changes in the offset through time. Tree species ranges shifted predominantly northward, although species responses varied. As expected shifts were greater for tree saplings, 0.34 km yr -1 , than for adults, 0.13 km yr -1 . Range limits were generally further north for adults compared to saplings, but the difference diminished through time, consistent with patterns observed for range shifts within each life stage. This suggests caution should be exercised when interpreting geographic range offsets between life stages as evidence of range shifts in the absence of temporal data. Species latitudinal velocities were on average climate change and were mostly unrelated to dispersal traits. Finally, our results add to the body of evidence suggesting tree species are mostly limited in their capacity to track climate warming, supporting concerns that warming will negatively impact the functioning of forest ecosystems. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Geographic variation in speed of seed germination in central Oregon ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.).

Science.gov (United States)

John C. Weber; Frank C. Sorensen

1992-01-01

Variation in speed of seed germination was investigated among ponderosa pine trees representing 225 locations in central Oregon. Results suggested that at least some of the geographic variation is related to the severity of summer drought. In general, germination speed was greater in locations with shod, drought-limited growing seasons. Levels of geographic variation...

Geographic Names

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, provides...

Is the Geographic Range of Mangrove Forests in the Conterminous United States Really Expanding?

Science.gov (United States)

Giri, Chandra; Long, Jordan

2016-11-28

Changes in the distribution and abundance of mangrove species within and outside of their historic geographic range can have profound consequences in the provision of ecosystem goods and services they provide. Mangroves in the conterminous United States (CONUS) are believed to be expanding poleward (north) due to decreases in the frequency and severity of extreme cold events, while sea level rise is a factor often implicated in the landward expansion of mangroves locally. We used ~35 years of satellite imagery and in situ observations for CONUS and report that: (i) poleward expansion of mangrove forest is inconclusive, and may have stalled for now, and (ii) landward expansion is actively occurring within the historical northernmost limit. We revealed that the northernmost latitudinal limit of mangrove forests along the east and west coasts of Florida, in addition to Louisiana and Texas has not systematically expanded toward the pole. Mangrove area, however, expanded by 4.3% from 1980 to 2015 within the historic northernmost boundary, with the highest percentage of change in Texas and southern Florida. Several confounding factors such as sea level rise, absence or presence of sub-freezing temperatures, land use change, impoundment/dredging, changing hydrology, fire, storm, sedimentation and erosion, and mangrove planting are responsible for the change. Besides, sea level rise, relatively milder winters and the absence of sub-freezing temperatures in recent decades may be enabling the expansion locally. The results highlight the complex set of forcings acting on the northerly extent of mangroves and emphasize the need for long-term monitoring as this system increases in importance as a means to adapt to rising oceans and mitigate the effects of increased atmospheric CO₂.

Land use diversification and intensification on elk winter range in Greater Yellowstone: A framework and agenda for social-ecological research

Science.gov (United States)

Haggerty, Julia Hobson; Epstein, Kathleen; Stone, Michael; Cross, Paul

2018-01-01

Amenity migration describes the movement of peoples to rural landscapes and the transition toward tourism and recreation and away from production-oriented land uses (ranching, timber harvesting). The resulting mosaic of land uses and community structures has important consequences for wildlife and their management. This research note examines amenity-driven changes to social-ecological systems in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, specifically in lower elevations that serve as winter habitat for elk. We present a research agenda informed by a preliminary and exploratory mixed-methods investigation: the creation of a “social-impact” index of land use change on elk winter range and a focus group with wildlife management experts. Our findings suggest that elk are encountering an increasingly diverse landscape with respect to land use, while new ownership patterns increase the complexity of social and community dynamics. These factors, in turn, contribute to increasing difficulty meeting wildlife management objectives. To deal with rising complexity across social and ecological landscapes of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, future research will focus on property life cycle dynamics, as well as systems approaches.

Estimating the accuracy of geographical imputation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boscoe Francis P

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To reduce the number of non-geocoded cases researchers and organizations sometimes include cases geocoded to postal code centroids along with cases geocoded with the greater precision of a full street address. Some analysts then use the postal code to assign information to the cases from finer-level geographies such as a census tract. Assignment is commonly completed using either a postal centroid or by a geographical imputation method which assigns a location by using both the demographic characteristics of the case and the population characteristics of the postal delivery area. To date no systematic evaluation of geographical imputation methods ("geo-imputation" has been completed. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of census tract assignment using geo-imputation. Methods Using a large dataset of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer cases reported to the New Jersey Cancer Registry, we determined how often cases were assigned to the correct census tract using alternate strategies of demographic based geo-imputation, and using assignments obtained from postal code centroids. Assignment accuracy was measured by comparing the tract assigned with the tract originally identified from the full street address. Results Assigning cases to census tracts using the race/ethnicity population distribution within a postal code resulted in more correctly assigned cases than when using postal code centroids. The addition of age characteristics increased the match rates even further. Match rates were highly dependent on both the geographic distribution of race/ethnicity groups and population density. Conclusion Geo-imputation appears to offer some advantages and no serious drawbacks as compared with the alternative of assigning cases to census tracts based on postal code centroids. For a specific analysis, researchers will still need to consider the potential impact of geocoding quality on their results and evaluate

The geographic accessibility of pharmacies in Nova Scotia.

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Michael R; Heard, Deborah; Fisher, Judith; Douillard, Jay; Muzika, Greg; Sketris, Ingrid S

2013-01-01

Geographic proximity is an important component of access to primary care and the pharmaceutical services of community pharmacies. Variations in access to primary care have been found between rural and urban areas in Canadian and international jurisdictions. We studied access to community pharmacies in the province of Nova Scotia. We used information on the locations of 297 community pharmacies operating in Nova Scotia in June 2011. Population estimates at the census block level and network analysis were used to study the number of Nova Scotia residents living within 800 m (walking) and 2 km and 5 km (driving) distances of a pharmacy. We then simulated the impact of pharmacy closures on geographic access in urban and rural areas. We found that 40.3% of Nova Scotia residents lived within walking distance of a pharmacy; 62.6% and 78.8% lived within 2 km and 5 km, respectively. Differences between urban and rural areas were pronounced: 99.2% of urban residents lived within 5 km of a pharmacy compared with 53.3% of rural residents. Simulated pharmacy closures had a greater impact on geographic access to community pharmacies in rural areas than urban areas. The majority of Nova Scotia residents lived within walking or short driving distance of at least 1 community pharmacy. While overall geographic access appears to be lower than in the province of Ontario, the difference appears to be largely driven by the higher proportion of rural dwellers in Nova Scotia. Further studies should examine how geographic proximity to pharmacies influences patients' access to traditional and specialized pharmacy services, as well as health outcomes and adherence to therapy. Can Pharm J 2013;146:39-46.

Geographic Media Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Lukinbeal, Chris

2014-01-01

While the use of media permeates geographic research and pedagogic practice, the underlying literacies that link geography and media remain uncharted. This article argues that geographic media literacy incorporates visual literacy, information technology literacy, information literacy, and media literacy. Geographic media literacy is the ability…

An efficient and reliable multi-hop geographical broadcast protocol in vehicular ad-hoc networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rajendran, R.; Jongh, J. de

2013-01-01

In Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), disseminating warning messages in a timely and efficient way through wireless short-range communications can save many lives and reduce traffic congestion. A geographical broadcast protocol provides data delivery to specified geographical areas, using

Is the Geographic Range of Mangrove Forests in the Conterminous United States Really Expanding?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chandra Giri

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Changes in the distribution and abundance of mangrove species within and outside of their historic geographic range can have profound consequences in the provision of ecosystem goods and services they provide. Mangroves in the conterminous United States (CONUS are believed to be expanding poleward (north due to decreases in the frequency and severity of extreme cold events, while sea level rise is a factor often implicated in the landward expansion of mangroves locally. We used ~35 years of satellite imagery and in situ observations for CONUS and report that: (i poleward expansion of mangrove forest is inconclusive, and may have stalled for now, and (ii landward expansion is actively occurring within the historical northernmost limit. We revealed that the northernmost latitudinal limit of mangrove forests along the east and west coasts of Florida, in addition to Louisiana and Texas has not systematically expanded toward the pole. Mangrove area, however, expanded by 4.3% from 1980 to 2015 within the historic northernmost boundary, with the highest percentage of change in Texas and southern Florida. Several confounding factors such as sea level rise, absence or presence of sub-freezing temperatures, land use change, impoundment/dredging, changing hydrology, fire, storm, sedimentation and erosion, and mangrove planting are responsible for the change. Besides, sea level rise, relatively milder winters and the absence of sub-freezing temperatures in recent decades may be enabling the expansion locally. The results highlight the complex set of forcings acting on the northerly extent of mangroves and emphasize the need for long-term monitoring as this system increases in importance as a means to adapt to rising oceans and mitigate the effects of increased atmospheric CO2.

Barcoding of Asian seabass across its geographic range provides evidence for its bifurcation into two distinct species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shubha eVij

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Asian seabass or barramundi (Lates calcarifer is an important food fish with commercial value and a wide geographic distribution. Though some reports based on molecular and/or morphological data exist, a comprehensive effort to establish species identity across its range is lacking. In order to address this issue and especially to ascertain whether the wide-spread distribution has resulted in bifurcation of the species, we collected Asian seabass samples from various locations representing the Western and Eastern Coastline of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh and Australia. Samples from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore were collected as part of a previous study. DNA sequence variations, including cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI, 16S rDNA and the highly variable D-loop (or control region, were examined to establish species delineation. Data from all the sequences analyzed concordantly point to the existence of at least two distinct species - one representing the Indian subcontinent plus Myanmar, and a second, representing Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia plus Northern Australia. These data are useful for conservation ecology, aquaculture management, for establishing the extent of genetic diversity in the Asian seabass and implementing selective breeding programs for members of this species complex.

The Eocene Arctic Azolla phenomenon: species composition, temporal range and geographic extent.

Science.gov (United States)

Collinson, Margaret; Barke, Judith; van der Burgh, Johan; van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, Johanna; Pearce, Martin; Bujak, Jonathan; Brinkhuis, Henk

2010-05-01

Azolla is a free-floating freshwater fern that is renowned for its rapid vegetative spread and invasive biology, being one of the world's fastest growing aquatic macrophytes. Two species of this plant have been shown to have bloomed and reproduced in enormous numbers in the latest Early to earliest Middle Eocene of the Arctic Ocean and North Sea based on samples from IODP cores from the Lomonosov Ridge (Arctic) and from outcrops in Denmark (Collinson et al 2009 a,b Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 155,1-14; and doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2009.12.001). To determine the geographic and temporal extent of this Azolla phenomenon, and the spatial distribution of the different species, we have examined samples from 15 additional sites using material from ODP cores and commercial exploration wells. The sites range from the Sub-Arctic (Northern Alaska and Canadian Beaufort Mackenzie Basin) to the Nordic Seas (Norwegian-Greenland Sea and North Sea Basin). Our data show that the Azolla phenomenon involved at least three species. These are distinguished by characters of the megaspore apparatus (e.g. megaspore wall, floats, filosum) and the microspore massulae (e.g. glochidia fluke tips). The Lomonosov Ridge (Arctic) and Danish occurrences are monotypic but in other sites more than one species co-existed. The attachment to one another and the co-occurrence of megaspore apparatus and microspore massulae, combined with evidence that these spores were shed at the fully mature stage of their life cycle, shows that the Azolla remains were not transported over long distances, a fact which could not be assumed from isolated massula fragments alone. Our evidence, therefore, shows that Azolla plants grew on the ocean surfaces for approximately 1.2 million years (from 49.3 to 48.1 Ma) and that the Azolla phenomenon covered the area from Denmark northwards across the North Sea Basin and the whole of the Arctic and Nordic seas. Apparently, early Middle Eocene Northern Hemisphere middle

The intermediate effect of geographic proximity on intergenerational support: A comparison of France and Bulgaria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leen Heylen

2012-10-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND The geographic proximity of parents and adult children is a key element of intergenerational solidarity. Many studies have identified geographical distance as an important determinant of intergenerational support: living nearby increases the amount of mutual support provided. It can, however, also be regarded as a dimension of intergenerational solidarity: the current degree of proximity is the result of past migration decisions made by both generations, in which present and future care demands potentially played a key role. OBJECTIVE We take this endogenous nature of geographical distance into account by examining theindirect effect of the determinants of the actual level of support through geographical distance. Both upward support (personal care provided to mother and downward support (help with childcare received from mother are considered. METHODS Path analyses are performed on data from the Generations and Gender Survey for France and Bulgaria using a general latent-variable modelling framework in multiple-group models. RESULTS In addition to strongly affecting the level of support provided and received, geographical distance itself is affected by several individual and family-related variables, which in turn have an indirect effect on the level of intergenerational support. The results suggest that proximity can be used as an adaptive strategy: e.g., working adult children in France receive more help with childcare because of their greater proximity to their mothers. Having a greater care need may have triggered this choice of residence. Similarly, single parents with no partner to rely on tend to live closer to their mothers, and therefore receive more help. CONCLUSIONS Geographic proximity can be considered a latent form of solidarity that functions as a mediator between background factors and manifest, functional solidarity.

What to expect from a greater geographic dispersion of wind farms?-A risk portfolio approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drake, Ben; Hubacek, Klaus

2007-01-01

The UK, like many other industrialised countries, is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. To achieve this goal the UK is increasingly turning towards wind power as a source of emissions free energy. However, the variable nature of wind power generation makes it an unreliable energy source, especially at higher rates of penetration. Likewise the aim of this paper is to measure the potential reduction in wind power variability that could be realised as a result of geographically dispersing the location of wind farm sites. To achieve this aim wind speed data will be used to simulate two scenarios. The first scenario involves locating a total of 2.7 gigawatts (GW) of wind power capacity in a single location within the UK while the second scenario consists of sharing the same amount of capacity amongst four different locations. A risk portfolio approach as used in financial appraisals is then applied in the second scenario to decide upon the allocation of wind power capacity, amongst the four wind farm sites, that succeeds in minimising overall variability for a given level of wind power generation. The findings of this paper indicate that reductions in the order of 36% in wind power variability are possible as a result of distributing wind power capacity

Spatially-explicit estimation of geographical representation in large-scale species distribution datasets.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalwij, Jesse M; Robertson, Mark P; Ronk, Argo; Zobel, Martin; Pärtel, Meelis

2014-01-01

Much ecological research relies on existing multispecies distribution datasets. Such datasets, however, can vary considerably in quality, extent, resolution or taxonomic coverage. We provide a framework for a spatially-explicit evaluation of geographical representation within large-scale species distribution datasets, using the comparison of an occurrence atlas with a range atlas dataset as a working example. Specifically, we compared occurrence maps for 3773 taxa from the widely-used Atlas Florae Europaeae (AFE) with digitised range maps for 2049 taxa of the lesser-known Atlas of North European Vascular Plants. We calculated the level of agreement at a 50-km spatial resolution using average latitudinal and longitudinal species range, and area of occupancy. Agreement in species distribution was calculated and mapped using Jaccard similarity index and a reduced major axis (RMA) regression analysis of species richness between the entire atlases (5221 taxa in total) and between co-occurring species (601 taxa). We found no difference in distribution ranges or in the area of occupancy frequency distribution, indicating that atlases were sufficiently overlapping for a valid comparison. The similarity index map showed high levels of agreement for central, western, and northern Europe. The RMA regression confirmed that geographical representation of AFE was low in areas with a sparse data recording history (e.g., Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine). For co-occurring species in south-eastern Europe, however, the Atlas of North European Vascular Plants showed remarkably higher richness estimations. Geographical representation of atlas data can be much more heterogeneous than often assumed. Level of agreement between datasets can be used to evaluate geographical representation within datasets. Merging atlases into a single dataset is worthwhile in spite of methodological differences, and helps to fill gaps in our knowledge of species distribution ranges. Species distribution

Range size heritability and diversification patterns in the liverwort genus Radula.

Science.gov (United States)

Patiño, Jairo; Wang, Jian; Renner, Matt A M; Gradstein, S Robbert; Laenen, Benjamin; Devos, Nicolas; Shaw, A Jonathan; Vanderpoorten, Alain

2017-01-01

Why some species exhibit larger geographical ranges than others, and to what extent does variation in range size affect diversification rates, remains a fundamental, but largely unanswered question in ecology and evolution. Here, we implement phylogenetic comparative analyses and ancestral area estimations in Radula, a liverwort genus of Cretaceous origin, to investigate the mechanisms that explain differences in geographical range size and diversification rates among lineages. Range size was phylogenetically constrained in the two sub-genera characterized by their almost complete Australasian and Neotropical endemicity, respectively. The congruence between the divergence time of these lineages and continental split suggests that plate tectonics could have played a major role in their present distribution, suggesting that a strong imprint of vicariance can still be found in extant distribution patterns in these highly mobile organisms. Amentuloradula, Volutoradula and Metaradula species did not appear to exhibit losses of dispersal capacities in terms of dispersal life-history traits, but evidence for significant phylogenetic signal in macroecological niche traits suggests that niche conservatism accounts for their restricted geographic ranges. Despite their greatly restricted distribution to Australasia and Neotropics respectively, Amentuloradula and Volutoradula did not exhibit significantly lower diversification rates than more widespread lineages, in contrast with the hypothesis that the probability of speciation increases with range size by promoting geographic isolation and increasing the rate at which novel habitats are encountered. We suggest that stochastic long-distance dispersal events may balance allele frequencies across large spatial scales, leading to low genetic structure among geographically distant areas or even continents, ultimately decreasing the diversification rates in highly mobile, widespread lineages. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All

Geologic map of the greater Denver area, Front Range urban corridor, Colorado

Science.gov (United States)

Trimble, Donald E.; Machette, Michael N.

1979-01-01

This digital map shows the areal extent of surficial deposits and rock stratigraphic units (formations) as compiled by Trimble and Machette from 1973 to 1977 and published in 1979 under the Front Range Urban Corridor Geology Program. Trimble and Machette compiled their geologic map from published geologic maps and unpublished geologic mapping having varied map unit schemes. A convenient feature of the compiled map is its uniform classification of geologic units that mostly matches those of companion maps to the north (USGS I-855-G) and to the south (USGS I-857-F). Published as a color paper map, the Trimble and Machette map was intended for land-use planning in the Front Range Urban Corridor. This map recently (1997-1999) was digitized under the USGS Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project. In general, the mountainous areas in the western part of the map exhibit various igneous and metamorphic bedrock units of Precambrian age, major faults, and fault brecciation zones at the east margin (5-20 km wide) of the Front Range. The eastern and central parts of the map (Colorado Piedmont) depict a mantle of unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age and interspersed outcroppings of Cretaceous or Tertiary-Cretaceous sedimentary bedrock. The Quaternary mantle comprises eolian deposits (quartz sand and silt), alluvium (gravel, sand, and silt of variable composition), colluvium, and a few landslides. At the mountain front, north-trending, dipping Paleozoic and Mesozoic sandstone, shale, and limestone bedrock formations form hogbacks and intervening valleys.

Simultaneous bilateral isolated greater trochanter fracture

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Maruti Kambali

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A 48-year-old woman sustained simultaneous isolated bilateral greater trochanteric fracture, following a road traffic accident. The patient presented to us 1 month after the injury. She presented with complaints of pain in the left hip and inability to walk. Roentgenograms revealed displaced comminuted bilateral greater trochanter fractures. The fracture of the left greater trochanter was reduced and fixed internally using the tension band wiring technique. The greater trochanter fracture on the right side was asymptomatic and was managed conservatively. The patient regained full range of motion and use of her hips after a postoperative follow-up of 6 months. Isolated fractures of the greater trochanter are unusual injuries. Because of their relative rarity and the unsettled controversy regarding their etiology and pathogenesis, several methods of treatment have been advocated. Furthermore, the reports of this particular type of injury are not plentiful and the average textbook coverage afforded to this entity is limited. In our study we discuss the mechanism of injury and the various treatment options available.

Exploring demographic, physical, and historical explanations for the genetic structure of two lineages of Greater Antillean bats.

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Robert A Muscarella

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Observed patterns of genetic structure result from the interactions of demographic, physical, and historical influences on gene flow. The particular strength of various factors in governing gene flow, however, may differ between species in biologically relevant ways. We investigated the role of demographic factors (population size and sex-biased dispersal and physical features (geographic distance, island size and climatological winds on patterns of genetic structure and gene flow for two lineages of Greater Antillean bats. We used microsatellite genetic data to estimate demographic characteristics, infer population genetic structure, and estimate gene flow among island populations of Erophylla sezekorni/E. bombifrons and Macrotus waterhousii (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae. Using a landscape genetics approach, we asked if geographic distance, island size, or climatological winds mediate historical gene flow in this system. Samples from 13 islands spanning Erophylla's range clustered into five genetically distinct populations. Samples of M. waterhousii from eight islands represented eight genetically distinct populations. While we found evidence that a majority of historical gene flow between genetic populations was asymmetric for both lineages, we were not able to entirely rule out incomplete lineage sorting in generating this pattern. We found no evidence of contemporary gene flow except between two genetic populations of Erophylla. Both lineages exhibited significant isolation by geographic distance. Patterns of genetic structure and gene flow, however, were not explained by differences in relative effective population sizes, island area, sex-biased dispersal (tested only for Erophylla, or surface-level climatological winds. Gene flow among islands appears to be highly restricted, particularly for M. waterhousii, and we suggest that this species deserves increased taxonomic attention and conservation concern.

Range-wide network of priority areas for greater sage-grouse - a design for conserving connected distributions or isolating individual zoos?

Science.gov (United States)

Crist, Michele R.; Knick, Steven T.; Hanser, Steven E.

2015-09-08

The network of areas delineated in 11 Western States for prioritizing management of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) represents a grand experiment in conservation biology and reserve design. We used centrality metrics from social network theory to gain insights into how this priority area network might function. The network was highly centralized. Twenty of 188 priority areas accounted for 80 percent of the total centrality scores. These priority areas, characterized by large size and a central location in the range-wide distribution, are strongholds for greater sage-grouse populations and also might function as sources. Mid-ranking priority areas may serve as stepping stones because of their location between large central and smaller peripheral priority areas. The current network design and conservation strategy has risks. The contribution of almost one-half (n = 93) of the priority areas combined for less than 1 percent of the cumulative centrality scores for the network. These priority areas individually are likely too small to support viable sage-grouse populations within their boundary. Without habitat corridors to connect small priority areas either to larger priority areas or as a clustered group within the network, their isolation could lead to loss of sage-grouse within these regions of the network. 

Facilitative Effect of a Generalist Herbivore on the Recovery of a Perennial Alga: Consequences for Persistence at the Edge of Their Geographic Range.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilera, Moisés A; Valdivia, Nelson; Broitman, Bernardo R

2015-01-01

Understanding the impacts of consumers on the abundance, growth rate, recovery and persistence of their resources across their distributional range can shed light on the role of trophic interactions in determining species range shifts. Here, we examined if consumptive effects of the intertidal grazer Scurria viridula positively influences the abundance and recovery from disturbances of the alga Mazzaella laminarioides at the edge of its geographic distributions in northern-central Chilean rocky shores. Through field experiments conducted at a site in the region where M. laminarioides overlaps with the polar range edge of S. viridula, we estimated the effects of grazing on different life stages of M. laminarioides. We also used long-term abundance surveys conducted across ~700 km of the shore to evaluate co-occurrence patterns of the study species across their range overlap. We found that S. viridula had positive net effects on M. laminarioides by increasing its cover and re-growth from perennial basal crusts. Probability of occurrence of M. laminarioides increased significantly with increasing density of S. viridula across the range overlap. The negative effect of S. viridula on the percentage cover of opportunistic green algae-shown to compete for space with corticated algae-suggests that competitive release may be part of the mechanism driving the positive effect of the limpet on the abundance and recovery from disturbance of M. laminarioides. We suggest that grazer populations contribute to enhance the abundance of M. laminarioides, facilitating its recolonization and persistence at its distributional range edge. Our study highlights that indirect facilitation can determine the recovery and persistence of a resource at the limit of its distribution, and may well contribute to the ecological mechanisms governing species distributions and range shifts.

Facilitative Effect of a Generalist Herbivore on the Recovery of a Perennial Alga: Consequences for Persistence at the Edge of Their Geographic Range.

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Moisés A Aguilera

Full Text Available Understanding the impacts of consumers on the abundance, growth rate, recovery and persistence of their resources across their distributional range can shed light on the role of trophic interactions in determining species range shifts. Here, we examined if consumptive effects of the intertidal grazer Scurria viridula positively influences the abundance and recovery from disturbances of the alga Mazzaella laminarioides at the edge of its geographic distributions in northern-central Chilean rocky shores. Through field experiments conducted at a site in the region where M. laminarioides overlaps with the polar range edge of S. viridula, we estimated the effects of grazing on different life stages of M. laminarioides. We also used long-term abundance surveys conducted across ~700 km of the shore to evaluate co-occurrence patterns of the study species across their range overlap. We found that S. viridula had positive net effects on M. laminarioides by increasing its cover and re-growth from perennial basal crusts. Probability of occurrence of M. laminarioides increased significantly with increasing density of S. viridula across the range overlap. The negative effect of S. viridula on the percentage cover of opportunistic green algae-shown to compete for space with corticated algae-suggests that competitive release may be part of the mechanism driving the positive effect of the limpet on the abundance and recovery from disturbance of M. laminarioides. We suggest that grazer populations contribute to enhance the abundance of M. laminarioides, facilitating its recolonization and persistence at its distributional range edge. Our study highlights that indirect facilitation can determine the recovery and persistence of a resource at the limit of its distribution, and may well contribute to the ecological mechanisms governing species distributions and range shifts.

The Effect of Geographic Units of Analysis on Measuring Geographic Variation in Medical Services Utilization

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Agnus M. Kim

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effect of geographic units of analysis on measuring geographic variation in medical services utilization. For this purpose, we compared geographic variations in the rates of eight major procedures in administrative units (districts and new areal units organized based on the actual health care use of the population in Korea. Methods: To compare geographic variation in geographic units of analysis, we calculated the age–sex standardized rates of eight major procedures (coronary artery bypass graft surgery, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, surgery after hip fracture, knee-replacement surgery, caesarean section, hysterectomy, computed tomography scan, and magnetic resonance imaging scan from the National Health Insurance database in Korea for the 2013 period. Using the coefficient of variation, the extremal quotient, and the systematic component of variation, we measured geographic variation for these eight procedures in districts and new areal units. Results: Compared with districts, new areal units showed a reduction in geographic variation. Extremal quotients and inter-decile ratios for the eight procedures were lower in new areal units. While the coefficient of variation was lower for most procedures in new areal units, the pattern of change of the systematic component of variation between districts and new areal units differed among procedures. Conclusions: Geographic variation in medical service utilization could vary according to the geographic unit of analysis. To determine how geographic characteristics such as population size and number of geographic units affect geographic variation, further studies are needed.

Geographical information systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Möller, Bernd

2004-01-01

The chapter gives an introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with particular focus on their application within environmental management.......The chapter gives an introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with particular focus on their application within environmental management....

Could natural selection change the geographic range limits of light brown apple moth (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in North America?

Science.gov (United States)

Amy C. Morey; Robert C. Venette; William D. Hutchison

2013-01-01

We artificially selected for increased freeze tolerance in the invasive light brown apple moth. Our results suggest that, by not accounting for adaptation to cold, current models of potential geographic distributions could underestimate the areas at risk of exposure to this species.

National Trends and Geographic Variation in Availability of Home Health Care: 2002-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yun; Leifheit-Limson, Erica C; Fine, Jonathan; Pandolfi, Michelle M; Gao, Yan; Liu, Fanglin; Eckenrode, Sheila; Lichtman, Judith H

2017-07-01

To evaluate national trends and geographic variation in the availability of home health care from 2002 to 2015 and identify county-specific characteristics associated with home health care. Observational study. All counties in the United States. All Medicare-certified home health agencies included in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Home Health Compare system. County-specific availability of home health care, defined as the number of available home health agencies that provided services to a given county per 100,000 population aged ≥18 years. The study included 15,184 Medicare-certified home health agencies that served 97% of U.S. ZIP codes. Between 2002-2003 and 2014-2015, the county-specific number of available home health agencies per 100,000 population aged ≥18 years increased from 14.7 to 21.8 and the median (inter-quartile range) population that was serviced by at least one home health agency increased from 403,605 (890,329) to 455,488 (1,039,328). Considerable geographic variation in the availability of home health care was observed. The West, North East, and South Atlantic regions had lower home health care availability than the Central regions, and this pattern persisted over the study period. Counties with higher median income, a larger senior population, higher rates of households without a car and low access to stores, more obesity, greater inactivity, and higher proportions of non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic populations were more likely to have higher availability of home health care. The availability of home health care increased nationwide during the study period, but there was much geographic variation. © 2017, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2017, The American Geriatrics Society.

Methods to estimate distribution and range extent of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Haroldson, Mark A.; Schwartz, Charles C.; Thompson, Daniel J.; Bjornlie, Daniel D.; Gunther, Kerry A.; Cain, Steven L.; Tyers, Daniel B.; Frey, Kevin L.; Aber, Bryan C.

2014-01-01

The distribution of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population has expanded into areas unoccupied since the early 20th century. Up-to-date information on the area and extent of this distribution is crucial for federal, state, and tribal wildlife and land managers to make informed decisions regarding grizzly bear management. The most recent estimate of grizzly bear distribution (2004) utilized fixed-kernel density estimators to describe distribution. This method was complex and computationally time consuming and excluded observations of unmarked bears. Our objective was to develop a technique to estimate grizzly bear distribution that would allow for the use of all verified grizzly bear location data, as well as provide the simplicity to be updated more frequently. We placed all verified grizzly bear locations from all sources from 1990 to 2004 and 1990 to 2010 onto a 3-km × 3-km grid and used zonal analysis and ordinary kriging to develop a predicted surface of grizzly bear distribution. We compared the area and extent of the 2004 kriging surface with the previous 2004 effort and evaluated changes in grizzly bear distribution from 2004 to 2010. The 2004 kriging surface was 2.4% smaller than the previous fixed-kernel estimate, but more closely represented the data. Grizzly bear distribution increased 38.3% from 2004 to 2010, with most expansion in the northern and southern regions of the range. This technique can be used to provide a current estimate of grizzly bear distribution for management and conservation applications.

Geographic variation in genetic and demographic performance: new insights from an old biogeographical paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Pironon, Samuel; Papuga, Guillaume; Villellas, Jesús; Angert, Amy L; García, María B; Thompson, John D

2017-11-01

The 'centre-periphery hypothesis' (CPH) is a long-standing postulate in ecology that states that genetic variation and demographic performance of a species decrease from the centre to the edge of its geographic range. This hypothesis is based on an assumed concordance between geographical peripherality and ecological marginality such that environmental conditions become harsher towards the limits of a species range. In this way, the CPH sets the stage for understanding the causes of distribution limits. To date, no study has examined conjointly the consistency of these postulates. In an extensive literature review we discuss the birth and development of the CPH and provide an assessment of the CPH by reviewing 248 empirical studies in the context of three main themes. First, a decrease in species occurrence towards their range limits was observed in 81% of studies, while only 51% demonstrated reduced abundance of individuals. A decline in genetic variation, increased differentiation among populations and higher rates of inbreeding were demonstrated by roughly one in two studies (47, 45 and 48%, respectively). However, demographic rates, size and population performance less often followed CPH expectations (20-30% of studies). We highlight the impact of important methodological, taxonomic, and biogeographical biases on such validation rates. Second, we found that geographic and ecological marginality gradients are not systematically concordant, which casts doubt on the reliability of a main assumption of the CPH. Finally, we attempt to disentangle the relative contribution of geographical, ecological and historical processes on the spatial distribution of genetic and demographic parameters. While ecological marginality gradients explain variation in species' demographic performance better than geographic gradients, contemporary and historical factors may contribute interactively to spatial patterns of genetic variation. We thereby propose a framework that integrates

Geographic Ontologies, Gazetteers and Multilingualism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Laurini

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Different languages imply different visions of space, so that terminologies are different in geographic ontologies. In addition to their geometric shapes, geographic features have names, sometimes different in diverse languages. In addition, the role of gazetteers, as dictionaries of place names (toponyms, is to maintain relations between place names and location. The scope of geographic information retrieval is to search for geographic information not against a database, but against the whole Internet: but the Internet stores information in different languages, and it is of paramount importance not to remain stuck to a unique language. In this paper, our first step is to clarify the links between geographic objects as computer representations of geographic features, ontologies and gazetteers designed in various languages. Then, we propose some inference rules for matching not only types, but also relations in geographic ontologies with the assistance of gazetteers.

Socially just publishing: implications for geographers and their journals

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Simon Batterbury

2017-12-01

Full Text Available There have been a range of protests against the high journal subscription costs, and author processing charges (APCs levied for publishing in the more prestigious and commercially run journals that are favoured by geographers. But open protests across the sector like the ‘Academic Spring’ of 2012, and challenges to commercial copyright agreements, have been fragmented and less than successful. I renew the argument for ‘socially just’ publishing in geography. For geographers this is not limited to choosing alternative publication venues. It also involves a considerable effort by senior faculty members that are assessing hiring and promotion cases, to read and assess scholarship independently of its place of publication, and to reward the efforts of colleagues that offer their work as a public good. Criteria other than the citation index and prestige of a journal need to be foregrounded. Geographers can also be publishers, and I offer my experience editing the free online Journal of Political Ecology.

Geographic Clusters of Basal Cell Carcinoma in a Northern California Health Plan Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, G Thomas; Kulldorff, Martin; Asgari, Maryam M

2016-11-01

Rates of skin cancer, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the most common cancer, have been increasing over the past 3 decades. A better understanding of geographic clustering of BCCs can help target screening and prevention efforts. Present a methodology to identify spatial clusters of BCC and identify such clusters in a northern California population. This retrospective study used a BCC registry to determine rates of BCC by census block group, and used spatial scan statistics to identify statistically significant geographic clusters of BCCs, adjusting for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. The study population consisted of white, non-Hispanic members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California during years 2011 and 2012. Statistically significant geographic clusters of BCC as determined by spatial scan statistics. Spatial analysis of 28 408 individuals who received a diagnosis of at least 1 BCC in 2011 or 2012 revealed distinct geographic areas with elevated BCC rates. Among the 14 counties studied, BCC incidence ranged from 661 to 1598 per 100 000 person-years. After adjustment for age, sex, and neighborhood socioeconomic status, a pattern of 5 discrete geographic clusters emerged, with a relative risk ranging from 1.12 (95% CI, 1.03-1.21; P = .006) for a cluster in eastern Sonoma and northern Napa Counties to 1.40 (95% CI, 1.15-1.71; P Costa and west San Joaquin Counties, compared with persons residing outside that cluster. In this study of a northern California population, we identified several geographic clusters with modestly elevated incidence of BCC. Knowledge of geographic clusters can help inform future research on the underlying etiology of the clustering including factors related to the environment, health care access, or other characteristics of the resident population, and can help target screening efforts to areas of highest yield.

More features, greater connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Sarah

2015-09-01

Changes in our political infrastructure, the continuing frailties of our economy, and a stark growth in population, have greatly impacted upon the perceived stability of the NHS. Healthcare teams have had to adapt to these changes, and so too have the technologies upon which they rely to deliver first-class patient care. Here Sarah Hunt, marketing co-ordinator at Aid Call, assesses how the changing healthcare environment has affected one of its fundamental technologies - the nurse call system, argues the case for wireless such systems in terms of what the company claims is greater adaptability to changing needs, and considers the ever-wider range of features and functions available from today's nurse call equipment, particularly via connectivity with both mobile devices, and ancillaries ranging from enuresis sensors to staff attack alert 'badges'.

Not to put too fine a point on it - does increasing precision of geographic referencing improve species distribution models for a wide-ranging migratory bat?

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Mark A.; Ozenberger, Katharine; Cryan, Paul M.; Wunder, Michael B.

2015-01-01

Bat specimens held in natural history museum collections can provide insights into the distribution of species. However, there are several important sources of spatial error associated with natural history specimens that may influence the analysis and mapping of bat species distributions. We analyzed the importance of geographic referencing and error correction in species distribution modeling (SDM) using occurrence records of hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus). This species is known to migrate long distances and is a species of increasing concern due to fatalities documented at wind energy facilities in North America. We used 3,215 museum occurrence records collected from 1950–2000 for hoary bats in North America. We compared SDM performance using five approaches: generalized linear models, multivariate adaptive regression splines, boosted regression trees, random forest, and maximum entropy models. We evaluated results using three SDM performance metrics (AUC, sensitivity, and specificity) and two data sets: one comprised of the original occurrence data, and a second data set consisting of these same records after the locations were adjusted to correct for identifiable spatial errors. The increase in precision improved the mean estimated spatial error associated with hoary bat records from 5.11 km to 1.58 km, and this reduction in error resulted in a slight increase in all three SDM performance metrics. These results provide insights into the importance of geographic referencing and the value of correcting spatial errors in modeling the distribution of a wide-ranging bat species. We conclude that the considerable time and effort invested in carefully increasing the precision of the occurrence locations in this data set was not worth the marginal gains in improved SDM performance, and it seems likely that gains would be similar for other bat species that range across large areas of the continent, migrate, and are habitat generalists.

Geographic variation in the advertisement calls of Hyla eximia and its possible explanations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Tejeda, Ruth E; Méndez-Cárdenas, María Guadalupe; Islas-Villanueva, Valentina; Macías Garcia, Constantino

2014-01-01

Populations of species occupying large geographic ranges are often phenotypically diverse as a consequence of variation in selective pressures and drift. This applies to attributes involved in mate choice, particularly when both geographic range and breeding biology overlap between related species. This condition may lead to interference of mating signals, which would in turn promote reproductive character displacement (RCD). We investigated whether variation in the advertisement call of the mountain treefrog (Hyla eximia) is linked to geographic distribution with respect to major Mexican river basins (Panuco, Lerma, Balsas and Magdalena), or to coexistence with its sister (the canyon treefrog, Hyla arenicolor) or another related species (the dwarf treefrog, Tlalocohyla smithii). We also evaluated whether call divergence across the main river basins could be linked to genetic structure. We found that the multidimensional acoustic space of calls from two basins where H. eximia currently interacts with T. smithii, was different from the acoustic space of calls from H. eximia elsewhere. Individuals from these two basins were also distinguishable from the rest by both the phylogeny inferred from mitochondrial sequences, and the genetic structure inferred from nuclear markers. The discordant divergence of H. eximia advertisement calls in the two separate basins where its geographic range overlaps that of T. smithii can be interpreted as the result of two independent events of RCD, presumably as a consequence of acoustic interference in the breeding choruses, although more data are required to evaluate this possibility.

Geographic variation in the advertisement calls of Hyla eximia and its possible explanations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth E. Rodríguez-Tejeda

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Populations of species occupying large geographic ranges are often phenotypically diverse as a consequence of variation in selective pressures and drift. This applies to attributes involved in mate choice, particularly when both geographic range and breeding biology overlap between related species. This condition may lead to interference of mating signals, which would in turn promote reproductive character displacement (RCD. We investigated whether variation in the advertisement call of the mountain treefrog (Hyla eximia is linked to geographic distribution with respect to major Mexican river basins (Panuco, Lerma, Balsas and Magdalena, or to coexistence with its sister (the canyon treefrog, Hyla arenicolor or another related species (the dwarf treefrog, Tlalocohyla smithii. We also evaluated whether call divergence across the main river basins could be linked to genetic structure. We found that the multidimensional acoustic space of calls from two basins where H. eximia currently interacts with T. smithii, was different from the acoustic space of calls from H. eximia elsewhere. Individuals from these two basins were also distinguishable from the rest by both the phylogeny inferred from mitochondrial sequences, and the genetic structure inferred from nuclear markers. The discordant divergence of H. eximia advertisement calls in the two separate basins where its geographic range overlaps that of T. smithii can be interpreted as the result of two independent events of RCD, presumably as a consequence of acoustic interference in the breeding choruses, although more data are required to evaluate this possibility.

Integrative real-time geographic visualization of energy resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorokine, A.; Shankar, M.; Stovall, J.; Bhaduri, B.; King, T.; Fernandez, S.; Datar, N.; Omitaomu, O.

2009-01-01

'Full text:' Several models forecast that climatic changes will increase the frequency of disastrous events like droughts, hurricanes, and snow storms. Responding to these events and also to power outages caused by system errors such as the 2003 North American blackout require an interconnect-wide real-time monitoring system for various energy resources. Such a system should be capable of providing situational awareness to its users in the government and energy utilities by dynamically visualizing the status of the elements of the energy grid infrastructure and supply chain in geographic contexts. We demonstrate an approach that relies on Google Earth and similar standard-based platforms as client-side geographic viewers with a data-dependent server component. The users of the system can view status information in spatial and temporal contexts. These data can be integrated with a wide range of geographic sources including all standard Google Earth layers and a large number of energy and environmental data feeds. In addition, we show a real-time spatio-temporal data sharing capability across the users of the system, novel methods for visualizing dynamic network data, and a fine-grain access to very large multi-resolution geographic datasets for faster delivery of the data. The system can be extended to integrate contingency analysis results and other grid models to assess recovery and repair scenarios in the case of major disruption. (author)

Geographic patterns of genetic variation and conservation consequences in three South American rodents.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Gustavo B; Andrades-Miranda, Jaqueline; Oliveira, Luiz F B; Langguth, Alfredo; Mattevi, Margarete S

2007-12-01

In this study, the geographic patterns of genetic variation of three rodent species belonging to the tribe Oryzomyini were investigated using the mitochondrial cytochrome b and nuclear IRBP genes in biomes that are undergoing degradation processes to a greater or lesser degree. The samples are from 25 collecting localities distributed throughout the Amazon, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, and Pampa biomes. The results show that the three species have a population and geographic structure, besides being in demographic equilibrium. The phylogenetic analyses performed on Euryoryzomys russatus and Hylaeamys megacephalus showed these specimens grouped in three distinct clades forming geographic gradients (North-South direction in H. megacephalus). Intraspecific genetic divergence was higher in H. megacephalus (4.53%), followed by E. russatus (1.79%), and lowest in Sooretamys angouya (0.88%). The results obtained indicate that, necessarily, the management strategies to preserve genetic diversity should be different for each species, since each of them presented specific population parameters.

Leopard (Panthera pardus status, distribution, and the research efforts across its range

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew P. Jacobson

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The leopard’s (Panthera pardus broad geographic range, remarkable adaptability, and secretive nature have contributed to a misconception that this species might not be severely threatened across its range. We find that not only are several subspecies and regional populations critically endangered but also the overall range loss is greater than the average for terrestrial large carnivores. To assess the leopard’s status, we compile 6,000 records at 2,500 locations from over 1,300 sources on its historic (post 1750 and current distribution. We map the species across Africa and Asia, delineating areas where the species is confirmed present, is possibly present, is possibly extinct or is almost certainly extinct. The leopard now occupies 25–37% of its historic range, but this obscures important differences between subspecies. Of the nine recognized subspecies, three (P. p. pardus, fusca, and saxicolor account for 97% of the leopard’s extant range while another three (P. p. orientalis, nimr, and japonensis have each lost as much as 98% of their historic range. Isolation, small patch sizes, and few remaining patches further threaten the six subspecies that each have less than 100,000 km2 of extant range. Approximately 17% of extant leopard range is protected, although some endangered subspecies have far less. We found that while leopard research was increasing, research effort was primarily on the subspecies with the most remaining range whereas subspecies that are most in need of urgent attention were neglected.

Linguistic, geographic and genetic isolation: a collaborative study of Italian populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Capocasa, Marco; Anagnostou, Paolo; Bachis, Valeria; Battaggia, Cinzia; Bertoncini, Stefania; Biondi, Gianfranco; Boattini, Alessio; Boschi, Ilaria; Brisighelli, Francesca; Caló, Carla Maria; Carta, Marilisa; Coia, Valentina; Corrias, Laura; Crivellaro, Federica; De Fanti, Sara; Dominici, Valentina; Ferri, Gianmarco; Francalacci, Paolo; Franceschi, Zelda Alice; Luiselli, Donata; Morelli, Laura; Paoli, Giorgio; Rickards, Olga; Robledo, Renato; Sanna, Daria; Sanna, Emanuele; Sarno, Stefania; Sineo, Luca; Taglioli, Luca; Tagarelli, Giuseppe; Tofanelli, Sergio; Vona, Giuseppe; Pettener, Davide; Destro Bisol, Giovanni

2014-01-01

of Italian populations in the European context. The human genetic diversity of our country was found to be greater than observed throughout the continent at short (0-200 km) and intermediate (700-800km) distances, and accounted for most of the highest values of genetic distances observed at all geographic ranges. Interestingly, an important contribution to this pattern comes from the "linguistic islands"( e.g. German speaking groups of Sappada and Luserna from the Eastern Italian Alps), further proof of the importance of considering social and cultural factors when studying human genetic variation.

Royal Engineer Geographic Technicians: Exploring their attitudes to education and training

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, John Anthony

A creative approach is presented for understanding the attitudes of Royal Engineer (RE) Geographic Technicians (Geo Techs) to training and education. Through a grounded theory methodology, participants' experiences of learning and teaching are explored. These provide a greater awareness and perception of attitudes than have emerged through more established, formal methods of evaluating the effectiveness of training. Recent developments in technology, doctrine, requirements and operations have brought about significant changes to the range and complexity of subjects taught in the field of Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT). This in turn has increased the challenges to RE staff and students, many of whom find themselves instructing on or undertaking demanding degree level courses without the requisite formal qualifications. Grounded theory, based on guidelines rather than rigid rules, is adopted to provide a study of RE Geographic Technicians' learning experiences from the perspective of those who live it and for an interpretive understanding of their meanings to emerge. The policies, culture and social processes in which the RE Geo training takes place are explored to appreciate the influence of the training environment on learning. Data obtained through focus groups held with students and instructors, and through in-depth interviews with individuals who hold key roles associated with the course, recognises the relativism of multiple social realities in developing a rich source of knowledge on attitudes to learning. The collection, synthesis and analysis of data led to the emergence of core categories: context, commitment, expectations, motivation, qualifications, relevance and respect. Through their engagement the research participants' awareness, in particular of instructors, of Geographic Technicians' attitudes to training and education has been raised. Using the theoretical framework of communities of practice, the challenges and effectiveness of the RSMS as a

Natural Scales in Geographical Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Menezes, Telmo; Roth, Camille

2017-04-01

Human mobility is known to be distributed across several orders of magnitude of physical distances, which makes it generally difficult to endogenously find or define typical and meaningful scales. Relevant analyses, from movements to geographical partitions, seem to be relative to some ad-hoc scale, or no scale at all. Relying on geotagged data collected from photo-sharing social media, we apply community detection to movement networks constrained by increasing percentiles of the distance distribution. Using a simple parameter-free discontinuity detection algorithm, we discover clear phase transitions in the community partition space. The detection of these phases constitutes the first objective method of characterising endogenous, natural scales of human movement. Our study covers nine regions, ranging from cities to countries of various sizes and a transnational area. For all regions, the number of natural scales is remarkably low (2 or 3). Further, our results hint at scale-related behaviours rather than scale-related users. The partitions of the natural scales allow us to draw discrete multi-scale geographical boundaries, potentially capable of providing key insights in fields such as epidemiology or cultural contagion where the introduction of spatial boundaries is pivotal.

Geographic Access to Cancer Care and Mortality Among Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Tai, Eric; Hallisey, Elaine; Peipins, Lucy A; Flanagan, Barry; Lunsford, Natasha Buchanan; Wilt, Grete; Graham, Shannon

2018-02-01

Adolescents with cancer have had less improvement in survival than other populations in the United States. This may be due, in part, to adolescents not receiving treatment at Children's Oncology Group (COG) institutions, which have been shown to increase survival for some cancers. The objective of this ecologic study was to examine geographic distance to COG institutions and adolescent cancer mortality. We calculated cancer mortality among adolescents and sociodemographic and healthcare access factors in four geographic zones at selected distances surrounding COG facilities: Zone A (area within 10 miles of any COG institution), Zones B and C (concentric rings with distances from a COG institution of >10-25 miles and >25-50 miles, respectively), and Zone D (area outside of 50 miles). The adolescent cancer death rate was highest in Zone A at 3.21 deaths/100,000, followed by Zone B at 3.05 deaths/100,000, Zone C at 2.94 deaths/100,000, and Zone D at 2.88 deaths/100,000. The United States-wide death rate for whites without Hispanic ethnicity, blacks without Hispanic ethnicity, and persons with Hispanic ethnicity was 2.96 deaths/100,000, 3.10 deaths/100,000, and 3.26 deaths/100,000, respectively. Zone A had high levels of poverty (15%), no health insurance coverage (16%), and no vehicle access (16%). Geographic access to COG institutions, as measured by distance alone, played no evident role in death rate differences across zones. Among adolescents, socioeconomic factors, such as poverty and health insurance coverage, may have a greater impact on cancer mortality than geographic distance to COG institution.

Plants and geographical names in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cargonja, Hrvoje; Daković, Branko; Alegro, Antun

2008-09-01

The main purpose of this paper is to present some general observations, regularities and insights into a complex relationship between plants and people through symbolic systems like geographical names on the territory of Croatia. The basic sources of data for this research were maps from atlas of Croatia of the scale 1:100000. Five groups of maps or areas were selected in order to represent main Croatian phytogeographic regions. A selection of toponyms from each of the map was made in which the name for a plant in Croatian language was recognized (phytotoponyms). Results showed that of all plant names recognized in geographical names the most represented are trees, and among them birch and oak the most. Furthermore, an attempt was made to explain the presence of the most represented plant species in the phytotoponyms in the light of general phytogeographical and sociocultural differences and similarities of comparing areas. The findings confirm an expectation that the genera of climazonal vegetation of particular area are the most represented among the phytotoponyms. Nevertheless, there are ample examples where representation of a plant name in the names of human environment can only be ascribed to ethno-linguistic and socio-cultural motives. Despite the reductionist character of applied methodology, this research also points out some advantages of this approach for ethnobotanic and ethnolinguistic studies of greater areas of human environment.

Ecological and evolutionary processes at expanding range margins

OpenAIRE

Thomas, C.D.; Bodsworth, E.J.; Wilson, R.J.; Simmons, A.D.; Davies, Z.G.; Musche, M.; Conradt, L.

2001-01-01

Many animals are regarded as relatively sedentary and specialized in marginal parts of their geographical distributions. They are expected to be slow at colonizing new habitats. Despite this, the cool margins of many species' distributions have expanded\\ud rapidly in association with recent climate warming3±10. We examined four insect species that have expanded their geographical\\ud ranges in Britain over the past 20 years. Here we report that two butterfly species have increased the variety ...

Landscape characteristics influencing the genetic structure of greater sage-grouse within the stronghold of their range: a holistic modeling approach

Science.gov (United States)

Row, Jeff R; Oyler-McCance, Sara J.; Fike, Jennifer; O'Donnell, Michael; Doherty, Kevin E.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Bowen, Zachary H.; Fedy, Brad C.

2015-01-01

Given the significance of animal dispersal to population dynamics and geographic variability, understanding how dispersal is impacted by landscape patterns has major ecological and conservation importance. Speaking to the importance of dispersal, the use of linear mixed models to compare genetic differentiation with pairwise resistance derived from landscape resistance surfaces has presented new opportunities to disentangle the menagerie of factors behind effective dispersal across a given landscape. Here, we combine these approaches with novel resistance surface parameterization to determine how the distribution of high- and low-quality seasonal habitat and individual landscape components shape patterns of gene flow for the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) across Wyoming. We found that pairwise resistance derived from the distribution of low-quality nesting and winter, but not summer, seasonal habitat had the strongest correlation with genetic differentiation. Although the patterns were not as strong as with habitat distribution, multivariate models with sagebrush cover and landscape ruggedness or forest cover and ruggedness similarly had a much stronger fit with genetic differentiation than an undifferentiated landscape. In most cases, landscape resistance surfaces transformed with 17.33-km-diameter moving windows were preferred, suggesting small-scale differences in habitat were unimportant at this large spatial extent. Despite the emergence of these overall patterns, there were differences in the selection of top models depending on the model selection criteria, suggesting research into the most appropriate criteria for landscape genetics is required. Overall, our results highlight the importance of differences in seasonal habitat preferences to patterns of gene flow and suggest the combination of habitat suitability modeling and linear mixed models with our resistance parameterization is a powerful approach to discerning the effects of landscape

GEOGRAPHIC NAMES INFORMATION SYSTEM (GNIS) ...

Science.gov (United States)

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), contains information about physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and associated areas, both current and historical, but not including roads and highways. The database also contains geographic names in Antarctica. The database holds the Federally recognized name of each feature and defines the location of the feature by state, county, USGS topographic map, and geographic coordinates. Other feature attributes include names or spellings other than the official name, feature designations, feature class, historical and descriptive information, and for some categories of features the geometric boundaries. The database assigns a unique feature identifier, a random number, that is a key for accessing, integrating, or reconciling GNIS data with other data sets. The GNIS is our Nation's official repository of domestic geographic feature names information.

Indicator 1.07. Number and geographic distribution of forest-associated species at risk of losing genetic variation and locally adapted genotypes

Science.gov (United States)

C. H. Flather; M. S Knowles; C. H. Sieg

2011-01-01

This indicator provides information on the number and distribution of forest-associated species at risk of losing genetic variation across their geographic range. Comparing a species' current geographic distribution with its historic distribution is the basis for identifying those species whose range has contracted significantly. Human activities are accelerating...

Strong geographical variation in wing aspect ratio of a damselfly, Calopteryx maculata (Odonata: Zygoptera

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Christopher Hassall

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Geographical patterns in body size have been described across a wide range of species, leading to the development of a series of fundamental biological rules. However, shape variables are less well-described despite having substantial consequences for organism performance. Wing aspect ratio (AR has been proposed as a key shape parameter that determines function in flying animals, with high AR corresponding to longer, thinner wings that promote high manoeuvrability, low speed flight, and low AR corresponding to shorter, broader wings that promote high efficiency long distance flight. From this principle it might be predicted that populations living in cooler areas would exhibit low AR wings to compensate for reduced muscle efficiency at lower temperatures. I test this hypothesis using the riverine damselfly, Calopteryx maculata, sampled from 34 sites across its range margin in North America. Nine hundred and seven male specimens were captured from across the 34 sites (mean = 26.7 ± 2.9 SE per site, dissected and measured to quantify the area and length of all four wings. Geometric morphometrics were employed to investigate geographical variation in wing shape. The majority of variation in wing shape involved changes in wing aspect ratio, confirmed independently by geometric morphometrics and wing measurements. There was a strong negative relationship between wing aspect ratio and the maximum temperature of the warmest month which varies from west-east in North America, creating a positive relationship with longitude. This pattern suggests that higher aspect ratio may be associated with areas in which greater flight efficiency is required: regions of lower temperatures during the flight season. I discuss my findings in light of research of the functional ecology of wing shape across vertebrate and invertebrate taxa.

Conservation Concern for the Deteriorating Geographical Range of the Grey Parrot in Cameroon

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Simon A. Tamungang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The need for information on Grey Parrot distribution and vegetation associations for informed management and policy decisions was the basis for this study. A nationwide survey of the Grey Parrot population and habitat status was carried out, using questionnaire and point count methods. From the results, the extent of the contemporary range of the parrots was restricted to Southern Cameroon, which harbours the rainforest. Regional parrot population means ranged from 3,487 parrots in the Littoral to 1,351,275 parrots in the East Regions. The extent of the contemporary range as a percentage of the whole country was 25.4% and as a percentage of the regions with rainforest was 44.5%. The historic range of the bird has been reduced by over 55.5%. Estimated percentage of forest lost per region ranged from 20.4% in the Centre to 57.1% in the East and South Regions. At a global level, Cameroon contributed 9% to the total extent of the range of the Grey Parrot in Africa. The range is increasingly fragmented, contracted, and lost through land-based socioeconomic activities. These degradation pressures on the range called for urgent conservation considerations for long-term survival of the parrot species and its associated biodiversity in Cameroon.

Review of the geographic distribution of Micrurus decoratus (Jan, 1858 (Serpentes: Elapidae

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Rodrigo Castellari Gonzalez

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Micrurus decoratus (Jan, 1858 is a poorly known species of coral snake, with a controversial history concerning its geographical range. The lack of consensus among researchers, since its original description, is largely due to the reporting of erroneous localities in publications. Herein we present the geographical range for the species based on the review of 184 records from 67 different municipalities in Brazil, including two new records for the state of Espírito Santo, extending its distribution to ca. 300 km northward from the previous northernmost locality. We also comment on doubtful records for the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia, which contain no accurate data. We restrict the occurrence of Micrurus decoratus to the Atlantic Rainforest, with elevation range from 400 up to 1,600 m in the Brazilian states of Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.

The Potential of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI in Future Transport Systems

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Maria Attard

2016-11-01

Full Text Available As transport systems are pushed to the limits in many cities, governments have tried to resolve problems of traffic and congestion by increasing capacity. Miller (2013 contends the need to identify new capabilities (instead of capacity of the transport infrastructure in order to increase efficiency without extending the physical infrastructure. Kenyon and Lyons (2003 identified integrated traveller information as a facilitator for better transport decisions. Today, with further developments in the use of geographic information systems (GIS and a greater disposition by the public to provide volunteered geographic information (VGI, the potential of information is not only integrated across modes but also user-generated, real-time and available on smartphones anywhere. This geographic information plays today an important role in sectors such as politics, businesses and entertainment, and presumably this would extend to transport in revealing people’s preferences for mobility and therefore be useful for decision-making. The widespread availability of networks and smartphones offer new opportunities supported by apps and crowdsourcing through social media such as the successful traffic and navigation app Waze, car sharing programmes such as Zipcar, and ride sharing systems such as Uber. This study aims to develop insights into the potential of governments to use voluntary (crowdsourced geographic information effectively to achieve sustainable mobility. A review of the literature and existing technology informs this article. Further research into this area is identified and presented at the end of the paper.

Volunteered Geographic Information in Wikipedia

Science.gov (United States)

Hardy, Darren

2010-01-01

Volunteered geographic information (VGI) refers to the geographic subset of online user-generated content. Through Geobrowsers and online mapping services, which use geovisualization and Web technologies to share and produce VGI, a global digital commons of geographic information has emerged. A notable example is Wikipedia, an online collaborative…

The development of landscape-scale ecological units and their application to the greater Huachuca Mountains fire planning process

Science.gov (United States)

Larry E. Laing; David Gori; James T. Jones

2005-01-01

The multi-partner Greater Huachuca Mountains fire planning effort involves over 500,000 acres of public and private lands. This large area supports distinct landscapes that have evolved with fire. Utilizing GIS as a tool, the United States Forest Service (USFS), General Ecosystem Survey (GES), and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Soil Geographic...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) for Lousiana, Geographic NAD83, USGS (2007) [GNIS_LA_USGS_2007

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Predicting Greater Prairie-Chicken Lek Site Suitability to Inform Conservation Actions.

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Torre J Hovick

Full Text Available The demands of a growing human population dictates that expansion of energy infrastructure, roads, and other development frequently takes place in native rangelands. Particularly, transmission lines and roads commonly divide rural landscapes and increase fragmentation. This has direct and indirect consequences on native wildlife that can be mitigated through thoughtful planning and proactive approaches to identifying areas of high conservation priority. We used nine years (2003-2011 of Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido lek locations totaling 870 unique leks sites in Kansas and seven geographic information system (GIS layers describing land cover, topography, and anthropogenic structures to model habitat suitability across the state. The models obtained had low omission rates (0.81, indicating high model performance and reliability of predicted habitat suitability for Greater Prairie-Chickens. We found that elevation was the most influential in predicting lek locations, contributing three times more predictive power than any other variable. However, models were improved by the addition of land cover and anthropogenic features (transmission lines, roads, and oil and gas structures. Overall, our analysis provides a hierarchal understanding of Greater Prairie-Chicken habitat suitability that is broadly based on geomorphological features followed by land cover suitability. We found that when land features and vegetation cover are suitable for Greater Prairie-Chickens, fragmentation by anthropogenic sources such as roadways and transmission lines are a concern. Therefore, it is our recommendation that future human development in Kansas avoid areas that our models identified as highly suitable for Greater Prairie-Chickens and focus development on land cover types that are of lower conservation concern.

The genetic network of greater sage-grouse: Range-wide identification of keystone hubs of connectivity

Science.gov (United States)

Todd B. Cross; Michael K. Schwartz; David E. Naugle; Brad C. Fedy; Jeffrey R. Row; Sara J. Oyler-McCance

2018-01-01

Genetic networks can characterize complex genetic relationships among groups of individuals, which can be used to rank nodes most important to the overall connectivity of the system. Ranking allows scarce resources to be guided toward nodes integral to connectivity. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a species of conservation concern that breeds on...

Rigidity spectrum of z greater than or equal to 3 cosmic-ray nuclei in the range 4-285 GV and a search for cosmic antimatter

Science.gov (United States)

Golden, R. L.; Adams, J. H., Jr.; Marar, T. M. K.; Deney, C. L.; Badhwar, G. D.; Heckman, H. H.; Lindstrom, P. J.

1974-01-01

A measurement, using the magnetic emulsion spectrometer system, of the differential rigidity spectrum of Z greater than or equal to 3 nuclei of the galactic cosmic radiation is presented. The system was flown on Aug. 22, 1969, from Palestine, Texas. The instrument floated above 125,000 feet for eight hours. The data in the rigidity range 8-285 GV can be represented by a power-law spectrum in rigidity, J(rho) = A rho to the minus gamma power, with the exponent gamma = 2.6 plus or minus 0.10. The spectrum in the range 15-285 GV is also described by the same exponent, gamma = 2.6 plus or minus 0.25. The data below 8 GV cannot be described by the same power law without invoking solar modulation. A set of nonunique parameters for modulation are given. Upper limit for the fraction of antimatter in the rigidity range 4-125 GV is .005 with 95% confidence limit.

The morbidity and mortality outcomes of indigenous Australian peoples after isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery: the influence of geographic remoteness.

Science.gov (United States)

Prabhu, Anil; Tully, Phillip J; Bennetts, Jayme S; Tuble, Sigrid C; Baker, Robert A

2013-08-01

Though Indigenous Australian peoples reportedly have poorer survival outcome after cardiac surgery, few studies have jointly documented the experience of major morbidity, and considered the influence of patient geographic remoteness. From January 1998 to September 2008, major morbidity events and survival were recorded for 2748 consecutive patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Morbidity and survival analyses adjusted for propensity deciles based on patient ethnicity and age, sex, left ventricular ejection fraction, recent myocardial infarction, tobacco smoking, diabetes, renal disease and history of stroke. Sensitivity analyses controlled for the patient accessibility/remoteness index of Australia (ARIA). The 297 Indigenous Australian patients (10.8% of total) had greater odds for total morbidity (adjusted odds ratio = 1.55; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-2.30) and prolonged ventilation (adjusted odds ratio = 2.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-3.44) in analyses adjusted for propensity deciles and geographic remoteness. With a median follow-up of 7.5 years (interquartile range 5.2-10.2), Indigenous Australian patients were found to experience 30% greater mortality risk (unadjusted hazard ratio = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.03-1.64, p = 0.03). The effect size strengthened after adjustment for propensity score (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.13-1.96, p = .004). Adjustment for ARIA categorisation strengthened the effect size (adjusted HR = 1.54 (95% CI: 1.11-2.13, p = .009). Indigenous Australian peoples were at greater risk for prolonged ventilation and combined morbidity outcome, and experienced poorer survival in the longer term. Higher mortality risk among Indigenous Australians was evident even after controlling for remoteness and accessibility to services. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Changes at the National Geographic Society

Science.gov (United States)

Schwille, Kathleen

2016-01-01

For more than 125 years, National Geographic has explored the planet, unlocking its secrets and sharing them with the world. For almost thirty of those years, National Geographic has been committed to K-12 educators and geographic education through its Network of Alliances. As National Geographic begins a new chapter, they remain committed to the…

The Influence of Green Infrastructure on Urban Resilience in Greater London

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Yukyung

2017-04-01

High population densities and diverse economic activities in urban areas create social issues as well as a range of environmental impacts including air pollution, soil contamination, loss of biodiversity and health problems (Alberti et al., 2003; Dobbs, Escobedo, & Zipperer, 2011; Grimm et al., 2008). The concept of urban resilience has been used for increasing the capacity of the entities and players to adapt to rapid changes, and urban green spaces play a crucial role in increasing urban resilience. Greater London has a good case for increasing urban green spaces and resilience under the London Plan. The relevance of urban open spaces and several socioeconomic indicators would provide researchers and policy makers with the information for managing green coverage. The correlation analysis of two quantitative data such as open space and socioeconomic data of Greater London was conducted with SPSS. The data for open spaces in Greater London was gained through Greenspace Information for Greater London. The data was converted from vector to raster in Geographic Information System (GIS), so as to calculate landscape metrics for open spaces in Greater London through a spatial pattern analysis program, FRAGSTATS 4.2. The socioeconomic data was obtained from "London Borough Profile", London Datastore. In addition, data on total carbon emissions from Industry and Commercial, Domestic, Transport, LULUCF Net Emissions, and per capita emissions were gained from UK local authority and regional carbon dioxide emissions national statistics: 2005-2014 released from Department of Energy and Climate Change. The indicators from open spaces are total area of open space and patch density or contagion of open spaces. The latter indicator allows to figure out the level of fragmentation of open spaces. The socioeconomic indicators cover number of jobs by workplace, jobs density, crime rates per thousand population, and several wellbeing indicators such as life satisfaction

Conceptual Model of Dynamic Geographic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martínez-Rosales Miguel Alejandro

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In geographic environments, there are many and different types of geographic entities such as automobiles, trees, persons, buildings, storms, hurricanes, etc. These entities can be classified into two groups: geographic objects and geographic phenomena. By its nature, a geographic environment is dynamic, thus, it’s static modeling is not sufficient. Considering the dynamics of geographic environment, a new type of geographic entity called event is introduced. The primary target is a modeling of geographic environment as an event sequence, because in this case the semantic relations are much richer than in the case of static modeling. In this work, the conceptualization of this model is proposed. It is based on the idea to process each entity apart instead of processing the environment as a whole. After that, the so called history of each entity and its spatial relations to other entities are defined to describe the whole environment. The main goal is to model systems at a conceptual level that make use of spatial and temporal information, so that later it can serve as the semantic engine for such systems.

Home range utilisation and long-range movement of estuarine crocodiles during the breeding and nesting season.

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Hamish A Campbell

Full Text Available The estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus is the apex-predator in waterways and coastlines throughout south-east Asia and Australasia. C. porosus pose a potential risk to humans, and management strategies are implemented to control their movement and distribution. Here we used GPS-based telemetry to accurately record geographical location of adult C. porosus during the breeding and nesting season. The purpose of the study was to assess how C. porosus movement and distribution may be influenced by localised social conditions. During breeding, the females (2.92 ± 0.013 metres total length (TL, mean ± S.E., n = 4 occupied an area<1 km length of river, but to nest they travelled up to 54 km away from the breeding area. All tagged male C. porosus sustained high rates of movement (6.49 ± 0.9 km d(-1; n = 8 during the breeding and nesting period. The orientation of the daily movements differed between individuals revealing two discontinuous behavioural strategies. Five tagged male C. porosus (4.17 ± 0.14 m TL exhibited a 'site-fidelic' strategy and moved within well-defined zones around the female home range areas. In contrast, three males (3.81 ± 0.08 m TL exhibited 'nomadic' behaviour where they travelled continually throughout hundreds of kilometres of waterway. We argue that the 'site-fidelic' males patrolled territories around the female home ranges to maximise reproductive success, whilst the 'nomadic' males were subordinate animals that were forced to range over a far greater area in search of unguarded females. We conclude that C. porosus are highly mobile animals existing within a complex social system, and mate/con-specific interactions are likely to have a profound effect upon population density and distribution, and an individual's travel potential. We recommend that impacts on socio-spatial behaviour are considered prior to the implementation of management interventions.

Drought stress limits the geographic ranges of two tree species via different physiological mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderegg, Leander D L; HilleRisLambers, Janneke

2016-03-01

Range shifts are among the most ubiquitous ecological responses to anthropogenic climate change and have large consequences for ecosystems. Unfortunately, the ecophysiological forces that constrain range boundaries are poorly understood, making it difficult to mechanistically project range shifts. To explore the physiological mechanisms by which drought stress controls dry range boundaries in trees, we quantified elevational variation in drought tolerance and in drought avoidance-related functional traits of a widespread gymnosperm (ponderosa pine - Pinus ponderosa) and angiosperm (trembling aspen - Populus tremuloides) tree species in the southwestern USA. Specifically, we quantified tree-to-tree variation in growth, water stress (predawn and midday xylem tension), drought avoidance traits (branch conductivity, leaf/needle size, tree height, leaf area-to-sapwood area ratio), and drought tolerance traits (xylem resistance to embolism, hydraulic safety margin, wood density) at the range margins and range center of each species. Although water stress increased and growth declined strongly at lower range margins of both species, ponderosa pine and aspen showed contrasting patterns of clinal trait variation. Trembling aspen increased its drought tolerance at its dry range edge by growing stronger but more carbon dense branch and leaf tissues, implying an increased cost of growth at its range boundary. By contrast, ponderosa pine showed little elevational variation in drought-related traits but avoided drought stress at low elevations by limiting transpiration through stomatal closure, such that its dry range boundary is associated with limited carbon assimilation even in average climatic conditions. Thus, the same climatic factor (drought) may drive range boundaries through different physiological mechanisms - a result that has important implications for process-based modeling approaches to tree biogeography. Further, we show that comparing intraspecific patterns of

Operational technology for greater confinement disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickman, P.T.; Vollmer, A.T.; Hunter, P.H.

1984-12-01

Procedures and methods for the design and operation of a greater confinement disposal facility using large-diameter boreholes are discussed. It is assumed that the facility would be located at an operating low-level waste disposal site and that only a small portion of the wastes received at the site would require greater confinement disposal. The document is organized into sections addressing: facility planning process; facility construction; waste loading and handling; radiological safety planning; operations procedures; and engineering cost studies. While primarily written for low-level waste management site operators and managers, a detailed economic assessment section is included that should assist planners in performing cost analyses. Economic assessments for both commercial and US government greater confinement disposal facilities are included. The estimated disposal costs range from $27 to $104 per cubic foot for a commercial facility and from $17 to $60 per cubic foot for a government facility. These costs are based on average site preparation, construction, and waste loading costs for both contact- and remote-handled wastes. 14 figures, 22 tables

Geographical heterogeneity and inequality of access to improved drinking water supply and sanitation in Nepal.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Wen-Jun; Lai, Ying-Si; Karmacharya, Biraj M; Dai, Bo-Feng; Hao, Yuan-Tao; Xu, Dong Roman

2018-04-02

Per United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, Nepal is aspiring to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water and provide access to adequate and equitable sanitation for all by 2030. For these goals to be accomplished, it is important to understand the country's geographical heterogeneity and inequality of access to its drinking-water supply and sanitation (WSS) so that resource allocation and disease control can be optimized. We aimed 1) to estimate spatial heterogeneity of access to improved WSS among the overall Nepalese population at a high resolution; 2) to explore inequality within and between relevant Nepalese administrative levels; and 3) to identify the specific administrative areas in greatest need of policy attention. We extracted cluster-sample data on the use of the water supply and sanitation that included 10,826 surveyed households from the 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, then used a Gaussian kernel density estimation with adaptive bandwidths to estimate the distribution of access to improved WSS conditions over a grid at 1 × 1 km. The Gini coefficient was calculated for the measurement of inequality in the distribution of improved WSS; the Theil L measure and Theil T index were applied to account for the decomposition of inequality. 57% of Nepalese had access to improved sanitation (range: 18.1% in Mahottari to 100% in Kathmandu) and 92% to drinking-water (range: 41.7% in Doti to 100% in Bara). The most unequal districts in Gini coefficient among improved sanitation were Saptari, Sindhuli, Banke, Bajura and Achham (range: 0.276 to 0.316); and Sankhuwasabha, Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Bhojpur, Kathmandu (range: 0.110 to 0.137) among improved drinking-water. Both the Theil L and Theil T showed that within-province inequality was substantially greater than between-province inequality; while within-district inequality was less than between-district inequality. The inequality of several districts was

Ethnic and geographic variations in the epidemiology of childhood fractures in the United Kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Rebecca J; Harvey, Nicholas C; Curtis, Elizabeth M; de Vries, Frank; van Staa, Tjeerd; Cooper, Cyrus

2016-04-01

Fractures are common in childhood, and there is considerable variation in the reported incidence across European countries, but few data relating to ethnic and geographic differences within a single country. We therefore aimed to determine the incidence of childhood fractures in the United Kingdom (UK), and to describe age-, ethnicity- and region- specific variations. The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) contains anonymised electronic health records for approximately 7% of the UK population. The occurrence of a fracture between 1988 and 2012 was determined from the CPRD for all individuals ethnicity. Regional fracture incidence rates were also calculated based on general practitioner location within 14 Strategic Health Authorities (SHA) within the UK. The overall fracture incidence rate was 137 per 10,000 person-years (py). This was higher in boys (169 per 10,000 py) than girls (103 per 10,000 py) and white children (150 per 10,000 py) compared to those of black (64 per 10,000 py) and South Asian (81 per 10,000 py) ethnicity. Marked geographic variation in incidence was observed. The highest fracture rates were observed in Wales, where boys and girls had 1.82 and 1.97 times greater incidence, respectively, than those residing in Greater London. In the period 1988-2012, there was marked geographic and ethnic variation in childhood fracture incidence across the UK. These findings also implicate lifestyle and socio-economic differences associated with location and ethnicity, and are relevant to policy makers in the UK and internationally. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Radioactivity levels in well water supplies within the greater Chicago area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kristoff, L.M.; Lordi, D.T.; Lue-Hing, C.

1976-01-01

The radiological analysis of well water supplies within the geographical boundaries of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago was prompted by the relatively high total alpha levels encountered in wastewaters of a MSDGC water reclamation plant as compared to the wastewaters of the other waste treatment plants. Consequently, 87 wells constituting 42 water supplies were sampled and analyzed for total alpha and beta radioactivity. The wells were grouped according to depth. In general, both total alpha and total beta radioactivity concentrations were found to be a function of well depth. The relatively higher total alpha and beta activities in the wastewaters to one of the treatment plants was attributed to the higher levels found in the well water supply. Comparison with the USEPA's Drinking Water Regulations for Radionuclides (July 9, 1976) showed the maximum total alpha level of 15 pCi/liter was exceeded in 3 wells and 32 of the deep well waters had total alpha level greater than 5 pCi/liter. The total beta level of 50 pCi/liter was exceeded in 8 wells

The Effects of Geographic Isolation and Social Support on the Health of Wisconsin Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Tittman, Sarah M; Harteau, Christy; Beyer, Kirsten M M

2016-04-01

Rural residents are less likely to receive preventive health screening, more likely to be uninsured, and more likely to report fair to poor health than urban residents. Social disconnectedness and perceived isolation are known to be negative predictors of self-rated physical health; however, the direct effects of geographic isolation and social support on overall health have not been well elucidated. A cross-sectional survey of women (n = 113) participating in Wisconsin Rural Women's initiative programming was conducted, which included measures of geographic isolation, an assessment of overall health, and social support using the validated Interpersonal Support Evaluation List with 3 subscales, including belonging support, tangible support, and appraisal support. Geographic isolation was shown to be a negative predictor of belonging support (P = .0064) and tangible support (P = .0349); however, geographic isolation was not a statistically significant predictor of appraisal support. A strong and direct relationship was observed between social support and self-perceived health status among this population of Wisconsin women, and hospital access based on geographic proximity was positively correlated (P = .028) with overall health status. The direct relationship between social support and overall health demonstrated here stresses the importance of developing and maintaining strong social support networks, which can be improved through rural support groups that have the unique ability to assist rural residents in fostering social support systems, advocating stress management techniques, and achieving a greater sense of well-being.

Poleward shifts in winter ranges of North American birds

Science.gov (United States)

Frank A. La Sorte; Frank R., III Thompson

2007-01-01

Climate change is thought to promote the poleward movement of geographic ranges; however, the spatial dynamics, mechanisms, and regional anthropogenic drivers associated with these trends have not been fully explored. We estimated changes in latitude of northern range boundaries, center of occurrence, and center of abundance for 254 species of winter avifauna in North...

Speciation on a local geographic scale: the evolution of a rare rock outcrop specialist in Mimulus.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferris, Kathleen G; Sexton, Jason P; Willis, John H

2014-08-05

Speciation can occur on both large and small geographical scales. In plants, local speciation, where small populations split off from a large-ranged progenitor species, is thought to be the dominant mode, yet there are still few examples to verify speciation has occurred in this manner. A recently described morphological species in the yellow monkey flowers, Mimulus filicifolius, is an excellent candidate for local speciation because of its highly restricted geographical range. Mimulus filicifolius was formerly identified as a population of M. laciniatus due to similar lobed leaf morphology and rocky outcrop habitat. To investigate whether M. filicifolius is genetically divergent and reproductively isolated from M. laciniatus, we examined patterns of genetic diversity in ten nuclear and eight microsatellite loci, and hybrid fertility in M. filicifolius and its purported close relatives: M. laciniatus, M. guttatus and M. nasutus. We found that M. filicifolius is genetically divergent from the other species and strongly reproductively isolated from M. laciniatus. We conclude that M. filicifolius is an independent rock outcrop specialist despite being morphologically and ecologically similar to M. laciniatus, and that its small geographical range nested within other wide-ranging members of the M. guttatus species complex is consistent with local speciation. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Geographic Information System (GIS) Applications at a Multi-Site Community College.

Science.gov (United States)

Pottle, Laura

This report presents the Front Range Community College (FRCC) (Colorado) Office of Institutional Research's recent expansion of its data analysis and reporting capabilities to include a geographic information system (GIS). Utilizing ArcView GIS software, the college is better able to visualize institutional and environmental data. They have…

Mapping plant species ranges in the Hawaiian Islands: developing a methodology and associated GIS layers

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Jonathan P.; Jacobi, James D.; Gon, Samuel M.; Matsuwaki, Dwight; Mehrhoff, Loyal; Wagner, Warren; Lucas, Matthew; Rowe, Barbara

2012-01-01

This report documents a methodology for projecting the geographic ranges of plant species in the Hawaiian Islands. The methodology consists primarily of the creation of several geographic information system (GIS) data layers depicting attributes related to the geographic ranges of plant species. The most important spatial-data layer generated here is an objectively defined classification of climate as it pertains to the distribution of plant species. By examining previous zonal-vegetation classifications in light of spatially detailed climate data, broad zones of climate relevant to contemporary concepts of vegetation in the Hawaiian Islands can be explicitly defined. Other spatial-data layers presented here include the following: substrate age, as large areas of the island of Hawai'i, in particular, are covered by very young lava flows inimical to the growth of many plant species; biogeographic regions of the larger islands that are composites of multiple volcanoes, as many of their species are restricted to a given topographically isolated mountain or a specified group of them; and human impact, which can reduce the range of many species relative to where they formerly were found. Other factors influencing the geographic ranges of species that are discussed here but not developed further, owing to limitations in rendering them spatially, include topography, soils, and disturbance. A method is described for analyzing these layers in a GIS, in conjunction with a database of species distributions, to project the ranges of plant species, which include both the potential range prior to human disturbance and the projected present range. Examples of range maps for several species are given as case studies that demonstrate different spatial characteristics of range. Several potential applications of species-range maps are discussed, including facilitating field surveys, informing restoration efforts, studying range size and rarity, studying biodiversity, managing

Urethroplasty: a geographic disparity in care.

Science.gov (United States)

Burks, Frank N; Salmon, Scott A; Smith, Aaron C; Santucci, Richard A

2012-06-01

Urethroplasty is the gold standard for urethral strictures but its geographic prevalence throughout the United States is unknown. We analyzed where and how often urethroplasty was being performed in the United States compared to other treatment modalities for urethral stricture. De-identified case logs from the American Board of Urology were collected from certifying/recertifying urologists from 2004 to 2009. Results were categorized by ZIP codes to determine the geographic distribution. Case logs from 3,877 urologists (2,533 recertifying and 1,344 certifying) were reviewed including 1,836 urethroplasties, 13,080 urethrotomies and 19,564 urethral dilations. The proportion of urethroplasty varied widely among states (range 0% to 17%). The ratio of urethroplasty-to-urethrotomy/dilation also varied widely from state to state, but overall 1 urethroplasty was performed for every 17 urethrotomies or dilations performed. Certifying urologists were 3 times as likely to perform urethroplasty as recertifying urologists (12% vs 4%, respectively, pUrethroplasties were performed more commonly in states with residency programs (mean 5% vs 3%). Some states reported no urethroplasties during the observation period (Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Maine and West Virginia). To our knowledge this is the first report on the geographic distribution of urethroplasty for urethral stricture disease. There are large variations in the rates of urethroplasty performed throughout the United States, indicating a disparity of care, especially for those regions in which few or no urethroplasties were reported. This disparity may decrease with time as younger certifying urologists are performing 3 times as many urethroplasties as older recertifying urologists. Copyright © 2012 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Variation in style morph frequencies in tristylous Lythrum salicaria in the Iberian Peninsula: the role of geographical and demographic factors

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Joana; Castro, Sílvia; Loureiro, João; Barrett, Spencer C. H.

2016-01-01

Background and Aims The balance between stochastic forces and negative frequency-dependent selection largely determines style morph frequencies in heterostylous populations. Investigation of morph frequencies at geographical range limits can provide insights into the forces maintaining the floral polymorphism, and the factors causing biased morph ratios. Here, we investigate style morph frequencies in populations at the south-western European range limit of tristylous Lythrum salicaria, to explore the role of demographic and geographical factors influencing morph ratios in its native range. Methods We measured morph composition and evenness, and the size of 96 populations, along a north to south latitudinal transect from Galicia to Andalucia, Iberian Peninsula, traversing a steep climatic gradient. To examine the potential influence of morph-specific fitness components on morph ratios, we examined reproductive traits in 19 populations. Key Results Most populations of L. salicaria were trimorphic (94·79 %), the majority exhibiting 1 : 1 : 1 morph ratios (68·75 %). Populations with biased morph ratios had a deficiency of the short-styled morph. Population size and morph evenness were positively associated with latitude, with smaller populations and those with less even morph ratios occurring towards the south. Greater variance in morph evenness was evident at the southern range margin. There were no consistent differences in components of reproductive fitness among style morphs, but southern populations produced less fruit and seed than more northerly populations. Conclusions Our results demonstrate the influence of finite population size on morph frequencies in L. salicaria. However, they also illustrate the resilience of Iberian populations to the factors causing deviations from isoplethy and morph loss, especially at the southern range limit where populations are smaller. The maintenance of tristyly in small populations of L. salicaria may be aided

Geographic variation in resource use by specialist versus generalist butterflyfishes

KAUST Repository

Lawton, Rebecca J.; Cole, Andrew J.; Berumen, Michael L.; Pratchett, Morgan S.

2011-01-01

Localised patterns of resource use can be constrained by multiple factors. Comparison of resource use at multiple locations with differing resource availability can allow fundamental specialists to be distinguished from species that simply feed predominantly on prey types that are locally abundant. This study investigates geographic variation in the feeding ecology of coral-feeding butterflyfishes to examine whether patterns of resource use and levels of dietary specialisation vary among distinct locations, corresponding with changes in resource availability. Our specific aims were to investigate whether the dietary niche breadth of four butterflyfishes varies among five geographically separated locations and assess whether each species utilises similar resources in each location. Resource availability and dietary composition of four butterflyfishes were quantified at three sites across each of five geographic locations throughout the Pacific. Niche breadth, niche overlap, and resource selection functions were calculated for each species at each site and compared among locations. Availability of dietary resources varied significantly among locations and sites. Chaetodon vagabundus, C. citrinellus and C. lunulatus had low levels of dietary specialisation and used different resources in each location. Chaetodon trifascialis had high levels of dietary specialisation and used the same few resources in each location. Our results indicate that relative levels of dietary specialisation among different butterflyfishes do hold at larger spatial scales, however, geographical variation in the dietary composition of all butterflyfishes indicates that prey availability has a fundamental influence on dietary composition. Highly specialised species such as C. trifascialis will be highly vulnerable to coral loss as they appear to be largely inflexible in their dietary composition. However, the increased feeding plasticity observed here for C. trifascialis suggests this species may

Geographic variation in resource use by specialist versus generalist butterflyfishes

KAUST Repository

Lawton, Rebecca J.

2011-11-14

Localised patterns of resource use can be constrained by multiple factors. Comparison of resource use at multiple locations with differing resource availability can allow fundamental specialists to be distinguished from species that simply feed predominantly on prey types that are locally abundant. This study investigates geographic variation in the feeding ecology of coral-feeding butterflyfishes to examine whether patterns of resource use and levels of dietary specialisation vary among distinct locations, corresponding with changes in resource availability. Our specific aims were to investigate whether the dietary niche breadth of four butterflyfishes varies among five geographically separated locations and assess whether each species utilises similar resources in each location. Resource availability and dietary composition of four butterflyfishes were quantified at three sites across each of five geographic locations throughout the Pacific. Niche breadth, niche overlap, and resource selection functions were calculated for each species at each site and compared among locations. Availability of dietary resources varied significantly among locations and sites. Chaetodon vagabundus, C. citrinellus and C. lunulatus had low levels of dietary specialisation and used different resources in each location. Chaetodon trifascialis had high levels of dietary specialisation and used the same few resources in each location. Our results indicate that relative levels of dietary specialisation among different butterflyfishes do hold at larger spatial scales, however, geographical variation in the dietary composition of all butterflyfishes indicates that prey availability has a fundamental influence on dietary composition. Highly specialised species such as C. trifascialis will be highly vulnerable to coral loss as they appear to be largely inflexible in their dietary composition. However, the increased feeding plasticity observed here for C. trifascialis suggests this species may

5 CFR 536.303 - Geographic conversion.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... after geographic conversion is the employee's existing payable rate of basic pay in effect immediately before the action. (b) Geographic conversion when a retained rate employee's official worksite is changed... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Geographic conversion. 536.303 Section...

Thermal sensitivity of cold climate lizards and the importance of distributional ranges.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonino, Marcelo F; Moreno Azócar, Débora L; Schulte, James A; Abdala, Cristian S; Cruz, Félix B

2015-08-01

One of the fundamental goals in macroecology is to understand the relationship among species' geographic ranges, ecophysiology, and climate; however, the mechanisms underlying the distributional geographic patterns observed remain unknown for most organisms. In the case of ectotherms this is particularly important because the knowledge of these interactions may provide a robust framework for predicting the potential consequences of climate change in these organisms. Here we studied the relationship of thermal sensitivity and thermal tolerance in Patagonian lizards and their geographic ranges, proposing that species with wider distributions have broader plasticity and thermal tolerance. We predicted that lizard thermal physiology is related to the thermal characteristics of the environment. We also explored the presence of trade-offs of some thermal traits and evaluated the potential effects of a predicted scenario of climate change for these species. We examined sixteen species of Liolaemini lizards from Patagonia representing species with different geographic range sizes. We obtained thermal tolerance data and performance curves for each species in laboratory trials. We found evidence supporting the idea that higher physiological plasticity allows species to achieve broader distribution ranges compared to species with restricted distributions. We also found a trade-off between broad levels of plasticity and higher optimum temperatures of performance. Finally, results from contrasting performance curves against the highest environmental temperatures that lizards may face in a future scenario (year 2080) suggest that the activity of species occurring at high latitudes may be unaffected by predicted climatic changes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Geographical and geological data from caves and mines infected with white-nose syndrome (WNS) before September 2009 in the eastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Swezey, Christopher S.; Garrity, Christopher P.

2011-01-01

Since 2006, a white fungus named Geomyces destructans has been observed on the muzzles, noses, ears, and (or) wings of bats in the eastern United States, and bat colonies that are infected with this fungus have experienced dramatic incidences of mortality. Although it is not exactly certain how and why these bats are dying, this condition has been named white-nose syndrome (WNS). WNS appears to have spread from an initial infection site at a cave that is connected to a commercial cave in New York, and by the end of August 2009 was identified in at least 74 other sites in the eastern United States. Although detailed geographical and geological data are limited, a review of the available data shows that sites infected with WNS before September 2009 include both natural caves and mines. These infected sites extend from New Hampshire to Virginia, and known site elevations range from 84 to 2693 feet above sea level. In terms of geological setting, the infected sites include sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks of ages ranging from Precambrian to Jurassic. However, by the end of August 2009, no infected sites had been identified in strata of Mississippian, Cretaceous, or Triassic age. Meteorological data are sparse, but most of the recorded air temperatures in the known WNS-infected caves and mines range from 0 to 13.9 degrees C, and humidity measurements range from 68 to 100 percent. Although it is not certain which environmental parameters are important for WNS, it is hoped that the geographical and geological information presented in this paper will inform and clarify some of the debate about WNS, lead to greater understanding of the environmental parameters associated with WNS, and highlight the paucity of scientific data from caves in the eastern United States.

Are range-size distributions consistent with species-level heritability?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borregaard, Michael Krabbe; Gotelli, Nicholas; Rahbek, Carsten

2012-01-01

The concept of species-level heritability is widely contested. Because it is most likely to apply to emergent, species-level traits, one of the central discussions has focused on the potential heritability of geographic range size. However, a central argument against range-size heritability has...... been that it is not compatible with the observed shape of present-day species range-size distributions (SRDs), a claim that has never been tested. To assess this claim, we used forward simulation of range-size evolution in clades with varying degrees of range-size heritability, and compared the output...

Resource selection during brood-rearing by Greater Sage-Grouse [chapter 12

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholas W. Kaczor; Katie M. Herman-Brunson; Kent C. Jensen; Mark A. Rumble; Robert W. Klaver; Christopher C. Swanson

2011-01-01

Understanding population dynamics and resource selection is crucial in developing wildlife resource management plans for sensitive species such as Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Little is known about sage grouse habitats on the eastern edge of their range. We investigated resource selection of Greater Sage-Grouse during brood- rearing in North and...

The Oklahoma Geographic Information Retrieval System

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchard, W. A.

1982-01-01

The Oklahoma Geographic Information Retrieval System (OGIRS) is a highly interactive data entry, storage, manipulation, and display software system for use with geographically referenced data. Although originally developed for a project concerned with coal strip mine reclamation, OGIRS is capable of handling any geographically referenced data for a variety of natural resource management applications. A special effort has been made to integrate remotely sensed data into the information system. The timeliness and synoptic coverage of satellite data are particularly useful attributes for inclusion into the geographic information system.

Geographic variation in shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) - cortical monoterpenes

Science.gov (United States)

R.C. Schmidtling; J.H. Myszewski; C.E. McDaniel

2005-01-01

Cortical monoterpenes were assayed in bud tissue from 16 Southwide Southern Pine Seed Source Study (SSPSS) sources and from 6 seed orchard sources fiom across the natural range of the species, to examine geogaphic variation in shortleaf pine. Spruce pine and pond pine were also sampled. The results show geographic differences in all of the major terpenes. There was no...

Changes related to gender, geographic population and habitat in the antennal phenotype of Triatoma patagonica Del Ponte, 1929 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez, Claudia S; Crocco, Liliana; Altamirano, Alejandra; Catalá, Silvia

2013-02-01

Triatomines undergo morphological changes as an adaptive response to different habitats (wild, peridomestic, domestic, laboratory). The characterization of the antennal phenotype provides information on intraspecific variation caused by geographical origin and/or habitat. Triatoma patagonica Del Ponte, 1929 is known to occur in peridomiciles of rural areas in Argentina, where it also invades non-colonized dwellings. Here we describe and compare the antennal phenotype of T. patagonica in populations of different geographic origin, and explore possible modifications induced by laboratory rearing with the aim of investigating the range of phenotypic variation of the species for the first time. Sixty antennas of adult males and females of T. patagonica belonging to two peridomiciliary populations of different geographical origin were analyzed. Four types of sensilla were observed in three antennal segments, showing sexual dimorphism in the species. The multivariate analysis separated the populations of similar habitat (peridomicile) but different geographical origin, without showing differences between the peridomiciliary and laboratory populations of the same geographical origin. These results suggest phenotypic plasticity in T. patagonica, which would allow the species to adapt to a wide range of habitats without having a close association with a given host and its environment. The range of antennal phenotypic variation of T. patagonica would also be an indicator of its current stage of adaptation to the human environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Geographic Expansion of Lyme Disease in the Southeastern United States, 2000-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Lantos, Paul M; Nigrovic, Lise E; Auwaerter, Paul G; Fowler, Vance G; Ruffin, Felicia; Brinkerhoff, R Jory; Reber, Jodi; Williams, Carl; Broyhill, James; Pan, William K; Gaines, David N

2015-12-01

Background.  The majority of Lyme disease cases in the United States are acquired on the east coast between northern Virginia and New England. In recent years the geographic extent of Lyme disease has been expanding, raising the prospect of Lyme disease becoming endemic in the southeast. Methods.  We collected confirmed and probable cases of Lyme disease from 2000 through 2014 from the Virginia Department of Health and North Carolina Department of Public Health and entered them in a geographic information system. We performed spatial and spatiotemporal cluster analyses to characterize Lyme disease expansion. Results.  There was a marked increase in Lyme disease cases in Virginia, particularly from 2007 onwards. Northern Virginia experienced intensification and geographic expansion of Lyme disease cases. The most notable area of expansion was to the southwest along the Appalachian Mountains with development of a new disease cluster in the southern Virginia mountain region. Conclusions.  The geographic distribution of Lyme disease cases significantly expanded in Virginia between 2000 and 2014, particularly southward in the Virginia mountain ranges. If these trends continue, North Carolina can expect autochthonous Lyme disease transmission in its mountain region in the coming years.

Invading and expanding: range dynamics and ecological consequences of the greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula invasion in Ireland.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allan D McDevitt

Full Text Available Establishing how invasive species impact upon pre-existing species is a fundamental question in ecology and conservation biology. The greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula is an invasive species in Ireland that was first recorded in 2007 and which, according to initial data, may be limiting the abundance/distribution of the pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus, previously Ireland's only shrew species. Because of these concerns, we undertook an intensive live-trapping survey (and used other data from live-trapping, sightings and bird of prey pellets/nest inspections collected between 2006 and 2013 to model the distribution and expansion of C. russula in Ireland and its impacts on Ireland's small mammal community. The main distribution range of C. russula was found to be approximately 7,600 km2 in 2013, with established outlier populations suggesting that the species is dispersing with human assistance within the island. The species is expanding rapidly for a small mammal, with a radial expansion rate of 5.5 km/yr overall (2008-2013, and independent estimates from live-trapping in 2012-2013 showing rates of 2.4-14.1 km/yr, 0.5-7.1 km/yr and 0-5.6 km/yr depending on the landscape features present. S. minutus is negatively associated with C. russula. S. minutus is completely absent at sites where C. russula is established and is only present at sites at the edge of and beyond the invasion range of C. russula. The speed of this invasion and the homogenous nature of the Irish landscape may mean that S. minutus has not had sufficient time to adapt to the sudden appearance of C. russula. This may mean the continued decline/disappearance of S. minutus as C. russula spreads throughout the island.

Reptiles of Chubut province, Argentina: richness, diversity, conservation status and geographic distribution maps

Science.gov (United States)

Minoli, Ignacio; Morando, Mariana; Avila, Luciano Javier

2015-01-01

Abstract An accurate estimation of species and population geographic ranges is essential for species-focused studies and conservation and management plans. Knowledge of the geographic distributions of reptiles from Patagonian Argentina is in general limited and dispersed over manuscripts from a wide variety of topics. We completed an extensive review of reptile species of central Patagonia (Argentina) based on information from a wide variety of sources. We compiled and checked geographic distribution records from published literature and museum records, including extensive new data from the LJAMM-CNP (CENPAT-CONICET) herpetological collection. Our results show that there are 52 taxa recorded for this region and the highest species richness was seen in the families Liolaemidae and Dipsadidae with 31 and 10 species, respectively. The Patagónica was the phytogeographic province most diverse in species and Phymaturus was the genus of conservation concern most strongly associated with it. We present a detailed species list with geographical information, richness species, diversity analyses with comparisons across phytogeographical provinces, conservation status, taxonomic comments and distribution maps for all of these taxa. PMID:25931966

Increased genetic divergence between two closely related fir species in areas of range overlap

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Abbott, Richard J; Ingvarsson, Pär K; Liu, Jianquan

2014-01-01

Because of introgressive hybridization, closely related species can be more similar to each other in areas of range overlap (parapatry or sympatry) than in areas where they are geographically isolated from each other (allopatry). Here, we report the reverse situation based on nuclear genetic divergence between two fir species, Abies chensiensis and Abies fargesii, in China, at sites where they are parapatric relative to where they are allopatric. We examined genetic divergence across 126 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers in a set of 172 individuals sampled from both allopatric and parapatric populations of the two species. Our analyses demonstrated that AFLP divergence was much greater between the species when comparisons were made between parapatric populations than between allopatric populations. We suggest that selection in parapatry may have largely contributed to this increased divergence. PMID:24772279

Developing a spatial-temporal method for the geographic investigation of shoeprint evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Ge; Elmes, Gregory; Walnoha, Mike; Chen, Xiannian

2009-01-01

This article examines the potential of a spatial-temporal method for analysis of forensic shoeprint data. The large volume of shoeprint evidence recovered at crime scenes results in varied success in matching a print to a known shoe type and subsequently linking sets of matched prints to suspected offenders. Unlike DNA and fingerprint data, a major challenge is to reduce the uncertainty in linking sets of matched shoeprints to a suspected serial offender. Shoeprint data for 2004 were imported from the Greater London Metropolitan Area Bigfoot database into a geographic information system, and a spatial-temporal algorithm developed for this project. The results show that by using distance and time constraints interactively, the number of candidate shoeprints that can implicate one or few suspects can be substantially reduced. It concludes that the use of space-time and other ancillary information within a geographic information system can be quite helpful for forensic investigation.

Present, past and future of the European rock fern Asplenium fontanum: combining distribution modelling and population genetics to study the effect of climate change on geographic range and genetic diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Bystriakova, Nadia; Ansell, Stephen W; Russell, Stephen J; Grundmann, Michael; Vogel, Johannes C; Schneider, Harald

2014-02-01

Climate change is expected to alter the geographic range of many plant species dramatically. Predicting this response will be critical to managing the conservation of plant resources and the effects of invasive species. The aim of this study was to predict the response of temperate homosporous ferns to climate change. Genetic diversity and changes in distribution range were inferred for the diploid rock fern Asplenium fontanum along a South-North transect, extending from its putative last glacial maximum (LGM) refugia in southern France towards southern Germany and eastern-central France. This study reconciles observations from distribution models and phylogeographic analyses derived from plastid and nuclear diversity. Genetic diversity distribution and niche modelling propose that genetic diversity accumulates in the LGM climate refugium in southern France with the formation of a diversity gradient reflecting a slow, post-LGM range expansion towards the current distribution range. Evidence supports the fern's preference for outcrossing, contradicting the expectation that homosporous ferns would populate new sites by single-spore colonization. Prediction of climate and distribution range change suggests that a dramatic loss of range and genetic diversity in this fern is possible. The observed migration is best described by the phalanx expansion model. The results suggest that homosporous ferns reproducing preferentially by outcrossing accumulate genetic diversity primarily in LGM climate refugia and may be threatened if these areas disappear due to global climate change.

Composing Models of Geographic Physical Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Hofer, Barbara; Frank, Andrew U.

Processes are central for geographic information science; yet geographic information systems (GIS) lack capabilities to represent process related information. A prerequisite to including processes in GIS software is a general method to describe geographic processes independently of application disciplines. This paper presents such a method, namely a process description language. The vocabulary of the process description language is derived formally from mathematical models. Physical processes in geography can be described in two equivalent languages: partial differential equations or partial difference equations, where the latter can be shown graphically and used as a method for application specialists to enter their process models. The vocabulary of the process description language comprises components for describing the general behavior of prototypical geographic physical processes. These process components can be composed by basic models of geographic physical processes, which is shown by means of an example.

Louisiana State Soil Geographic, General Soil Map, Geographic NAD83, NWRC (1998) [statsgo_soils_NWRC_1998

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This data set contains vector line map information. The vector data contain selected base categories of geographic features, and characteristics of these features,...

Evolutionary History of a Desert Shrub Ephedra przewalskii (Ephedraceae): Allopatric Divergence and Range Shifts in Northwestern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Zhi-Hao; Zhang, Ming-Li

2016-01-01

Based on two chloroplast DNA sequences, psbA-trnH and trnT-trnF, phylogeographical patterns of a desert shrub, Ephedra przewalskii, were examined across most of its geographic range in northwestern China. A total of sixteen haplotypes were detected. There was a common haplotype in each basin, that was haplotype A in Tarim Basin, haplotype G in Junggar Basin, and haplotype M in Qaidam Basin. Genetic variance mainly occurred among populations, geographic regions, and eleven geographic groups subdivided by SAMOVA analysis. E. przewalskii likely had a smaller and more fragmented geographic range during the Last Glacial Maximum, which was determined based on ecological niche modelling. Three groups of E. przewalskii populations were detected to have experience range expansion, and this was based on significant values of Fu's FS, Tajima's D, and unimodel mismatch distributions. The cold and dry climate during the glacial period of the Quaternary is postulated to have been a driver for significant genetic isolation and divergence among populations or groups in E. przewalskii, whereas the warmer and wetter climate during the interglacial period is speculated to have provided favourable conditions for range expansion of the species.

Abundance-range size relationships in stream vegetation in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Tenna; Sand-Jensen, Kaj

2002-01-01

thecultivated lowlands of Denmark, we examined the overall relationship betweenlocal abundance and geographical range size of the vascular flora. We found asignificant positive relationship for all species at all stream localities andan even stronger relationship for ecologically similar species...

Using geographic information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winsor, R.W.

1997-01-01

A true Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer mapping system with spatial analysis ability and cartographic accuracy that will offer many different projections. GIS has evolved to become an everyday tool for a wide range of users including oil companies, worldwide. Other systems are designed to allow oil and gas companies to keep their upstream data in the same format. Among these are the Public Petroleum Data Model developed by Gulf Canada, Digitech and Applied Terravision Systems of Calgary, the system developed and marketed by the Petrotechnical Open Software Corporation in the United States, and the Mercury projects by IBM. These have been developed in an effort to define an industry standard. The advantages and disadvantages of open and closed systems were discussed. Factors to consider when choosing a GIS system such as overall performance, area of use and query complexity, were reviewed. 3 figs

Indoor air quality in the Greater Beirut area: a characterization and modeling assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Fadel, Mutasem; El-Hougeiri, Nisrine; Oulabi, Mawiya

2003-01-01

This report presents the assessment of IAQ at various environments selected from different geographic categories from the Greater Beirut area (GBA) in Lebanon. For this purpose, background information about indoor air quality was reviewed, existing conditions were characterized, an air-sampling program was implemented and mathematical modeling was conducted. Twenty-eight indoor buildings were selected from various geographic categories representing different environments (commercial and residential...). Indoor and outdoor air samples were collected and analyzed using carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (TSP), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) as indicators of indoor air pollution (IAP).Samples were further analyzed using the energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence technique (EDXRF) for the presence of major priority metals including iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu) and bromine (Br). Indoor and outdoor measured levels were compared to the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and health-based National Ambient Air Quality standards (NAAQS), respectively. For the priority metals, on the other hand, indoor measured values were compared to occupational standards recommended by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Predicting climate-induced range shifts: model differences and model reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Joshua J. Lawler; Denis White; Ronald P. Neilson; Andrew R. Blaustein

2006-01-01

Predicted changes in the global climate are likely to cause large shifts in the geographic ranges of many plant and animal species. To date, predictions of future range shifts have relied on a variety of modeling approaches with different levels of model accuracy. Using a common data set, we investigated the potential implications of alternative modeling approaches for...

The geographic concentration of blue carbon in the continental US

Science.gov (United States)

Feagin, R. A.; Hinson, A.

2014-12-01

Salt water wetlands have the potential to be bought and sold as relatively rich reservoirs of carbon in the context of sequestration projects. However, little is known about the geographic distribution of this potential, and no coarse scale investigation has addressed this ecosystem service at the continental scale. Our objective was to determine blue carbon stocks and flux in coastal wetland soils in the United States and categorize the potential for projects by estuarine basin, state, and wetland type. We linked National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) data with the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) through spatial analysis within a Geographic Information System (GIS). We then calculated and mapped soil organic carbon across the continental US. Results were filtered by state, estuarine basin, wetland type, and accumulation rate, and ranking lists for each categorization were produced. The results showed that belowground carbon accumulation is concentrated in specific regions, with the richest and largest reservoirs in the Gulf and Atlantic southeastern estuaries, for example mangrove zones in Florida. Salt marshes on the southern Pacific Coast were relatively low in carbon due to small areas of coverage and the presence of sandy and inorganic soil. The geomorphic position of a wetland within a given estuary, for example on an exposed barrier island versus recessed towards inflowing headwaters, accounted for a greater degree of soil carbon variation than the wetland type, for example woody mangroves versus herbaceous marshes. The potential of a blue carbon sequestration project in relation to its location could be influential in determining wetland policy, conservation, and restoration in the coming decades.

Determinants of Dentists' Geographic Distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Beazoglou, Tryfon J.; And Others

1992-01-01

A model for explaining the geographic distribution of dentists' practice locations is presented and applied to particular market areas in Connecticut. Results show geographic distribution is significantly related to a few key variables, including demography, disposable income, and housing prices. Implications for helping students make practice…

Differences in healthy life expectancy for the US population by sex, race/ethnicity and geographic region: 2008.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Man-Huei; Molla, Michael T; Truman, Benedict I; Athar, Heba; Moonesinghe, Ramal; Yoon, Paula W

2015-09-01

Healthy life expectancy (HLE) varies among demographic segments of the US population and by geography. To quantify that variation, we estimated the national and regional HLE for the US population by sex, race/ethnicity and geographic region in 2008. National HLEs were calculated using the published 2008 life table and the self-reported health status data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Regional HLEs were calculated using the combined 2007-09 mortality, population and NHIS health status data. In 2008, HLE in the USA varied significantly by sex, race/ethnicity and geographical regions. At 25 years of age, HLE for females was 47.3 years and ∼2.9 years greater than that for males at 44.4 years. HLE for non-Hispanic white adults was 2.6 years greater than that for Hispanic adults and 7.8 years greater than that for non-Hispanic black adults. By region, the Northeast had the longest HLE and the South had the shortest. The HLE estimates in this report can be used to monitor trends in the health of populations, compare estimates across populations and identify health inequalities that require attention. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Discordant coral-symbiont structuring: factors shaping geographical variation of Symbiodinium communities in a facultative zooxanthellate coral genus, Oculina

Science.gov (United States)

Leydet, Karine Posbic; Hellberg, Michael E.

2016-06-01

Understanding the factors that help shape the association between corals and their algal symbionts, zooxanthellae ( Symbiodinium), is necessary to better understand the functional diversity and acclimatization potential of the coral host. However, most studies focus on tropical zooxanthellate corals and their obligate algal symbionts, thus limiting our full comprehension of coral-algal symbiont associations. Here, we examine algal associations in a facultative zooxanthellate coral. We survey the Symbiodinium communities associated with Oculina corals in the western North Atlantic and the Mediterranean using one clade-level marker ( psbA coding region) and three fine-scale markers ( cp23S- rDNA, b7sym15 flanking region, and b2sym17). We ask whether Oculina spp. harbor geographically different Symbiodinium communities across their geographic range and, if so, whether the host's genetics or habitat differences are correlated with this geographical variation. We found that Oculina corals harbor different Symbiodinium communities across their geographical range. Of the habitat differences (including chlorophyll a concentration and depth), sea surface temperature is better correlated with this geographical variation than the host's genetics, a pattern most evident in the Mediterranean. Our results suggest that although facultative zooxanthellate corals may be less dependent on their algal partners compared to obligate zooxanthellate corals, the Symbiodinium communities that they harbor may nevertheless reflect acclimatization to environmental variation among habitats.

Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Parts of Dona Ana, Lincoln, Otero, Sierra and Socorro Counties

Data.gov (United States)

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

Further elucidation of the taxonomic relationships and geographic distribution of Escobaria sneedii var. sneedii, E. sneedii var. leei, and E. guadalupensis (Cactaceae)

Science.gov (United States)

Marc A. Baker

2007-01-01

Individuals of E. sneedii var. sneedii were found to occur in greater abundance within the Guadalupe Mountains than was previously recorded. No additional populations morphologically intermediate between E. guadalupensis and E. sneedii were found. Taxonomic affiliation and geographic...

Systemic range shift lags among a pollinator species assemblage following rapid climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bedford, Felicity E.; Whittaker, Robert J.; Kerr, Jeremy T.

2012-01-01

Contemporary climate change is driving widespread geographical range shifts among many species. If species are tracking changing climate successfully, then leading populations should experience similar climatic conditions through time as new populations establish beyond historical range margins....... Here, we investigate geographical range shifts relative to changing climatic conditions among a particularly well-sampled assemblage of butterflies in Canada. We assembled observations of 81 species and measured their latitudinal displacement between two periods: 1960–1975 (a period of little climate...... change) and 1990–2005 (a period with large climate change). We find an unexpected trend for species’ northern borders to shift progressively less relative to increasing minimum winter temperatures in northern Canada. This study demonstrates a novel, systemic latitudinal gradient in lags among a large...

Evaluating lek occupancy of greater sage-grouse in relation to landscape cultivation in the Dakotas

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Joe T.; Flake, Lester D.; Higgins, Kenneth F.; Kobriger, Gerald D.; Homer, Collin G.

2005-01-01

Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) have been declining in many states and provinces of North America, and North and South Dakota hold no exception to these declines. We studied effects of cultivated land on Greater Sage-Grouse lek abandonment in North and South Dakota. Landscape-level data were assessed using satellite imagery within a geographic information system. Comparisons were made of 1972-1976 and 1999-2000 percent cultivated and noncultivated land. These comparisons were made between land uses surrounding active leks versus inactive leks, active leks versus random locations, and abandoned regions versus active regions. The 1999-2000 imagery illustrated that percent cultivated land was greater near abandoned leks (4-km buffers) than near active leks in North Dakota or random sites, but this did not hold true in South Dakota. Comparison of an extensive region of abandoned leks with a region of active leks in North Dakota illustrated a similar increase as well as dispersion of cultivation within the abandoned region. However, 1972-1976 imagery revealed that this relationship between percentage of cultivated land and lek activity in North Dakota has been static over the last 30 years. Thus, if the decline of Greater Sage-Grouse is the result of cultivated land infringements, it occurred prior to 1972 in North Dakota.

A comparison of complementary and alternative medicine users and use across geographical areas: A national survey of 1,427 women

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Evidence indicates that people who reside in non-urban areas have a higher use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) than people who reside in urban areas. However, there is sparse research on the reasons for such differences. This paper investigates the reasons for geographical differences in CAM use by comparing CAM users from four geographical areas (major cities, inner regional, outer region, rural/remote) across a range of health status, healthcare satisfaction, neighbourhood and community factors. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 1,427 participants from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) conducted in 2009. Results The average total cost of consultations with CAM practitioners was $416 per annum and was highest for women in the major cities, declining with increasing distance from capital cities/remoteness (p < 0.001). The average total cost of self-prescribed CAM was $349 per annum, but this did not significantly differ across geographical areas. The increased use of CAM in rural and remote areas appears to be influenced by poorer access to conventional medical care (p < 0.05) and a greater sense of community (p < 0.05) amongst these rural and remote residents. In contrast to the findings of previous research this study found that health status was not associated with the differences in CAM use between urban and non-urban areas. Conclusion It appears that a number of factors influence the different levels of CAM use across the urban/non-urban divide. Further research is needed to help tease out and understand these factors. Such research will help support health care policy and practice with regards to this topic. PMID:21981986

Phylogenetic patterns of geographical and ecological diversification in the subgenus Drosophila.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramiro Morales-Hojas

Full Text Available Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. Members of the subgenus Drosophila are distributed across the globe and show a large diversity of ecological niches. Furthermore, taxonomic classification of Drosophila includes the rank radiation, which refers to closely related species groups. Nevertheless, it has never been tested if these taxonomic radiations correspond to evolutionary radiations. Here we present a study of the patterns of diversification of Drosophila to test for increased diversification rates in relation to the geographic and ecological diversification processes. For this, we have estimated and dated a phylogeny of 218 species belonging to the major species groups of the subgenus. The obtained phylogenies are largely consistent with previous studies and indicate that the major groups appeared during the Oligocene/Miocene transition or early Miocene, characterized by a trend of climate warming with brief periods of glaciation. Ancestral reconstruction of geographic ranges and ecological resource use suggest at least two dispersals to the Neotropics from the ancestral Asiatic tropical disribution, and several transitions to specialized ecological resource use (mycophagous and cactophilic. Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. However, diversification analyses show no significant support for adaptive radiations as a result of geographic dispersal or ecological resource shift. Also, cactophily has not resulted in an increase in the diversification rate of the repleta and related groups. It is thus concluded that the taxonomic radiations do not correspond to adaptive radiations.

Phylogenetic patterns of geographical and ecological diversification in the subgenus Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Morales-Hojas, Ramiro; Vieira, Jorge

2012-01-01

Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. Members of the subgenus Drosophila are distributed across the globe and show a large diversity of ecological niches. Furthermore, taxonomic classification of Drosophila includes the rank radiation, which refers to closely related species groups. Nevertheless, it has never been tested if these taxonomic radiations correspond to evolutionary radiations. Here we present a study of the patterns of diversification of Drosophila to test for increased diversification rates in relation to the geographic and ecological diversification processes. For this, we have estimated and dated a phylogeny of 218 species belonging to the major species groups of the subgenus. The obtained phylogenies are largely consistent with previous studies and indicate that the major groups appeared during the Oligocene/Miocene transition or early Miocene, characterized by a trend of climate warming with brief periods of glaciation. Ancestral reconstruction of geographic ranges and ecological resource use suggest at least two dispersals to the Neotropics from the ancestral Asiatic tropical disribution, and several transitions to specialized ecological resource use (mycophagous and cactophilic). Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. However, diversification analyses show no significant support for adaptive radiations as a result of geographic dispersal or ecological resource shift. Also, cactophily has not resulted in an increase in the diversification rate of the repleta and related groups. It is thus concluded that the taxonomic radiations do not correspond to adaptive radiations.

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Structures

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

KERNELHR: A program for estimating animal home ranges

Science.gov (United States)

Seaman, D.E.; Griffith, B.; Powell, R.A.

1998-01-01

Kernel methods are state of the art for estimating animal home-range area and utilization distribution (UD). The KERNELHR program was developed to provide researchers and managers a tool to implement this extremely flexible set of methods with many variants. KERNELHR runs interactively or from the command line on any personal computer (PC) running DOS. KERNELHR provides output of fixed and adaptive kernel home-range estimates, as well as density values in a format suitable for in-depth statistical and spatial analyses. An additional package of programs creates contour files for plotting in geographic information systems (GIS) and estimates core areas of ranges.

Venomics and antivenomics of Bothrops erythromelas from five geographic populations within the Caatinga ecoregion of northeastern Brazil

OpenAIRE

Jorge, Roberta Jeane B.; Monteiro, Helena S.A.; Gonçalves Machado, Larissa; Guarnieri, Míriam C.; Ximenes, Rafael M.; Borges Nojosa, Diva M.; de O. Luna, Karla P.; Zingali, Russolina B.; Corrêa Netto, Carlos; Gutiérrez, José María; Sanz, Libia; Calvete, Juan J.; Pla, Davinia

2015-01-01

The Caatinga lancehead, Bothrops erythromelas, is a medically relevant species, responsible for most of the snakebite accidents in most parts of its distribution range in northeastern Brazil. The spectrum and geographic variability of its venom toxins were investigated applying a venomics approach to venom pools from five geographic areas within the Caatinga ecoregion. Despite its wide habitat, populations of B. erythromelas from Ceará, Pernambuco, Juazeiro, Paraiba, and Ilha de Itaparica exh...

Handbook on advances in remote sensing and geographic information systems paradigms and applications in forest landscape modeling

CERN Document Server

Favorskaya, Margarita N

2017-01-01

This book presents the latest advances in remote-sensing and geographic information systems and applications. It is divided into four parts, focusing on Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Optical Measurements of Forests; Individual Tree Modelling; Landscape Scene Modelling; and Forest Eco-system Modelling. Given the scope of its coverage, the book offers a valuable resource for students, researchers, practitioners, and educators interested in remote sensing and geographic information systems and applications.

The evolution of cooperation on geographical networks

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yixiao; Wang, Yi; Sheng, Jichuan

2017-11-01

We study evolutionary public goods game on geographical networks, i.e., complex networks which are located on a geographical plane. The geographical feature effects in two ways: In one way, the geographically-induced network structure influences the overall evolutionary dynamics, and, in the other way, the geographical length of an edge influences the cost when the two players at the two ends interact. For the latter effect, we design a new cost function of cooperators, which simply assumes that the longer the distance between two players, the higher cost the cooperator(s) of them have to pay. In this study, network substrates are generated by a previous spatial network model with a cost-benefit parameter controlling the network topology. Our simulations show that the greatest promotion of cooperation is achieved in the intermediate regime of the parameter, in which empirical estimates of various railway networks fall. Further, we investigate how the distribution of edges' geographical costs influences the evolutionary dynamics and consider three patterns of the distribution: an approximately-equal distribution, a diverse distribution, and a polarized distribution. For normal geographical networks which are generated using intermediate values of the cost-benefit parameter, a diverse distribution hinders the evolution of cooperation, whereas a polarized distribution lowers the threshold value of the amplification factor for cooperation in public goods game. These results are helpful for understanding the evolution of cooperation on real-world geographical networks.

Geographical differences in food allergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartra, Joan; García-Moral, Alba; Enrique, Ernesto

2016-06-01

Food allergy represents a health problem worldwide and leads to life-threatening reactions and even impairs quality of life. Epidemiological data during the past decades is very heterogeneous because of the use of different diagnostic procedures, and most studies have only been performed in specific geographical areas. The aim of this article is to review the available data on the geographical distribution of food allergies at the food source and molecular level and to link food allergy patterns to the aeroallergen influence in each area. Systematic reviews, meta-analysis, studies performed within the EuroPrevall Project and EAACI position papers regarding food allergy were analysed. The prevalence of food allergy sensitization differs between geographical areas, probably as a consequence of differences among populations, their habits and the influence of the cross-reactivity of aeroallergens and other sources of allergens. Geographical differences in food allergy are clearly evident at the allergenic molecular level, which seems to be directly influenced by the aeroallergens of each region and associated with specific clinical patterns.

Study of geographical trends of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using pine needles

Science.gov (United States)

Amigo, José Manuel; Ratola, Nuno; Alves, Arminda

2011-10-01

In this work, pine needles were used as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) markers to study the PAHs distribution over several geographical locations in Portugal and over time. Four pine needle sampling campaigns (winter, spring, summer and autumn 2007) were carried out in 29 sites, covering the major urban centres, some industrial points, smaller cities, rural areas and remote locations. Needles from Pinus pinaster Ait. and Pinus pinea L. trees were collected from 2005 and 2006 shoots, corresponding to one up to three years of exposure. Spatial trends of the incidence of PAHs indicate an increase from the remote to the urban and industrial sites. The mean values for the sum of 16 PAHs ranged from 96 ± 30 ng g -1 (dry weight) for remote sites to 866 ± 304 ng g -1 (dw) for industrial sites for P. pinaster needles and from 188 ± 117 ng g -1 (dw) for rural sites to 337 ± 153 ng g -1 (dw) for urban sites for P. pinea. Geographic information system tools and principal component analysis revealed that the contamination patterns of PAHs are somehow related to several socio-geographic parameters of the sampling sites. The geographical trend for the PAHs is similar between seasons in terms of PAH levels, but some diverse behaviour is found on the separation of lighter and heavier PAHs. Differences between P. pinaster and P. pinea needles are stronger in terms of PAH uptake loads than in the site type fingerprints.

Transregionalism: Underlying Concept of EAEU-ASEAN Cooperation and Greater Eurasian Partnership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna A. Garmash

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays the EAEU seeks to integrate itself into the global economy as one of its regional economic centers. Developing ties with other regional integration groups corresponds the EAEU’s interests and facilitates the polycentric structure of the emerging world order. In this respect, in 2016 on the sidelines of the third Russia-ASEAN Summit Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to develop stronger relations between the EAEU and ASEAN as well as to form a greater Eurasian partnership encompassing the EAEU, the SCO and ASEAN. While geographically vast, these projects lack conceptual underpinning. It is deemed that transregionalism – an international phenomenon which is insuffi ciently explored by both Western and Russian scholars, can provide a crucial theoretical foundation for these initiatives. The author compares the mechanisms which ASEAN employs to promote transregional cooperation with the EU, MERCOSUR and the GCC as well as within the frameworks of such dialogue platforms as ASEM and FEALAC. The author suggests that EAEU-ASEAN relations should be analyzed from the viewpoint of a classic transregionalism, while a greater Eurasian partnership seen as an example of a broader one. The results of the analysis are instrumental in laying out practical recommendations for the EAEU in carrying out its transregional agenda.

Mitochondrial DNA haplotype distribution patterns in Pinus ponderosa (Pinaceae): range-wide evolutionary history and implications for conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Potter, Kevin M; Hipkins, Valerie D; Mahalovich, Mary F; Means, Robert E

2013-08-01

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) exhibits complicated patterns of morphological and genetic variation across its range in western North America. This study aims to clarify P. ponderosa evolutionary history and phylogeography using a highly polymorphic mitochondrial DNA marker, with results offering insights into how geographical and climatological processes drove the modern evolutionary structure of tree species in the region. We amplified the mtDNA nad1 second intron minisatellite region for 3,100 trees representing 104 populations, and sequenced all length variants. We estimated population-level haplotypic diversity and determined diversity partitioning among varieties, races and populations. After aligning sequences of minisatellite repeat motifs, we evaluated evolutionary relationships among haplotypes. The geographical structuring of the 10 haplotypes corresponded with division between Pacific and Rocky Mountain varieties. Pacific haplotypes clustered with high bootstrap support, and appear to have descended from Rocky Mountain haplotypes. A greater proportion of diversity was partitioned between Rocky Mountain races than between Pacific races. Areas of highest haplotypic diversity were the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, northwestern California, and southern Nevada. Pinus ponderosa haplotype distribution patterns suggest a complex phylogeographic history not revealed by other genetic and morphological data, or by the sparse paleoecological record. The results appear consistent with long-term divergence between the Pacific and Rocky Mountain varieties, along with more recent divergences not well-associated with race. Pleistocene refugia may have existed in areas of high haplotypic diversity, as well as the Great Basin, Southwestern United States/northern Mexico, and the High Plains.

The Value of Open Geographical Data - The Danish Case

Science.gov (United States)

Colding, T. S.; Folner, M.; Krarup, S.; Kongsbak, J.

2013-12-01

Good basic data for everyone is part of the common public-sector digitization strategy for 2011 to 2015. The vision is that basic data is to be the high-quality common foundation for public sector administration; efficiently updated at one place, and used by everyone - including the private sector. Open basic data will benefit public-sector efficiency as well as innovation and value creation by Danish society in general. With basic data as a new digital raw material, commercial products can be developed and public information and services can be improved, providing for greater insight and stronger democracy. On the first of January 2013 Denmark released this digital raw material. As a general rule, all basic data is to be made freely available to all public authorities, private businesses and individuals. This makes basic data a common digital resource, which can be exploited freely for commercial as well as non-commercial purposes. A positive business case contributed in convincing Danish politicians to approve the basic data program. Once the initiatives have been fully implemented, the revenues for society are expected to be approx. DKK 800 million annually. Private-sector revenues will be up to DKK half a billion annually, and it is expected that e.g. the real estate, insurance, financial, and telecom sectors, as well as GPS (sat-nav) manufacturers, public companies and entrepreneurs will be among those to benefit hugely from the initiatives. The financial gain for the private sector of open geographical data alone is expected to be approx. 100 million DKK annually. As part of the Basic data program The Danish Geodata Agency (Ministry of the Environment) gave free access to all topographic data, cadastral maps and Digital Elevation Model on Jan. 1st, 2013. The Danish Geodata Agency has decided to measure the effect of the open geographic data in the public sector (efficiency) and in the private sector (growth). The effect will be measured by using reference

Representations built from a true geographic database

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bodum, Lars

2005-01-01

the whole world in 3d and with a spatial reference given by geographic coordinates. Built on top of this is a customised viewer, based on the Xith(Java) scenegraph. The viewer reads the objects directly from the database and solves the question about Level-Of-Detail on buildings, orientation in relation...... a representation based on geographic and geospatial principles. The system GRIFINOR, developed at 3DGI, Aalborg University, DK, is capable of creating this object-orientation and furthermore does this on top of a true Geographic database. A true Geographic database can be characterized as a database that can cover...

Developmental toxicity in flounder embryos exposed to crude oils derived from different geographical regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Jee-Hyun; Lee, Eun-Hee; Choi, Kwang-Min; Yim, Un Hyuk; Ha, Sung Yong; An, Joon Geon; Kim, Moonkoo

2017-06-01

Crude oils from distinct geographical regions have distinct chemical compositions, and, as a result, their toxicity may be different. However, developmental toxicity of crude oils derived from different geographical regions has not been extensively characterized. In this study, flounder embryos were separately exposed to effluents contaminated by three crude oils including: Basrah Light (BLO), Pyrenees (PCO), and Sakhalin Vityaz (SVO), in addition to a processed fuel oil (MFO-380), to measure developmental toxicity and for gene expressions. Each oil possessed a distinct chemical composition. Edema defect was highest in embryos exposed to PCO and MFO-380 that both have a greater fraction of three-ring PAHs (33% and 22%, respectively) compared to BLO and SVO. Observed caudal fin defects were higher in embryos exposed to SVO and MFO-380, which are both dominated by naphthalenes (81% and 52%, respectively). CYP1A gene expressions were also highest in embryos exposed to SVO and MFO-380. Higher incidence of cardiotoxicity and lower nkx 2.5 expression were detected in embryos exposed to PCO. Unique gene expression profiles were observed in embryos exposed to crude oils with distinct compositions. This study demonstrates that crude oils of different geographical origins with different compositional characteristics induce developmental toxicity to different degrees. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Geographic variation in responses of European yellow dung flies to thermal stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauerfeind, Stephanie S; Sørensen, Jesper G; Loeschcke, Volker; Berger, David; Broder, E Dale; Geiger, Madeleine; Ferrari, Manuela; Blanckenhorn, Wolf U

2018-04-01

Climatic conditions can be very heterogeneous even over small geographic scales, and are believed to be major determinants of the abundance and distribution of species and populations. Organisms are expected to evolve in response to the frequency and magnitude of local thermal extremes, resulting in local adaptation. Using replicate yellow dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria; Diptera: Scathophagidae) populations from cold (northern Europe) and warm climates (southern Europe), we compared 1) responses to short-term heat and cold shocks in both sexes, 2) heat shock protein (Hsp70) expression in adults and eggs, and 3) female reproductive traits when facing short-term heat stress during egg maturation. Contrary to expectations, thermal traits showed minor geographic differentiation, with weak evidence for greater heat resistance of southern flies but no differentiation in cold resistance. Hsp70 protein expression was little affected by heat stress, indicating systemic rather than induced regulation of the heat stress response, possibly related to this fly group's preference for cold climes. In contrast, sex differences were pronounced: males (which are larger) endured hot temperatures longer, while females featured higher Hsp70 expression. Heat stress negatively affected various female reproductive traits, reducing first clutch size, overall reproductive investment, egg lipid content, and subsequent larval hatching. These responses varied little across latitude but somewhat among populations in terms of egg size, protein content, and larval hatching success. Several reproductive parameters, but not Hsp70 expression, exhibited heritable variation among full-sib families. Rather than large-scale clinal geographic variation, our study suggests some local geographic population differentiation in the ability of yellow dung flies to buffer the impact of heat stress on reproductive performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Propagule pressure, genetic structure, and geographic origins of Chondrilla juncea (Asteraceae): an apomictic invader on three continents.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaskin, John F; Schwarzländer, Mark; Kinter, C Lynn; Smith, James F; Novak, Stephen J

2013-09-01

Assessing propagule pressure and geographic origins of invasive species provides insight into the invasion process. Rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea; Asteraceae) is an apomictic, perennial plant that is invasive in Australia, South America (Argentina), and North America (Canada and the United States). This study comprehensively compares propagule pressure and geographic structure of genotypes to improve our understanding of a clonal invasion and enhance management strategies. • We analyzed 1056 native range plants from Eurasia and 1156 plants from three invaded continents using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) techniques. We used measures of diversity (Simpson's D) and evenness (E), analysis of molecular variance, and Mantel tests to compare invasions, and genotype similarity to determine origins of invasive genotypes. • We found 682 unique genotypes in the native range, but only 13 in the invaded regions. Each invaded region contained distinct AFLP genotypes, suggesting independent introduction events, probably with different geographic origins. Relatively low propagule pressure was associated with each introduction around the globe, but levels of among-population variation differed. We found exact AFLP genotype matches between the native and invaded ranges for five of the 13 invasive genotypes. • Invasion dynamics can vary across invaded ranges within a species. Intensive sampling for molecular analyses can provide insight for understanding intraspecific invasion dynamics, which can hold significance for the management of plant species, especially by finding origins and distributions of invasive genotypes for classical biological control efforts.

Frosty pod of cacao: a disease with a limited geographic range but unlimited potential for damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips-Mora, W; Wilkinson, M J

2007-12-01

ABSTRACT Moniliophthora roreri, the cause of frosty pod rot (FP), is a specialized fungal pathogen (family Marasmiaceae) that invades only actively growing pods of cacao, Theobroma cacao, and related species of Theobroma and Herrania. FP damages pods and the commercially important seeds that some of these species produce. M. roreri was confined to northwestern South America until the 1950s. Its appearance in Panama in 1956 signaled a change in its geographic distribution. Now, it is found in 11 countries in tropical America. The fungus is currently in an active dispersal phase, possibly due to an increase in human-mediated spread. FP is more destructive than black pod (Phytophthora spp.) and more dangerous and difficult to control than witches' broom, caused by Moniliophthora (Crinipellis) perniciosa. The aggressiveness of M. roreri, its capacity to survive different environmental conditions, its rapid natural dispersal, its propensity for man-mediated dispersal, and the susceptibility of most commercial cacao genotypes, all indicate that FP presents a substantial threat to cacao cultivation worldwide.

Identifying areas of need relative to liver disease: geographic clustering within a health service district.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Atem, Nathan; Irvine, Katharine M; Valery, Patricia C; Wojcik, Kyle; Horsfall, Leigh; Johnson, Tracey; Janda, Monika; McPhail, Steven M; Powell, Elizabeth E

2017-08-01

accessing tertiary hospital liver services are clustered within specific geographic areas. The most striking geographic clustering was seen for people living with chronic hepatitis B, in regions with a relatively high proportion of people born in Vietnam and China. In addition to ethnicity, the data show an apparent ecological association between liver disease and both socioeconomic and educational and/or occupational disadvantage. What are the implications for practitioners? Identifying where demand for clinical services arises is an important step for service planning and preparing for potential outreach programs to optimise community-based care. It is likely that outreach programs to engage and enhance primary care services in geographic areas from which the greatest demand for tertiary liver disease speciality care arises would yield greater relative return on investment than non-targeted outreach programs.

Soil classification predicts differences in prokaryotic communities across a range of geographically distant soils once pH is accounted for

OpenAIRE

Morales, Sergio; Trouche, Blandine; Kaminsky, Rachel

2017-01-01

Agricultural land is typically managed based on visible plant life at the expense of the belowground majority. However, microorganisms mediate processes sustaining plant life and the soil environment. To understand the role of microbes we first must understand what controls soil microbial community assembly. We assessed the distribution and composition of prokaryotic communities from soils representing four geographic regions on the South Island of New Zealand. These soils are under three dif...

History Shaped the Geographic Distribution of Genomic Admixture on the Island of Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Via, Marc; Gignoux, Christopher R.; Roth, Lindsey A.; Fejerman, Laura; Galanter, Joshua; Choudhry, Shweta; Toro-Labrador, Gladys; Viera-Vera, Jorge; Oleksyk, Taras K.; Beckman, Kenneth; Ziv, Elad; Risch, Neil

2011-01-01

Contemporary genetic variation among Latin Americans human groups reflects population migrations shaped by complex historical, social and economic factors. Consequently, admixture patterns may vary by geographic regions ranging from countries to neighborhoods. We examined the geographic variation of admixture across the island of Puerto Rico and the degree to which it could be explained by historic and social events. We analyzed a census-based sample of 642 Puerto Rican individuals that were genotyped for 93 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to estimate African, European and Native American ancestry. Socioeconomic status (SES) data and geographic location were obtained for each individual. There was significant geographic variation of ancestry across the island. In particular, African ancestry demonstrated a decreasing East to West gradient that was partially explained by historical factors linked to the colonial sugar plantation system. SES also demonstrated a parallel decreasing cline from East to West. However, at a local level, SES and African ancestry were negatively correlated. European ancestry was strongly negatively correlated with African ancestry and therefore showed patterns complementary to African ancestry. By contrast, Native American ancestry showed little variation across the island and across individuals and appears to have played little social role historically. The observed geographic distributions of SES and genetic variation relate to historical social events and mating patterns, and have substantial implications for the design of studies in the recently admixed Puerto Rican population. More generally, our results demonstrate the importance of incorporating social and geographic data with genetics when studying contemporary admixed populations. PMID:21304981

Geographic mosaic of plant evolution: extrafloral nectary variation mediated by ant and herbivore assemblages.

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Anselmo Nogueira

Full Text Available Herbivory is an ecological process that is known to generate different patterns of selection on defensive plant traits across populations. Studies on this topic could greatly benefit from the general framework of the Geographic Mosaic Theory of Coevolution (GMT. Here, we hypothesize that herbivory represents a strong pressure for extrafloral nectary (EFN bearing plants, with differences in herbivore and ant visitor assemblages leading to different evolutionary pressures among localities and ultimately to differences in EFN abundance and function. In this study, we investigate this hypothesis by analyzing 10 populations of Anemopaegma album (30 individuals per population distributed through ca. 600 km of Neotropical savanna and covering most of the geographic range of this plant species. A common garden experiment revealed a phenotypic differentiation in EFN abundance, in which field and experimental plants showed a similar pattern of EFN variation among populations. We also did not find significant correlations between EFN traits and ant abundance, herbivory and plant performance across localities. Instead, a more complex pattern of ant-EFN variation, a geographic mosaic, emerged throughout the geographical range of A. album. We modeled the functional relationship between EFNs and ant traits across ant species and extended this phenotypic interface to characterize local situations of phenotypic matching and mismatching at the population level. Two distinct types of phenotypic matching emerged throughout populations: (1 a population with smaller ants (Crematogaster crinosa matched with low abundance of EFNs; and (2 seven populations with bigger ants (Camponotus species matched with higher EFN abundances. Three matched populations showed the highest plant performance and narrower variance of EFN abundance, representing potential plant evolutionary hotspots. Cases of mismatched and matched populations with the lowest performance were associated

Geographic Variation in Advertisement Calls in a Tree Frog Species: Gene Flow and Selection Hypotheses

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Yikweon; Hahm, Eun Hye; Lee, Hyun-Jung; Park, Soyeon; Won, Yong-Jin; Choe, Jae C.

2011-01-01

Background In a species with a large distribution relative to its dispersal capacity, geographic variation in traits may be explained by gene flow, selection, or the combined effects of both. Studies of genetic diversity using neutral molecular markers show that patterns of isolation by distance (IBD) or barrier effect may be evident for geographic variation at the molecular level in amphibian species. However, selective factors such as habitat, predator, or interspecific interactions may be critical for geographic variation in sexual traits. We studied geographic variation in advertisement calls in the tree frog Hyla japonica to understand patterns of variation in these traits across Korea and provide clues about the underlying forces for variation. Methodology We recorded calls of H. japonica in three breeding seasons from 17 localities including localities in remote Jeju Island. Call characters analyzed were note repetition rate (NRR), note duration (ND), and dominant frequency (DF), along with snout-to-vent length. Results The findings of a barrier effect on DF and a longitudinal variation in NRR seemed to suggest that an open sea between the mainland and Jeju Island and mountain ranges dominated by the north-south Taebaek Mountains were related to geographic variation in call characters. Furthermore, there was a pattern of IBD in mitochondrial DNA sequences. However, no comparable pattern of IBD was found between geographic distance and call characters. We also failed to detect any effects of habitat or interspecific interaction on call characters. Conclusions Geographic variations in call characters as well as mitochondrial DNA sequences were largely stratified by geographic factors such as distance and barriers in Korean populations of H. japoinca. Although we did not detect effects of habitat or interspecific interaction, some other selective factors such as sexual selection might still be operating on call characters in conjunction with restricted gene

Role of specific geographic landscapes in city break destinations

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Štetić Snežana

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Urban tourist destinations or City Break destinations are representing one of main destination products on tourist market. City Break destinations are big cities, administrative, economic and political centers of states and regions. These cities are 'open' 24 hours per day, seven days in week. Inside these tourist destination we can find different range of products (culture, entertainment, recreation, leisure, history, modern infrastructure. In these destinations season is not present and it lasts trough out the year. Promotional campaigns in City Break destinations are truing to create distinguished images in tourists mind as also as on investors, consumers and future residents. They emphasize advantages that those cities are delivering to their consumers, but often we forget that all these cities are having specific geographic landscapes. In the era of limiting of mass tourism to preserve resources for future generations and emphasizing the importance of sustainable development for tourism perspectives, the importance of specific geographic landscapes inside urban destinations for their further development as tourist destinations an their overall development is slightly neglected.

25 CFR 571.10 - Geographical location.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Geographical location. 571.10 Section 571.10 Indians NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS MONITORING AND INVESTIGATIONS Subpoenas and Depositions § 571.10 Geographical location. The attendance of...

Socioeconomic Development Inequalities among Geographic Units ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socio-economic development inequality among geographic units is a phenomenon common in both the developed and developing countries. Regional inequality may result in dissension among geographic units of the same state due to the imbalance in socio-economic development. This study examines the inequality ...

Development Trends of Cartography and Geographic Information Engineering

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WANG Jiayao

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Aimed at the problems of cartography and geographic information engineering and increasing demands of national and military infomationization construction, the paper proposes six hotspots on the research of cartography and geographic information engineering for the future on the foundation of analyzing the development track of cartology, which are heterogeneous geospatial data assimilation, transferring from emphasizing geography infor-mation gaining to user-oriented geographic information deep processing, web or grid geographic information service. intelligent spatial data generalization. integration of GIS and VGE. cartography and geographic information engineering theory system with multi-mode(Map,.GlS..VGE spatial-temporal integrated cognition as the core. And discusses the necessity ,existing groundwork and research contents on studying these hotspots.

Climate driven range divergence among host species affects range-wide patterns of parasitism

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Richard E. Feldman

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Species interactions like parasitism influence the outcome of climate-driven shifts in species ranges. For some host species, parasitism can only occur in that part of its range that overlaps with a second host species. Thus, predicting future parasitism may depend on how the ranges of the two hosts change in relation to each other. In this study, we tested whether the climate driven species range shift of Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer accounts for predicted changes in parasitism of two other species from the family Cervidae, Alces alces (moose and Rangifer tarandus (caribou, in North America. We used MaxEnt models to predict the recent (2000 and future (2050 ranges (probabilities of occurrence of the cervids and a parasite Parelaphostrongylus tenuis (brainworm taking into account range shifts of the parasite’s intermediate gastropod hosts. Our models predicted that range overlap between A. alces/R. tarandus and P. tenuis will decrease between 2000 and 2050, an outcome that reflects decreased overlap between A. alces/R. tarandus and O. virginianus and not the parasites, themselves. Geographically, our models predicted increasing potential occurrence of P. tenuis where A. alces/R. tarandus are likely to decline, but minimal spatial overlap where A. alces/R. tarandus are likely to increase. Thus, parasitism may exacerbate climate-mediated southern contraction of A. alces and R. tarandus ranges but will have limited influence on northward range expansion. Our results suggest that the spatial dynamics of one host species may be the driving force behind future rates of parasitism for another host species.

Using Metadata to Build Geographic Information Sharing Environment on Internet

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Chih-hong Sun

1999-12-01

Full Text Available Internet provides a convenient environment to share geographic information. Web GIS (Geographic Information System even provides users a direct access environment to geographic databases through Internet. However, the complexity of geographic data makes it difficult for users to understand the real content and the limitation of geographic information. In some cases, users may misuse the geographic data and make wrong decisions. Meanwhile, geographic data are distributed across various government agencies, academic institutes, and private organizations, which make it even more difficult for users to fully understand the content of these complex data. To overcome these difficulties, this research uses metadata as a guiding mechanism for users to fully understand the content and the limitation of geographic data. We introduce three metadata standards commonly used for geographic data and metadata authoring tools available in the US. We also review the current development of geographic metadata standard in Taiwan. Two metadata authoring tools are developed in this research, which will enable users to build their own geographic metadata easily.[Article content in Chinese

Widespread range expansions shape latitudinal variation in insect thermal limits

Science.gov (United States)

Lancaster, Lesley T.

2016-06-01

Current anthropogenic impacts, including habitat modification and climate change, may contribute to a sixth mass extinction. To mitigate these impacts and slow further losses of biodiversity, we need to understand which species are most at risk and identify the factors contributing to current and future declines. Such information is often obtained through large-scale, comparative and biogeographic analysis of lineages or traits that are potentially sensitive to ongoing anthropogenic change--for instance to predict which regions are most susceptible to climate change-induced biodiversity loss. However, for this approach to be generally successful, the underlying causes of identified geographical trends need to be carefully considered. Here, I augment and reanalyse a global data set of insect thermal tolerances, evaluating the contribution of recent and contemporary range expansions to latitudinal variation in thermal niche breadth. Previous indications that high-latitude ectotherms exhibit broad thermal niches and high warming tolerances held only for species undergoing range expansions or invasions. In contrast, species with stable or declining geographic ranges exhibit latitudinally decreasing absolute thermal tolerances and no latitudinal variation in tolerance breadths. Thus, non-range-expanding species, particularly insular or endemic species, which are often of highest conservation priority, are unlikely to tolerate future climatic warming at high latitudes.

Movement is the glue connecting home ranges and habitat selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Moorter, Bram; Rolandsen, Christer M; Basille, Mathieu; Gaillard, Jean-Michel

2016-01-01

Animal space use has been studied by focusing either on geographic (e.g. home ranges, species' distribution) or on environmental (e.g. habitat use and selection) space. However, all patterns of space use emerge from individual movements, which are the primary means by which animals change their environment. Individuals increase their use of a given area by adjusting two key movement components: the duration of their visit and/or the frequency of revisits. Thus, in spatially heterogeneous environments, animals exploit known, high-quality resource areas by increasing their residence time (RT) in and/or decreasing their time to return (TtoR) to these areas. We expected that spatial variation in these two movement properties should lead to observed patterns of space use in both geographic and environmental spaces. We derived a set of nine predictions linking spatial distribution of movement properties to emerging space-use patterns. We predicted that, at a given scale, high variation in RT and TtoR among habitats leads to strong habitat selection and that long RT and short TtoR result in a small home range size. We tested these predictions using moose (Alces alces) GPS tracking data. We first modelled the relationship between landscape characteristics and movement properties. Then, we investigated how the spatial distribution of predicted movement properties (i.e. spatial autocorrelation, mean, and variance of RT and TtoR) influences home range size and hierarchical habitat selection. In landscapes with high spatial autocorrelation of RT and TtoR, a high variation in both RT and TtoR occurred in home ranges. As expected, home range location was highly selective in such landscapes (i.e. second-order habitat selection); RT was higher and TtoR lower within the selected home range than outside, and moose home ranges were small. Within home ranges, a higher variation in both RT and TtoR was associated with higher selectivity among habitat types (i.e. third-order habitat

Geographic Disparities in Access to Agencies Providing Income-Related Social Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Scott R; Monuteaux, Michael C; Fleegler, Eric W

2015-10-01

Geographic location is an important factor in understanding disparities in access to health-care and social services. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate disparities in the geographic distribution of income-related social service agencies relative to populations in need within Boston. Agency locations were obtained from a comprehensive database of social services in Boston. Geographic information systems mapped the spatial relationship of the agencies to the population using point density estimation and was compared to census population data. A multivariate logistic regression was conducted to evaluate factors associated with categories of income-related agency density. Median agency density within census block groups ranged from 0 to 8 agencies per square mile per 100 population below the federal poverty level (FPL). Thirty percent (n = 31,810) of persons living below the FPL have no access to income-related social services within 0.5 miles, and 77 % of persons living below FPL (n = 83,022) have access to 2 or fewer agencies. 27.0 % of Blacks, 30.1 % of Hispanics, and 41.0 % of non-Hispanic Whites with incomes below FPL have zero access. In conclusion, some neighborhoods in Boston with a high concentration of low-income populations have limited access to income-related social service agencies.

Spatial Assessment of Road Traffic Injuries in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA: Spatial Analysis Framework

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Sina Tehranchi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This research presents a Geographic Information Systems (GIS and spatial analysis approach based on the global spatial autocorrelation of road traffic injuries for identifying spatial patterns. A locational spatial autocorrelation was also used for identifying traffic injury at spatial level. Data for this research study were acquired from Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI based on 2004 and 2011. Moran’s I statistics were used to examine spatial patterns of road traffic injuries in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA. An assessment of Getis-Ord Gi* statistic was followed as to identify hot spots and cold spots within the study area. The results revealed that Peel and Durham have the highest collision rate for other motor vehicle with motor vehicle. Geographic weighted regression (GWR technique was conducted to test the relationships between the dependent variable, number of road traffic injury incidents and independent variables such as number of seniors, low education, unemployed, vulnerable groups, people smoking and drinking, urban density and average median income. The result of this model suggested that number of seniors and low education have a very strong correlation with the number of road traffic injury incidents.

Geographical Simulation and Optimization System (GeoSOS and Its Application in the Analysis of Geographic National Conditions

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LI Xia

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Since the Chinese first survey on geographic national conditions has completed, an urgent need is to analyze these geographical data, such as mining of spatial distribution patterns, land use transition rules, development trends. The analysis is crucial for extracting the knowledge from these big data about geographic national conditions. The remote sensing interpretation data and land use/cover data generated by these geographic national conditions monitoring projects are the basic data sources for a variety of research and applications in terms of land use change detection, urban dynamic analysis, and urban/land use planning. The information can be used for assisting in the coordination of land resource use and decision making for urban and rural development, ecological environment protection and other issues that depends on spatial intelligent decisions. We proposed the theoretical framework of geographical simulation and optimization system (GeoSOS, which coupled geographic process simulation/prediction and spatial optimization, provides powerful theoretical support and practical tools for above researches. This paper develops the extension of GeoSOS software-GeoSOS for ArcGIS, which is an ArcGIS Add-In runs on ArcGIS platform for facilitating the above analyses. We take the urban expansion and ecological protection research in rapid urbanization area as an example, use the software to tackle a series of urbanization issues in the study area. The simulation results show that the predicted land development intensity of Guangdong Province will exceed the constraint index in 2020 according to the national development plan. However, the urbanization expansion based on the constraints of land development intensity and ecological protection can satisfy these constraints, and obtain a more compact landscape pattern. The analysis has shown that GeoSOS can be a useful tool for assisting in the analysis of geographic national conditions information

Geographic Literacy and Moral Formation among University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Bascom, Jonathan

2011-01-01

This study extends analysis of geographic literacy further by examining the relationship of geographic knowledge with the primary goal of geographic educators--cultivation of cultural understanding and moral sensitivity for global citizenry. The main aim is to examine contributors to moral formation during the university years based on a survey…

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Transportation Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Historical Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Admin Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Hydrography Lines

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Cultural Features

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Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Landform Features

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Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Hydrography Points

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Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Community Features

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Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Antarctica Features

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Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Remote sensing research in geographic education: An alternative view

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, H.; Cary, T. K.; Goward, S. N.

1981-01-01

It is noted that within many geography departments remote sensing is viewed as a mere technique a student should learn in order to carry out true geographic research. This view inhibits both students and faculty from investigation of remotely sensed data as a new source of geographic knowledge that may alter our understanding of the Earth. The tendency is for geographers to accept these new data and analysis techniques from engineers and mathematicians without questioning the accompanying premises. This black-box approach hinders geographic applications of the new remotely sensed data and limits the geographer's contribution to further development of remote sensing observation systems. It is suggested that geographers contribute to the development of remote sensing through pursuit of basic research. This research can be encouraged, particularly among students, by demonstrating the links between geographic theory and remotely sensed observations, encouraging a healthy skepticism concerning the current understanding of these data.

Sex-biased gene flow among elk in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Hand, Brian K.; Chen, Shanyuan; Anderson, Neil; Beja-Pereira, Albano; Cross, Paul C.; Ebinger, Michael R.; Edwards, Hank; Garrott, Robert A.; Kardos, Marty D.; Kauffman, Matthew J.; Landguth, Erin L.; Middleton, Arthur; Scurlock, Brandon M.; White, P.J.; Zager, Pete; Schwartz, Michael K.; Luikart, Gordon

2014-01-01

We quantified patterns of population genetic structure to help understand gene flow among elk populations across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We sequenced 596 base pairs of the mitochondrial control region of 380 elk from eight populations. Analysis revealed high mitochondrial DNA variation within populations, averaging 13.0 haplotypes with high mean gene diversity (0.85). The genetic differentiation among populations for mitochondrial DNA was relatively high (FST  =  0.161; P  =  0.001) compared to genetic differentiation for nuclear microsatellite data (FST  =  0.002; P  =  0.332), which suggested relatively low female gene flow among populations. The estimated ratio of male to female gene flow (mm/mf  =  46) was among the highest we have seen reported for large mammals. Genetic distance (for mitochondrial DNA pairwise FST) was not significantly correlated with geographic (Euclidean) distance between populations (Mantel's r  =  0.274, P  =  0.168). Large mitochondrial DNA genetic distances (e.g., FST > 0.2) between some of the geographically closest populations (<65 km) suggested behavioral factors and/or landscape features might shape female gene flow patterns. Given the strong sex-biased gene flow, future research and conservation efforts should consider the sexes separately when modeling corridors of gene flow or predicting spread of maternally transmitted diseases. The growing availability of genetic data to compare male vs. female gene flow provides many exciting opportunities to explore the magnitude, causes, and implications of sex-biased gene flow likely to occur in many species.

Personality Homophily and Geographic Distance in Facebook.

Science.gov (United States)

Noë, Nyala; Whitaker, Roger M; Allen, Stuart M

2018-05-24

Personality homophily remains an understudied aspect of social networks, with the traditional focus concerning sociodemographic variables as the basis for assortativity, rather than psychological dispositions. We consider the effect of personality homophily on one of the biggest constraints to human social networks: geographic distance. We use the Big five model of personality to make predictions for each of the five facets: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Using a network of 313,669 Facebook users, we investigate the difference in geographic distance between homophilous pairs, in which both users scored similarly on a particular facet, and mixed pairs. In accordance with our hypotheses, we find that pairs of open and conscientious users are geographically further apart than mixed pairs. Pairs of extraverts, on the other hand, tend to be geographically closer together. We find mixed results for the Neuroticism facet, and no significant effects for the Agreeableness facet. The results are discussed in the context of personality homophily and the impact of geographic distance on social connections.

New Methods for Resilient Societies: The Geographical Analysis of Injury Data

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Eric Vaz

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper an empirical assessment of injury patterns is supplied as an example of social endurance - resilient societies can be built by means of geographical analysis of injury data, providing better support for decision makers regarding urban safety. Preventing road traffic collisions with vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, could help mitigate significant loses and improve infrastructure planning. In this sense, the geographical aspects of injury prevention are of clear spatial analog, and should be tested regarding the carrying capacity of urban areas as well as vulnerability for growing urban regions. The application of open source development tool for spatial analysis research in health studies is addressed. The study aims to create a framework of available open source tools through Python that enable better decision making through a systematic review of existing tools for spatial analysis. Methodologically, spatial autocorrelation indices are tested as well as influential variables are brought forward to establish a better understanding of the incremental concern of injuries in rural areas, in general, and in the Greater Toronto Area, in particular. By using Python Library for Spatial Analysis (PySAL, an integrative vision of assessing a growing epidemiological concern of injuries in Toronto, one of North America’s fastest growing economic metropolises is offered. In this sense, this study promotes the use of PySAL and open source toolsets for integrating spatial analysis and geographical analysis for health practitioners. The novelty and capabilities of open source tools through methods such as PySAL allow for a cost efficiency as well as give planning an easier methodological toolbox for advances spatial modelling techniques.

Utilization of the emergency room: impact of geographic distance

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Jae Eun Lee

2007-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to estimate the distance Mississippi patients must travel to access hospital-based emergency rooms (ERs and to determine whether an association exists between geographic distance and ER utilization. To that end, great circle distances between Census Block Group Centroid Points and 89 hospitals with emergency departments were calculated for the State of Mississippi. Data on the socio-demographic characteristics of each block group came from the 2000 US Census data. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to test if there was any association between ER utilization and travel distance. Compared to the national benchmark of 35.7%, more than one in two (56.7%, or 1,612,762 Mississippians visited ERs in 2003 with an estimated 6.1 miles per person annual travel for this purpose. The majority of the target population (54.9% was found to live within 5 miles of hospitals with ERs. Logistic analyses revealed that block groups associated with less miles traveled to hospitals with ERs had a higher proportion of African Americans, impoverished people, female householders, people with more than 12 years education, people older than 65 years, people with high median house values, and people without employment. Twenty-nine of the 89 hospitals (33% providing ER care in Mississippi were found to be in areas with above-average ER utilization rates. These hospitals served a smaller geographical area (28% of the total but had a greater proportion of visitors (57% and served a higher percentage (37% of the state population. People in areas served by the less utilized ERs traveled more miles to be cared for (7.1 miles vs 5.4 miles; p<0.0001. Logistic regression analysis revealed that shorter distances were associated with increased use of the ERs, even after controlling for socio-demographic factors. The conclusion is that Mississippi ERs are typically located in block groups with higher percentages of disadvantaged residents and that

Examining the relationship between local extinction risk and position in range.

Science.gov (United States)

Boakes, Elizabeth H; Isaac, Nicholas J B; Fuller, Richard A; Mace, Georgina M; McGowan, Philip J K

2018-02-01

Over half of globally threatened animal species have experienced rapid geographic range loss. Identifying the parts of species' distributions most vulnerable to local extinction would benefit conservation planning. However, previous studies give little consensus on whether ranges decline to the core or edge. We built on previous work by using empirical data to examine the position of recent local extinctions within species' geographic ranges, address range position as a continuum, and explore the influence of environmental factors. We aggregated point-locality data for 125 Galliform species from across the Palearctic and Indo-Malaya into equal-area half-degree grid cells and used a multispecies dynamic Bayesian occupancy model to estimate rates of local extinctions. Our model provides a novel approach to identify loss of populations from within species ranges. We investigated the relationship between extinction rates and distance from range edge by examining whether patterns were consistent across biogeographic realm and different categories of land use. In the Palearctic, local extinctions occurred closer to the range edge than range core in both unconverted and human-dominated landscapes. In Indo-Malaya, no pattern was found for unconverted landscapes, but in human-dominated landscapes extinctions tended to occur closer to the core than the edge. Our results suggest that local and regional factors override general spatial patterns of recent local extinction within species' ranges and highlight the difficulty of predicting the parts of a species' distribution most vulnerable to threat. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

THE EXTENSION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION PROTECTION: NECESSARY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mas Rahmah

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the need of extension of Geographical Indication (GI protection since the current protection under Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS is insufficient to cover all products as a result of discriminatory provisions in TRIPS regulating a greater protection to wines and spirits only and different level of GI protection under Article 22 and Article 23 TRIPS. This paper then assumes that the extensive GI protection for all products should be supported because it would give greater benefits particularly to developing countries such as prevent the free riding, attract regional investment and obtain market power.   Perlindungan Indikasi Geografis (IG perlu diperluas tidak hanya pada produk tertentu seperti wines danspiritskarena perlindungan IG diatur di dalam TRIPS tidak cukup memberikan perlindungan kepada semua produk sebagai akibat perbedaan pengaturan di TRIPS yang memberikan perlindungan lebih kepada wines danspirits saja dan adanya perbedaan tingkat perlindungan pada Pasal 22 dan 23 TRIPS. Perluasan perlindungan IG harus didukung karena akan memberikan manfaat khususnya kepada negara berkembang. Perluasan perlindungan IG dapat melarang pemboncengan reputasi, menarik investasi dan meningkatkan kekuatan produk negara berkembang di pasaran.

Surveying and Mapping Geographical Information from the Perspective of Geography

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LÜ Guonian

2017-10-01

Full Text Available It briefly reviewed the history of geographic information content development since the existence of geographic information system. It pointed out that the current definition of geographic information is always the extension from the "spatial+ attributes" basic mapping framework of geographic information. It is increasingly difficult to adapt to the analysis and application of spatial-temporal big data. From the perspective of geography research subject and content, it summarized systematically that the content and extension of the "geographic information" that geography needs. It put forward that a six-element expression model of geographic information, including spatial location, semantic description, attribute characteristics, geometric form, evolution process, and objects relationship.Under the guidance of the laws of geography, for geographical phenomenon of spatial distribution, temporal pattern and evolution process, the interaction mechanism of the integrated expression, system analysis and efficient management, it designed that a unified GIS data model which is expressed by six basic elements, a new GIS data structure driven by geographical rules and interaction, and key technologies of unstructured spatio-temporal data organization and storage. It provided that a theoretical basis and technical support for the shift from the surveying and mapping geographic information to the scientific geographic information, and it can help improving the organization, management, analysis and expression ability of the GIS of the geographical laws such as geographical pattern, evolution process, and interaction between elements.

Thematic cartography as a geographical application

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Drago Perko

2002-12-01

Full Text Available A thematic map may be a geographical application (tool in itself or the basis for some other geographical work. The development of Slovene thematic cartography accelerated considerably following the independence of the country in 1991. From the viewpoint of content and technology, its greatest achievements are the Geographical Atlas of Slovenia and the National Atlas of Slovenia, which are outstanding achievements at the international level and of great significance for the promotion of Slovenia and Slovene geography and cartography. However, this rapid development has been accompanied by numerous problems, for example, the ignoring of various Slovene and international conventions for the preparation of maps including United Nations resolutions, Slovene and international (SIST ISO, and copyright laws.

Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible in Austria?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Veenhoven (Ruut)

2011-01-01

textabstractWhat is the final goal of public policy? Jeremy Bentham (1789) would say: greater happiness for a greater number. He thought of happiness as subjective enjoyment of life; in his words as “the sum of pleasures and pains”. In his time the happiness of the great number could not be measured

Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible in Germany?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Veenhoven (Ruut)

2009-01-01

textabstractWhat is the final goal of public policy? Jeremy Bentham (1789) would say: greater happiness for a greater number. He thought of happiness as subjective enjoyment of life; in his words as “the sum of pleasures and pains”. In his time the Happiness of the great number could not be measured

Overview of Milestone E activities, greater confinement than shallow land burial

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mezga, L.J.

1981-01-01

In summary, the objective of Milestone E is to provide the technology and documentation needed to open a site providing greater confinement than shallow land burial. To that end, ORNL has prepared a technical position paper defining greater confinement disposal, options for achieving it, and the need for this disposal technology. In order to meet the objective of the milestones, the LLWMP evaluated the full range of options to shallow land burial and decided to focus on a combination of greater depth solidification containment and engineered barriers. The program identified a series of research needs and then focused program efforts on resolving those needs. These tasks are proceeding on schedule at this time but budget reductions may have an impact on our ability to maintain the schedule

Geographic inequalities in all-cause mortality in Japan: compositional or contextual?

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Etsuji Suzuki

Full Text Available A recent study from Japan suggested that geographic inequalities in all-cause premature adult mortality have increased since 1995 in both sexes even after adjusting for individual age and occupation in 47 prefectures. Such variations can arise from compositional effects as well as contextual effects. In this study, we sought to further examine the emerging geographic inequalities in all-cause mortality, by exploring the relative contribution of composition and context in each prefecture.We used the 2005 vital statistics and census data among those aged 25 or older. The total number of decedents was 524,785 men and 455,863 women. We estimated gender-specific two-level logistic regression to model mortality risk as a function of age, occupation, and residence in 47 prefectures. Prefecture-level variance was used as an estimate of geographic inequalities in mortality, and prefectures were ranked by odds ratios (ORs, with the reference being the grand mean of all prefectures (value = 1.Overall, the degree of geographic inequalities was more pronounced when we did not account for the composition (i.e., age and occupation in each prefecture. Even after adjusting for the composition, however, substantial differences remained in mortality risk across prefectures with ORs ranging from 0.870 (Okinawa to 1.190 (Aomori for men and from 0.864 (Shimane to 1.132 (Aichi for women. In some prefectures (e.g., Aomori, adjustment for composition showed little change in ORs, while we observed substantial attenuation in ORs in other prefectures (e.g., Akita. We also observed qualitative changes in some prefectures (e.g., Tokyo. No clear associations were observed between prefecture-level socioeconomic status variables and the risk of mortality in either sex.Geographic disparities in mortality across prefectures are quite substantial and cannot be fully explained by differences in population composition. The relative contribution of composition and context to health

Cartography and Geographic Information Science in Current Contents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nedjeljko Frančula

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The Cartography and Geographic Information Science (CaGIS journal was published as The American Cartographer from 1974 to 1989, after that as Cartography and Geographic Information System, and since then has been published with its current name. It is published by the Cartography and Geographic Information Society, a member of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.

Airports Geographic Information System -

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — The Airports Geographic Information System maintains the airport and aeronautical data required to meet the demands of the Next Generation National Airspace System....

Hierarchical spatial organization of geographical networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Travencolo, Bruno A N; Costa, Luciano da F

2008-01-01

In this work, we propose a hierarchical extension of the polygonality index as the means to characterize geographical planar networks. By considering successive neighborhoods around each node, it is possible to obtain more complete information about the spatial order of the network at progressive spatial scales. The potential of the methodology is illustrated with respect to synthetic and real geographical networks

Modest genetic differentiation among North American populations of Sarcocystis neurona may reflect expansion in its geographic range.

Science.gov (United States)

Sundar, N; Asmundsson, I M; Thomas, N J; Samuel, M D; Dubey, J P; Rosenthal, B M

2008-03-25

Sarcocystis neurona is an important cause of neurological disease in horses (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, EPM) and sea otters in the United States. In addition, EPM-like disease has been diagnosed in several other land and marine mammals. Opossums are its only definitive hosts. Little genetic diversity among isolates of S. neurona from different hosts has been reported. Here, we used 11 microsatellites to characterize S. neurona DNA isolated from natural infections in 22 sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from California and Washington and in 11 raccoons (Procyon lotor) and 1 striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) from Wisconsin. By jointly analyzing these 34 isolates with 26 isolates previously reported, we determined that geographic barriers may limit S. neurona dispersal and that only a limited subset of possible parasite genotypes may have been introduced to recently established opossum populations. Moreover, our study confirms that diverse intermediate hosts share a common infection source, the opossum (Didelphis virginiana).

Modest genetic differentiation among North American populations of Sarcocystic neurona may reflect expansion in its geographic range

Science.gov (United States)

Sundar, N.; Asmundsson, I.M.; Thomas, N.J.; Samuel, M.D.; Dubey, J.P.; Rosenthal, B.M.

2008-01-01

Sarcocystis neurona is an important cause of neurological disease in horses (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, EPM) and sea otters in the United States. In addition, EPM-like disease has been diagnosed in several other land and marine mammals. Opossums are its only definitive hosts. Little genetic diversity among isolates of S. neurona from different hosts has been reported. Here, we used 11 microsatellites to characterize S. neurona DNA isolated from natural infections in 22 sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from California and Washington and in 11 raccoons (Procyon lotor) and 1 striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) from Wisconsin. By jointly analyzing these 34 isolates with 26 isolates previously reported, we determined that geographic barriers may limit S. neurona dispersal and that only a limited subset of possible parasite genotypes may have been introduced to recently established opossum populations. Moreover, our study confirms that diverse intermediate hosts share a common infection source, the opossum (Didelphis virginiana).

Revisiting Darwin's hypothesis: Does greater intraspecific variability increase species' ecological breadth?

Science.gov (United States)

Sides, Colby B; Enquist, Brian J; Ebersole, James J; Smith, Marielle N; Henderson, Amanda N; Sloat, Lindsey L

2014-01-01

Darwin first proposed that species with larger ecological breadth have greater phenotypic variation. We tested this hypothesis by comparing intraspecific variation in specific leaf area (SLA) to species' local elevational range and by assessing how external (abiotic) filters may influence observed differences in ecological breadth among species. Understanding the patterns of individual variation within and between populations will help evaluate differing hypotheses for structuring of communities and distribution of species. We selected 21 species with varying elevational ranges and compared the coefficient of variation of SLA for each species against its local elevational range. We examined the influence of external filters on local trait composition by determining if intraspecific changes in SLA with elevation have the same direction and similar rates of change as the change in community mean SLA value. In support of Darwin's hypothesis, we found a positive relationship between species' coefficient of variation for SLA with species' local elevational range. Intraspecific changes in SLA had the same sign, but generally lower magnitude than the community mean SLA. The results indicate that wide-ranging species are indeed characterized by greater intraspecific variation and that species' phenotypes shift along environmental gradients in the same direction as the community phenotypes. However, across species, the rate of intraspecific trait change, reflecting plastic and/or adaptive changes across populations, is limited and prevents species from adjusting to environmental gradients as quickly as interspecific changes resulting from community assembly.

Mean latitudinal range sizes of bird assemblages in six Neotropical forest chronosequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dunn, Robert R.; Romdal, Tom Skovlund

2005-01-01

Aim The geographical range size frequency distributions of animal and plant assemblages are among the most important factors affecting large-scale patterns of diversity. Nonetheless, the relationship between habitat type and the range size distributions of species forming assemblages remains poorly...... towards more small ranged species occurs. Even relatively old secondary forests have bird species with larger average ranges than mature forests. As a consequence, conservation of secondary forests alone will miss many of the species most at risk of extinction and most unlikely to be conserved in other...

Multiple sclerosis: a geographical hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlyle, I P

1997-12-01

Multiple sclerosis remains a rare neurological disease of unknown aetiology, with a unique distribution, both geographically and historically. Rare in equatorial regions, it becomes increasingly common in higher latitudes; historically, it was first clinically recognized in the early nineteenth century. A hypothesis, based on geographical reasoning, is here proposed: that the disease is the result of a specific vitamin deficiency. Different individuals suffer the deficiency in separate and often unique ways. Evidence to support the hypothesis exists in cultural considerations, in the global distribution of the disease, and in its historical prevalence.

A network of experimental forests and ranges: Providing soil solutions for a changing world

Science.gov (United States)

Mary Beth. Adams

2010-01-01

The network of experimental forests and ranges of the USDA Forest Service represents significant opportunities to provide soil solutions to critical issues of a changing world. This network of 81 experimental forests and ranges encompasses broad geographic, biological, climatic and physical scales, and includes long-term data sets, and long-term experimental...

Diversity of Blastocystis subtypes in dogs in different geographical settings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Wenqi; Cuttell, Leigh; Bielefeldt-Ohmann, Helle

2013-01-01

Background: Blastocystis is a ubiquitous, globally distributed intestinal protist infecting humans and a wide range of animals. Several studies have shown that Blastocystis is a potentially zoonotic parasite. A 1996 study reported a 70% Blastocystis prevalence in Brisbane pound dogs while another...... study found that pet dogs/cats of 11 symptomatic Blastocystis infected patients harboured at least one Blastocystis subtype (ST) in common with the patient. These results raised the possibility that dogs might be natural hosts of Blastocystis. In this study, we aimed to investigate this hypothesis...... by estimating the prevalence of Blastocystis carriage and characterising the diversity of STs in dogs from three different environmental settings and comparing these STs with the range that humans harbour. Methods: Two hundred and forty faecal samples from dogs from three different geographical regions...

Hierarchical spatial genetic structure in a distinct population segment of greater sage-grouse

Science.gov (United States)

Oyler-McCance, Sara J.; Casazza, Michael L.; Fike, Jennifer A.; Coates, Peter S.

2014-01-01

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) within the Bi-State Management Zone (area along the border between Nevada and California) are geographically isolated on the southwestern edge of the species’ range. Previous research demonstrated that this population is genetically unique, with a high proportion of unique mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes and with significant differences in microsatellite allele frequencies compared to populations across the species’ range. As a result, this population was considered a distinct population segment (DPS) and was recently proposed for listing as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. A more comprehensive understanding of the boundaries of this genetically unique population (where the Bi-State population begins) and an examination of genetic structure within the Bi-State is needed to help guide effective management decisions. We collected DNA from eight sampling locales within the Bi-State (N = 181) and compared those samples to previously collected DNA from the two most proximal populations outside of the Bi-State DPS, generating mtDNA sequence data and amplifying 15 nuclear microsatellites. Both mtDNA and microsatellite analyses support the idea that the Bi-State DPS represents a genetically unique population, which has likely been separated for thousands of years. Seven mtDNA haplotypes were found exclusively in the Bi-State population and represented 73 % of individuals, while three haplotypes were shared with neighboring populations. In the microsatellite analyses both STRUCTURE and FCA separate the Bi-State from the neighboring populations. We also found genetic structure within the Bi-State as both types of data revealed differences between the northern and southern part of the Bi-State and there was evidence of isolation-by-distance. STRUCTURE revealed three subpopulations within the Bi-State consisting of the northern Pine Nut Mountains (PNa), mid Bi-State, and White Mountains (WM) following a

Incorporating Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in Seasonal Crop Scenarios over the Greater Horn of Africa to Support National/Regional/Local Decision Makers

Science.gov (United States)

Shukla, S.; Husak, G. J.; Funk, C. C.; Verdin, J. P.

2015-12-01

The USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) provides seasonal assessments of crop conditions over the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) and other food insecure regions. These assessments and current livelihood, nutrition, market conditions and conflicts are used to generate food security scenarios that help national, regional and local decision makers target their resources and mitigate socio-economic losses. Among the various tools that FEWS NET uses is the FAO's Water Requirement Satisfaction Index (WRSI). The WRSI is a simple yet powerful crop assessment model that incorporates current moisture conditions (at the time of the issuance of forecast), precipitation scenarios, potential evapotranspiration and crop parameters to categorize crop conditions into different classes ranging from "failure" to "very good". The WRSI tool has been shown to have a good agreement with local crop yields in the GHA region. At present, the precipitation scenarios used to drive the WRSI are based on either a climatological forecast (that assigns equal chances of occurrence to all possible scenarios and has no skill over the forecast period) or a sea-surface temperature anomaly based scenario (which at best have skill at the seasonal scale). In both cases, the scenarios fail to capture the skill that can be attained by initial atmospheric conditions (i.e., medium-range weather forecasts). During the middle of a cropping season, when a week or two of poor rains can have a devastating effect, two weeks worth of skillful precipitation forecasts could improve the skill of the crop scenarios. With this working hypothesis, we examine the value of incorporating medium-range weather forecasts in improving the skill of crop scenarios in the GHA region. We use the NCEP's Global Ensemble Forecast system (GEFS) weather forecasts and examine the skill of crop scenarios generated using the GEFS weather forecasts with respect to the scenarios based solely on the climatological forecast

Evolutionary transitions in symbioses: dramatic reductions in bathymetric and geographic ranges of Zoanthidea coincide with loss of symbioses with invertebrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Swain, Timothy D

2010-06-01

Two fundamental symbiosis-based trophic types are recognized among Zoanthidea (Cnidaria, Anthozoa): fixed carbon is either obtained directly from zooxanthellae photosymbionts or from environmental sources through feeding with the assistance of host-invertebrate behaviour and structure. Each trophic type is characteristic of the suborders of Zoanthidea and is associated with substantial distributional asymmetries: suborder Macrocnemina are symbionts of invertebrates and have global geographic and bathymetric distributions and suborder Brachycnemina are hosts of endosymbiotic zooxanthellae and are restricted to tropical photic zones. While exposure to solar radiation could explain the bathymetric asymmetry it does not explain the geographic asymmetry, nor is it clear why evolutionary transitions to the zooxanthellae-free state have apparently occurred within Macrocnemina but not within Brachycnemina. To better understand the transitions between symbiosis-based trophic types of Zoanthidea, a concatenated data set of nuclear and mitochondrial nucleotide sequences were used to test hypotheses of monophyly for groups defined by morphology and symbiosis, and to reconstruct the evolutionary transitions of morphological and symbiotic characters. The results indicate that the morphological characters that define Macrocnemina are plesiomorphic and the characters that define its subordinate taxa are homoplasious. Symbioses with invertebrates have ancient and recent transitions with a general pattern of stability in host associations through evolutionary time. The reduction in distribution of Zoanthidea is independent of the evolution of zooxanthellae symbiosis and consistent with hypotheses of the benefits of invertebrate symbioses, indicating that the ability to persist in most habitats may have been lost with the termination of symbioses with invertebrates.

No evidence for enemy release during range expansion of an evergreen tree in northern Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skou, Anne-Marie Thonning; Markussen, Bo; Sigsgaard, Lene

2011-01-01

aquifolium L. in both the historical and the expanding range in Denmark to study possible effects of geographical position, small-scale distance, and plant types on presence and performance of the monophagous insect leaf-miner Phytomyza ilicis Curtis. 3. The leaf miner was present in the entire range of I....... aquifolium in Denmark, and there were no differences in emergence success depending on geographical position. Small-scale distance to existing adult plants inßuenced the activity of the insect on the transplants, and oviposition density was negatively correlated with distance to adult plants. 4. Plant type...... had an effect on leaf miner feeding, oviposition and mining, and the native provenance of I. aquifolium supported higher densities than two cultivars. 5. There was no evidence that enemy release facilitates the current range expansion of I. aquifolium....

Effects of plant sex on range distributions and allocation to reproduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Marc T J; Smith, Stacey D; Rausher, Mark D

2010-05-01

Despite an abundance of theory, few empirical studies have explored the ecological and evolutionary consequences of sex. We used a comparative phylogenetic approach to examine whether transitions between sexual and asexual reproduction are associated with changes in the size and distribution of species' geographical ranges, and their investment in reproduction. Here, we reconstructed the phylogeny of the genus Oenothera sections Oenothera and Calylophus (Onagraceae), which contain 35 sexual and 30 functionally asexual species. From each species, we collected data on the geographical distribution and variation in plant traits related to reproduction. Functionally asexual species occurred at higher latitudes, but did not differ in range size, compared with sexual species. Transitions to asexuality were associated with decreased investment in floral structures, including the length of petals, floral tubes and styles. Decreased anther size and increased seed size within asexual species also suggest altered allocation to male and female fitness. The observed range shifts are consistent with superior colonization of environments by asexual species following glaciation, and the observed changes in reproductive allocation support predictions made by models relating to the evolution of selfing. Our results suggest that the evolutionary consequences of asexual reproduction might be less restrictive than previously thought.

Dynamic management of geographic data in a virtual environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jense, G.J.; Donkers, K.

1996-01-01

In order to achieve true 3D user interaction with geographic information, an interface between a virtual environment system and a geographic information system has been designed and implemented. This VE/GIS interface is based on a loose coupling of the underlying geographic database and the virtual

Role of satellite remote sensing in the geographic information economics in France

Science.gov (United States)

Denégre, Jean

In national and international economics, geographic information plays a role which is generally acknowledged to be important but which is however, difficult to assess quantitatively, its applications being rather miscellaneous and indirect. Computer graphics and telecommunications increae that importance still more and justify many investments and research into new cartographic forms. As part of its responsibility for participating in the promotion of those developments, by taking into account needs expressed by public or private users, the National Council for Geographic Information (C.N.I.G.) has undertaken a general evaluation of the economic and social utility of geographic information in France. The study involves an estimation of the cost of production and research activities, which are probably about 0.1% of the Cross National Product—similar to many other countries. It also devised a method of estimating "cost/advantage" ratios applicable to these "intangible" benefits. Within that framework, remote sensing emphasizes particular aspects related both to the increase of economic performances in cartographic production and to the advent of new products and new ways of utilization. A review of some significant sectors shows effective earnings of about 10-20%, or even 50% or 100% of the costs, and these are doubtless much greater for the efficacy in the exploitation of products. Finally, many applications, entirely new result from extensions in various fields which would have been impossible without remote sensing: here the "cost advantage" ratio cannot even be compared with previous processes. Studies were undertaken in parallel for defining different types of products derived from satellite imagery, as well as those domains where development effort is required in order to make new advances.

A systematic review of the application and utility of geographical information systems for exploring disease-disease relationships in paediatric global health research: the case of anaemia and malaria.

Science.gov (United States)

Aimone, Ashley Mariko; Perumal, Nandita; Cole, Donald C

2013-01-10

Malaria and anaemia are important health problems among children globally. Iron deficiency anaemia may offer protection against malaria infection and iron supplementation may increase the risk of malaria-related hospitalization and mortality. The nature and mechanism of these relationships, however, remain largely unresolved, resulting in concern and uncertainty around policies for non-selective iron supplementation in malaria endemic areas. Use of geographical information systems (GIS) to investigate this disease-disease interaction could contribute important new information for developing safe and effective anaemia and malaria interventions. To assess the current state of knowledge we conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature. Our primary objective was to qualitatively assess the application and utility of geographical concepts or spatial analyses in paediatric global health research. The secondary objective was to identify geographical factors that may be associated with anaemia and malaria prevalence or incidence among children 0-5 years of age living in low- and middle-income countries. Evaluation tools for assessing the quality of geographical data could not be found in the peer-reviewed or grey literature, and thus adapted versions of the STROBE (Strengthening The Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) and GRADE (Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) methods were used to create reporting, and overall evidence quality scoring systems. Among the 20 included studies, we found that both malaria and anaemia were more prevalent in rural communities compared to urban areas. Geographical factors associated with malaria prevalence included regional transmission stability, and proximity to a mosquito breeding area. The prevalence of anaemia tended to vary inversely with greater or poorer access to community services such as piped water. Techniques for investigating geographic relationships ranged from

A systematic review of the application and utility of geographical information systems for exploring disease-disease relationships in paediatric global health research: the case of anaemia and malaria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aimone Ashley Mariko

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Malaria and anaemia are important health problems among children globally. Iron deficiency anaemia may offer protection against malaria infection and iron supplementation may increase the risk of malaria-related hospitalization and mortality. The nature and mechanism of these relationships, however, remain largely unresolved, resulting in concern and uncertainty around policies for non-selective iron supplementation in malaria endemic areas. Use of geographical information systems (GIS to investigate this disease-disease interaction could contribute important new information for developing safe and effective anaemia and malaria interventions. To assess the current state of knowledge we conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature. Our primary objective was to qualitatively assess the application and utility of geographical concepts or spatial analyses in paediatric global health research. The secondary objective was to identify geographical factors that may be associated with anaemia and malaria prevalence or incidence among children 0–5 years of age living in low- and middle-income countries. Evaluation tools for assessing the quality of geographical data could not be found in the peer-reviewed or grey literature, and thus adapted versions of the STROBE (Strengthening The Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology and GRADE (Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation methods were used to create reporting, and overall evidence quality scoring systems. Among the 20 included studies, we found that both malaria and anaemia were more prevalent in rural communities compared to urban areas. Geographical factors associated with malaria prevalence included regional transmission stability, and proximity to a mosquito breeding area. The prevalence of anaemia tended to vary inversely with greater or poorer access to community services such as piped water. Techniques for investigating geographic

Geographic, seasonal, and diurnal surface behavior of harbor porpoises

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Teilmann, Jonas; Christiansen, C.T.; Kjellerup, Sanne

2013-01-01

are essential information on the status and management of the species. Thirty-five free-ranging harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) were tracked in the region between the Baltic and the North Sea for 25-349 d using Argos satellite transmitters. No differences were found in surface behavior between geographical...... areas or the size of the animals. Slight differences were found between the two sexes and time of day. Surface time peaked in April, where 6% was spent with the transmitter above surface and 61.5% between 0 and 2 m depth, while the minimum values occurred in February (3.4% and 42.5%, respectively......). The analyses reveal that individual variation among porpoises is the most important factor in explaining variation in surface rates. However, the large number of animals documented in the present study covering a wide range of age and sex groups justifies the use of the seasonal average surface times...

Geographic Variation in Festuca rubra L. Ploidy Levels and Systemic Fungal Endophyte Frequencies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serdar Dirihan

Full Text Available Polyploidy and symbiotic Epichloë fungal endophytes are common and heritable characteristics that can facilitate environmental range expansion in grasses. Here we examined geographic patterns of polyploidy and the frequency of fungal endophyte colonized plants in 29 Festuca rubra L. populations from eight geographic sites across latitudes from Spain to northernmost Finland and Greenland. Ploidy seemed to be positively and negatively correlated with latitude and productivity, respectively. However, the correlations were nonlinear; 84% of the plants were hexaploids (2n = 6x = 42, and the positive correlation between ploidy level and latitude is the result of only four populations skewing the data. In the southernmost end of the gradient 86% of the plants were tetraploids (2n = 4x = 28, whereas in the northernmost end of the gradient one population had only octoploid plants (2n = 8x = 56. Endophytes were detected in 22 out of the 29 populations. Endophyte frequencies varied among geographic sites, and populations and habitats within geographic sites irrespective of ploidy, latitude or productivity. The highest overall endophyte frequencies were found in the southernmost end of the gradient, Spain, where 69% of plants harbored endophytes. In northern Finland, endophytes were detected in 30% of grasses but endophyte frequencies varied among populations from 0% to 75%, being higher in meadows compared to riverbanks. The endophytes were detected in 36%, 30% and 27% of the plants in Faroe Islands, Iceland and Switzerland, respectively. Practically all examined plants collected from southern Finland and Greenland were endophyte-free, whereas in other geographic sites endophyte frequencies were highly variable among populations. Common to all populations with high endophyte frequencies is heavy vertebrate grazing. We propose that the detected endophyte frequencies and ploidy levels mirror past distribution history of F. rubra after the last glaciation

CSR Strategies in Greater China: Global, East Asian, American, European Style?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heiduk Guenter

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility emerged in the United States and spread to Europe and Asia while being adapted to national/local characteristics. Since borders between markets and societies are blurring and globalization is promoting MNCs which find themselves acting in hybrid societies, international institutions put efforts into the development and moral acceptance of global CSR standards. The scientific interest in CSR focused on the conflicts between company returns and benefits for society. The resulting concepts of performance-oriented, awareness-oriented and welfare-oriented CSR should facilitate the evaluation of CSR strategies implemented by MNCs. In research on the cultural dimensions of economies, it might be possible to allocate geographically the three concepts. Regarding the newly emerging Chinese MNCs, the paper aims to shed light on which concept they follow. On the one hand, CSR concepts of American and/or European MNCs that are present in China might serve as a role model; on the other hand, by learning from Taiwanese/ Hong Kong MNCs, a “greater China CSR approach” might emerge. Empirical studies and own field research suggest that compared to American and European companies, CSR is less deeply rooted in Chinese companies. Furthermore, significant differences between Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwanese companies indicate that a Greater Chinese CSR approach does not yet exist. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that American and European CSR concepts will experience a Chinese influence in the near future.

Proportioning whole-genome single-nucleotide-polymorphism diversity for the identification of geographic population structure and genetic ancestry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

O. Lao Grueso (Oscar); K. van Duijn (Kate); P. Kersbergen; P. de Knijff (Peter); M.H. Kayser (Manfred)

2006-01-01

textabstractThe identification of geographic population structure and genetic ancestry on the basis of a minimal set of genetic markers is desirable for a wide range of applications in medical and forensic sciences. However, the absence of sharp discontinuities in the neutral

Venomics and antivenomics of Bothrops erythromelas from five geographic populations within the Caatinga ecoregion of northeastern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Jorge, Roberta Jeane B; Monteiro, Helena S A; Gonçalves-Machado, Larissa; Guarnieri, Míriam C; Ximenes, Rafael M; Borges-Nojosa, Diva M; Luna, Karla P de O; Zingali, Russolina B; Corrêa-Netto, Carlos; Gutiérrez, José María; Sanz, Libia; Calvete, Juan J; Pla, Davinia

2015-01-30

The Caatinga lancehead, Bothrops erythromelas, is a medically relevant species, responsible for most of the snakebite accidents in most parts of its distribution range in northeastern Brazil. The spectrum and geographic variability of its venom toxins were investigated applying a venomics approach to venom pools from five geographic areas within the Caatinga ecoregion. Despite its wide habitat, populations of B. erythromelas from Ceará, Pernambuco, Juazeiro, Paraiba, and Ilha de Itaparica exhibit highly conserved venom proteomes. Mirroring their compositional conservation, the five geographic venom pools also showed qualitatively and quantitatively overlapping antivenomic profiles against antivenoms generated in Vital Brazil (BR) and Clodomiro Picado (CR) Institutes, using different venoms in the immunization mixtures. The paraspecificity exhibited by the Brazilian SAB and the Costa Rican BCL antivenoms against venom toxins from B. erythromelas indicates large immunoreactive epitope conservation across genus Bothrops during the last ~14 million years, thus offering promise for the possibility of generating a broad-spectrum bothropic antivenom. Biological Significance Accidental snakebite envenomings represent an important public health hazard in Brazil. Ninety per cent of the yearly estimated 20-30,000 snakebite accidents are caused by species of the Bothrops genus. Bothrops erythromelas, a small, moderately stocky terrestrial venomous snake, is responsible for most of the snakebite accidents in its broad distribution range in the Caatinga, a large ecoregion in northeastern Brazil. To gain a deeper insight into the spectrum of medically important toxins present in the venom of the Caatinga lancehead, we applied a venomics approach to define the proteome and geographic variability of adult B. erythromelas venoms from five geographic regions. Although intraspecific compositional variation between venoms among specimens from different geographic regions has long been

Selected data for hydrothermal-convection systems in the United States with estimated temperatures greater than or equal to 90/sup 0/C: back-up data for US Geological Survey Circular 790

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mariner, R.H.; Brook, C.A.; Swanson, J.R.; Mabey, D.R.

1978-12-01

A compilation of data used in determining the accessible resource base for identified hydrothermal convection systems greater than or equal to 90/sup 0/C in the United States are presented. Geographic, geologic, chemical, isotopic, volumetric, and bibliographic data and calculated thermal energy contents are listed for all vapor-dominated and hot-water systems with estimated reservoir temperatures greater than or equal to 90/sup 0/C and reservoir depths less than 3 km known to the authors in mid 1978. Data presented here is stored in the US Geological Survey's geothermal computer file GEOTHERM. Data for individual hydrothermal convection systems in each state are arranged geographically from north to south and west to east without regard to the type or temperature of the system. Locations of the systems and corresponding reference numbers are shown on map 1 accompanying US Geological Survey Circular 790.

Geographical distribution of a specific mitochondrial haplotype of Zymoseptoria tritici

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sameh BOUKEF

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Severity of disease caused by the fungus Zymoseptoria tritici throughout world cereal growing regions has elicited much debate on the potential evolutionary mechanism conferring high adaptability of the pathogen to diverse climate conditions and different wheat hosts (Triticum durum and T. aestivum. Specific mitochondrial DNA sequence was used to investigate geographic distribution of the type 4 haplotype (mtRFLP4 within 1363 isolates of Z. tritici originating from 21 countries. The mtRFLP4 haplotype was detected from both durum and bread wheat hosts with greater frequency on durum wheat. The distribution of mtRFLP4 was limited to populations sampled from the Mediterranean and the Red Sea region. Greater frequencies of mtRFLP4 were found in Tunisia (87% and Algeria (60%. The haplotype was absent within European, Australian, North and South American populations except Argentina. While alternative hypotheses such as climatic adaptation could not be ruled out, it is postulated that mtRFLP4 originated in North Africa (e.g. Tunisia or Algeria as an adaptation to durum wheat as the prevailing cereal crop. The specialized haplotype has subsequently spread as indicated by lower frequency of occurrence in the surrounding Mediterranean countries and on bread wheat hosts.

Public and private dental services in NSW: a geographic information system analysis of access to care for 7 million Australians.

Science.gov (United States)

Willie-Stephens, Jenny; Kruger, Estie; Tennant, Marc

2014-06-01

To investigate the distribution of public and private dental practices in NSW in relation to population distribution and socioeconomic status. Dental practices (public and private) were mapped and overlayed with Census data on Collection District population and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA). Overall, there was an uneven geographic distribution of public and private dental practices across NSW. When the geographic distribution was compared to population socioeconomics it was found that in rural NSW, 12% of the most disadvantaged residents lived further than 50km from a public dental practice, compared to 0% of the least disadvantaged. In Sydney, 9% of the three most disadvantaged groups lived greater than 7.5km from a public dental practice, compared to 21% of the three least disadvantaged groups. The findings of this study can contribute to informing decisions to determine future areas for focus of dental resource development (infrastructure and workforce) and identifying subgroups in the population (who are geographically isolated from accessing care) where public health initiatives focused on amelioration of disease consequences should be a focus.

Lek ecology of male greater sage-grouse in Carbon County, Wyoming

Science.gov (United States)

Aleshia Lynn Fremgen

2014-01-01

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter "sage-grouse") have experienced range-wide population declines for several decades, and as a result they were considered warranted for listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2010. Therefore, wildlife managers need to understand how sage-grouse breeding behavior influences long-term reproductive...

Kornati Islands on Old Geographic Maps and Charts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josip Faričić

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Based on the analysis of cartographic sources, the paper analyses the historical and geographical development of the Kornati islands, the largest group of Croatian islands. The old maps were used first of all as the means of geographic research that, being necessarily correlated to the simultaneous historical written sources and modern topographic and maritime maps, make the basis for creating a research platform for relevant scientific results to be achieved. On the basis of the old maps it is possible, among other things to anticipate that the Kornati islands used to have great geotraffic significance on the eastern Adriatic sailing route. According to the development of geographic concepts and cartographic methods, the geographic vision of the Kornati islands has been gradually clarified ever since the 16th century. The chart from the Carta di cabotaggio del Mare Adriatico edition published by the Military and Geographic Institute from Milan (1822-1824 presents the turning point with the first complete and mostly precise presentation of the Kornati islands group on the basis of hydrographic and topographic field measurements.

Comparison of immunization strategies in geographical networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Bing; Aihara, Kazuyuki [Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)] [ERATO Aihara Complexity Modelling Project, JST, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8505 (Japan); Kim, Beom Jun, E-mail: beomjun@skku.ed [BK21 Physics Research Division and Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)] [Department of Computational Biology, School of Computer Science and Communication, Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

2009-10-12

The epidemic spread and immunizations in geographically embedded scale-free (SF) and Watts-Strogatz (WS) networks are numerically investigated. We make a realistic assumption that it takes time which we call the detection time, for a vertex to be identified as infected, and implement two different immunization strategies: one is based on connection neighbors (CN) of the infected vertex with the exact information of the network structure utilized and the other is based on spatial neighbors (SN) with only geographical distances taken into account. We find that the decrease of the detection time is crucial for a successful immunization in general. Simulation results show that for both SF networks and WS networks, the SN strategy always performs better than the CN strategy, especially for more heterogeneous SF networks at long detection time. The observation is verified by checking the number of the infected nodes being immunized. We found that in geographical space, the distance preferences in the network construction process and the geographically decaying infection rate are key factors that make the SN immunization strategy outperforms the CN strategy. It indicates that even in the absence of the full knowledge of network connectivity we can still stop the epidemic spread efficiently only by using geographical information as in the SN strategy, which may have potential applications for preventing the real epidemic spread.

Comparison of immunization strategies in geographical networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Bing; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Kim, Beom Jun

2009-01-01

The epidemic spread and immunizations in geographically embedded scale-free (SF) and Watts-Strogatz (WS) networks are numerically investigated. We make a realistic assumption that it takes time which we call the detection time, for a vertex to be identified as infected, and implement two different immunization strategies: one is based on connection neighbors (CN) of the infected vertex with the exact information of the network structure utilized and the other is based on spatial neighbors (SN) with only geographical distances taken into account. We find that the decrease of the detection time is crucial for a successful immunization in general. Simulation results show that for both SF networks and WS networks, the SN strategy always performs better than the CN strategy, especially for more heterogeneous SF networks at long detection time. The observation is verified by checking the number of the infected nodes being immunized. We found that in geographical space, the distance preferences in the network construction process and the geographically decaying infection rate are key factors that make the SN immunization strategy outperforms the CN strategy. It indicates that even in the absence of the full knowledge of network connectivity we can still stop the epidemic spread efficiently only by using geographical information as in the SN strategy, which may have potential applications for preventing the real epidemic spread.

a Conceptual Framework for Virtual Geographic Environments Knowledge Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

You, Lan; Lin, Hui

2016-06-01

VGE geographic knowledge refers to the abstract and repeatable geo-information which is related to the geo-science problem, geographical phenomena and geographical laws supported by VGE. That includes expert experiences, evolution rule, simulation processes and prediction results in VGE. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for VGE knowledge engineering in order to effectively manage and use geographic knowledge in VGE. Our approach relies on previous well established theories on knowledge engineering and VGE. The main contribution of this report is following: (1) The concepts of VGE knowledge and VGE knowledge engineering which are defined clearly; (2) features about VGE knowledge different with common knowledge; (3) geographic knowledge evolution process that help users rapidly acquire knowledge in VGE; and (4) a conceptual framework for VGE knowledge engineering providing the supporting methodologies system for building an intelligent VGE. This conceptual framework systematically describes the related VGE knowledge theories and key technologies. That will promote the rapid transformation from geodata to geographic knowledge, and furtherly reduce the gap between the data explosion and knowledge absence.

Proportioning whole-genome single-nucleotide-polymorphism diversity for the identification of geographic population structure and genetic ancestry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

O. Lao Grueso (Oscar); K. van Duijn (Kate); P. Kersbergen (Paula); P. de Knijff (Peter); M.H. Kayser (Manfred)

2006-01-01

textabstractThe identification of geographic population structure and genetic ancestry on the basis of a minimal set of genetic markers is desirable for a wide range of applications in medical and forensic sciences. However, the absence of sharp discontinuities in the neutral genetic diversity among

Active convergence between the Lesser and Greater Caucasus in Georgia: Constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Lesser-Greater Caucasus continental collision

Science.gov (United States)

Sokhadze, G.; Floyd, M.; Godoladze, T.; King, R.; Cowgill, E. S.; Javakhishvili, Z.; Hahubia, G.; Reilinger, R.

2018-01-01

We present and interpret newly determined site motions derived from GPS observations made from 2008 through 2016 in the Republic of Georgia, which constrain the rate and locus of active shortening in the Lesser-Greater Caucasus continental collision zone. Observation sites are located along two ∼160 km-long profiles crossing the Lesser-Greater Caucasus boundary zone: one crossing the Rioni Basin in western Georgia and the other crossing further east near the longitude of Tbilisi. Convergence across the Rioni Basin Profile occurs along the southern margin of the Greater Caucasus, near the surface trace of the north-dipping Main Caucasus Thrust Fault (MCTF) system, and is consistent with strain accumulation on the fault that generated the 1991 MW6.9 Racha earthquake. In contrast, convergence along the Tbilisi Profile occurs near Tbilisi and the northern boundary of the Lesser Caucasus (near the south-dipping Lesser Caucasus Thrust Fault), approximately 50-70 km south of the MCTF, which is inactive within the resolution of geodetic observations (< ± 0.5 mm/yr) at the location of the Tbilisi Profile. We suggest that the southward offset of convergence along strike of the range is related to the incipient collision of the Lesser-Greater Caucasus, and closing of the intervening Kura Basin, which is most advanced along this segment of the collision zone. The identification of active shortening near Tbilisi requires a reevaluation of seismic hazards in this area.

Future Prospects for Geographical Education in Slovenia

Science.gov (United States)

Resnic Planinc, Tatjana

2011-01-01

This paper deals with future prospects for geographical education in Slovenia, with special emphasis on the development and aims of the didactics of geography. The author discusses the past development of geographical curricula and of competencies of geography teachers, and the education of future teachers of the subject in Slovenia. Her ideas are…

Generalisation of geographic information cartographic modelling and applications

CERN Document Server

Mackaness, William A; Sarjakoski, L Tiina

2011-01-01

Theoretical and Applied Solutions in Multi Scale MappingUsers have come to expect instant access to up-to-date geographical information, with global coverage--presented at widely varying levels of detail, as digital and paper products; customisable data that can readily combined with other geographic information. These requirements present an immense challenge to those supporting the delivery of such services (National Mapping Agencies (NMA), Government Departments, and private business. Generalisation of Geographic Information: Cartographic Modelling and Applications provides detailed review

A comprehensive database of the geographic spread of past human Ebola outbreaks.

Science.gov (United States)

Mylne, Adrian; Brady, Oliver J; Huang, Zhi; Pigott, David M; Golding, Nick; Kraemer, Moritz U G; Hay, Simon I

2014-01-01

Ebola is a zoonotic filovirus that has the potential to cause outbreaks of variable magnitude in human populations. This database collates our existing knowledge of all known human outbreaks of Ebola for the first time by extracting details of their suspected zoonotic origin and subsequent human-to-human spread from a range of published and non-published sources. In total, 22 unique Ebola outbreaks were identified, composed of 117 unique geographic transmission clusters. Details of the index case and geographic spread of secondary and imported cases were recorded as well as summaries of patient numbers and case fatality rates. A brief text summary describing suspected routes and means of spread for each outbreak was also included. While we cannot yet include the ongoing Guinea and DRC outbreaks until they are over, these data and compiled maps can be used to gain an improved understanding of the initial spread of past Ebola outbreaks and help evaluate surveillance and control guidelines for limiting the spread of future epidemics.

Hydrologic connectivity between geographically isolated wetlands and surface water systems: A review of select modeling methods

Science.gov (United States)

Heather E. Golden; Charles R. Lane; Devendra M. Amatya; Karl W. Bandilla; Hadas Raanan Kiperwas Kiperwas; Christopher D. Knightes; Herbert. Ssegane

2014-01-01

Geographically isolated wetlands (GIW), depressional landscape features entirely surrounded by upland areas, provide a wide range of ecological functions and ecosystem services for human well-being. Current and future ecosystem management and decision-making rely on a solid scientific understanding of how hydrologic processes affect these important GIW services and...

Geographical point cloud modelling with the 3D medial axis transform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peters, R.Y.

2018-01-01

A geographical point cloud is a detailed three-dimensional representation of the geometry of our geographic environment.
Using geographical point cloud modelling, we are able to extract valuable information from geographical point clouds that can be used for applications in asset management,

Reduced innate immunity of Cuban Treefrogs at leading edge of range expansion.

Science.gov (United States)

Goetz, Scott M; Romagosa, Christina M; Appel, Arthur G; Guyer, Craig; Mendonça, Mary T

2017-12-01

During geographic range expansion, populations of non-indigenous species at the invasion front may benefit from directing resources away from immune defense. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the strength of two innate immune components in populations of invasive Cuban Treefrogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis) in a long-colonized area (core region) and at the invasion front (leading-edge region). First, we compared the region-specific metabolic response of frogs injected with an endotoxin that induces systemic inflammation (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) to sham-injected control frogs pooled from both regions. Males and females were analyzed independently because we detected a sex-related difference in mass-independent metabolism of control frogs, with males exhibiting a significantly higher metabolic rate (F 1, 21  = 29.02, P leading-edge populations, there was no significant difference in the metabolic rate of LPS-injected and control frogs (males, P  = 0.195; females, P  = 0.132). Second, we directly compared bacterial killing ability of frog blood plasma between regions. Bactericidal ability of plasma was significantly greater in frogs from the core region in comparison with those at the leading edge (F 1, 26   = 28.67, P < 0.001). For both immune components that we examined, populations from the core exhibited stronger immune responses. Our findings support hypotheses predicting an inverse relationship between immunity and range expansion. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

GNIS: Geographic Names Information Systems - All features (2013)

Data.gov (United States)

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographical patterns of adaptation within a species' range : Interactions between drift and gene flow

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alleaume-Benharira, M; Pen, IR; Ronce, O

We use individual-based stochastic simulations and analytical deterministic predictions to investigate the interaction between drift, natural selection and gene flow on the patterns of local adaptation across a fragmented species' range under clinally varying selection. Migration between populations

Examining geographic patterns of mortality: the atlas of mortality in small areas in Spain (1987-1995).

Science.gov (United States)

Benach, Joan; Yasui, Yutaka; Borrell, Carme; Rosa, Elisabeth; Pasarín, M Isabel; Benach, Núria; Español, Esther; Martínez, José Miguel; Daponte, Antonio

2003-06-01

Small-area mortality atlases have been demonstrated to be a useful tool for both showing general geographical patterns in mortality data and identifying specific high-risk locations. In Spain no study has so far systematically examined geographic patterns of small-area mortality for the main causes of death. This paper presents the main features, contents and potential uses of the Spanish Atlas of Mortality in small areas (1987-1995). Population data for 2,218 small areas were drawn from the 1991 Census. Aggregated mortality data for 14 specific causes of death for the period 1987-1995 were obtained for each small area. Empirical Bayes-model-based estimates of age-adjusted relative risk were displayed in small-area maps for each cause/gender/age group (0-64 or 65 and over) combination using the same range of values (i.e. septiles) and colour schemes. The 'Spanish Atlas of Mortality' includes multiple choropleth (area-shaded) small-area maps and graphs to answer different questions about the data. The atlas is divided into three main sections. Section 1 includes the methods and comments on the main maps. Section 2 presents a two-page layout for each leading cause of death by gender including 1) a large map with relative risk estimates, 2) a map that indicates high- and low-risk small areas, 3) a graph with median and interquartile range of relative risk estimates for 17 large regions of Spain, and 4) relative-risk maps for two age groups. Section 3 provides specific information on the geographical units of analysis, statistical methods and other supplemental maps. The 'Spanish Atlas of Mortality' is a useful tool for examining geographical patterns of mortality risk and identifying specific high-risk areas. Mortality patterns displayed in the atlas may have important implications for research and social/health policy planning purposes.

Assessment of Geographic and Host-Associated Population Variations of the Carob Moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae, on Pomegranate, Fig, Pistachio and Walnut, Using AFLP Markers

Science.gov (United States)

Mozaffarian, Fariba; Mardi, Mohsen; Sarafrazi, Alimorad; Nouri Ganbalani, Gadir

2008-01-01

The carob moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller 1839) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is the most important pest of pomegranate, Punica granatum L. (Myrtales: Ponicaceae), in Iran. In this study, 6 amplified fragment length polymorphism primer combinations were used to survey the genetic structure of the geographic and putative host-associated populations of this pest in Iran. An AMOVA was performed on test populations. Pairwise differences, Mantel test, multidimensional analysis, cluster analysis and migration rate were calculated for 5 geographic populations of E. ceratoniae sharing the same host, pomegranate. In another part of the study, 3 comparisons were performed on pairwise populations that were collected on different hosts (pomegranate, fig, pistachio and walnut) in same geographic regions. The results showed high within population variation (85.51% of total variation), however geographic populations differed significantly. The Mantel test did not show correlations between genetic and geographic distances. The probable factors that affect genetic distances are discussed. Multidimensional scaling analysis, migration rate and cluster analysis on geographic populations showed that the Arsanjan population was the most different from the others while the Saveh population was more similar to the Sabzevar population. The comparisons didn't show any host fidelity in test populations. It seems that the ability of E. ceratoniae to broaden its host range with no fidelity to hosts can decrease the efficiency of common control methods that are used on pomegranate. The results of this study suggest that in spite of the effects of geographic barriers, high within-population genetic variation, migration rate and gene flow can provide the opportunity for emerging new phenotypes or behaviors in pest populations, such as broadening host range, changing egg lying places, or changing over-wintering sites to adapt to difficult conditions such as those caused by intensive control

Training for Internationalization through Domestic Geographical Dispersion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Santangelo, Grazia D.; Stucchi, Tamara

Traditionally created to deal with the unfriendly domestic environment, business groups (BGs) are increasingly internationalizing. However, how BGs can reconcile their strictly domestic orientation with an international dimension still remains an open question. Drawing on arguments from...... organizational learning, we seek to solve this puzzle in relation to the internationalization of Indian BGs. In particular, we argue that in heterogeneous domestic emerging markets BG’s geographical dispersion across sub-national states provides training for internationalization. To internationalize successfully......, BGs need to develop the capability of managing geographically dispersed units in institutional heterogeneous contexts. Domestic geographical dispersion would indeed help the BG dealing with different regulations, customers and infrastructures. However, there is less scope for such training as BGs...

USGS Geographic Names (GNIS) Overlay Map Service from The National Map - National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — USGS developed The National Map (TNM) Gazetteer as the Federal and national standard (ANSI INCITS 446-2008) for geographic nomenclature based on the Geographic Names...

Landscapes of Lost Energy: Counterfactual Geographical Imaginary for A More Sustainable Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van der Horst Dan

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The quest for sustainable energy, one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, calls for more input from academics than 'simply' producing good science. Geographical imaginations are as old as storytelling and mapmaking, but this essay is neither about 'long ago and far away', nor about utopian energy futures. This is a call to geographers to engage with 'alternative present' energy scenarios, using the full range of analytical and discursive tools at our disposal. Drawing on a diverse tradition of imagined spaces and the awareness of absences (material, relational or otherwise, geographers should be able to contribute to the quest for a more sustainable society by assessing, envisaging, and communicating a counterfactual 'here and now', based on good practices existing right now, but not (yet right here. We need to understand how much more sustainable our bit of the planet would be if we could just, environmentally speaking, 'keep up' with the best of our neighbours. This counterfactual present should be seen as neither radical nor utopian, because it only assumes the historic adoption of best practices which we now know to be feasible and successful. And if thi alternative current scenario looks radically different from the 'real' state we are in, then this goes to show how radically unsustainable our business-as-usual approach has been.

The Current Landscape of US Pediatric Anesthesiologists: Demographic Characteristics and Geographic Distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Muffly, Matthew K; Muffly, Tyler M; Weterings, Robbie; Singleton, Mark; Honkanen, Anita

2016-07-01

There is no comprehensive database of pediatric anesthesiologists, their demographic characteristics, or geographic location in the United States. We endeavored to create a comprehensive database of pediatric anesthesiologists by merging individuals identified as US pediatric anesthesiologists by the American Board of Anesthesiology, National Provider Identifier registry, Healthgrades.com database, and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia membership list as of November 5, 2015. Professorial rank was accessed via the Association of American Medical Colleges and other online sources. Descriptive statistics characterized pediatric anesthesiologists' demographics. Pediatric anesthesiologists' locations at the city and state level were geocoded and mapped with the use of ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 mapping software (Redlands, CA). We identified 4048 pediatric anesthesiologists in the United States, which is approximately 8.8% of the physician anesthesiology workforce (n = 46,000). The median age of pediatric anesthesiologists was 49 years (interquartile range, 40-57 years), and the majority (56.4%) were men. Approximately two-thirds of identified pediatric anesthesiologists were subspecialty board certified in pediatric anesthesiology, and 33% of pediatric anesthesiologists had an identified academic affiliation. There is substantial heterogeneity in the geographic distribution of pediatric anesthesiologists by state and US Census Division with urban clustering. This description of pediatric anesthesiologists' demographic characteristics and geographic distribution fills an important gap in our understanding of pediatric anesthesia systems of care.

Northward extension of the known range of the Bush Pipit Anthus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Summary. The Bush Pipit Anthus caffer is a partly nomadic African species whose movements coincide with the onset of rains. Across the continent, the distribution and geographic extent of the five Bush Pipit subspecies are poorly known. In Kenya, the documented range of the Bush Pipit is along the Tanzanian border in ...

Duration on unemployment: geographic mobility and selectivity bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Goss, E P; Paul, C; Wilhite, A

1994-01-01

Modeling the factors affecting the duration of unemployment was found to be influenced by the inclusion of migration factors. Traditional models which did not control for migration factors were found to underestimate movers' probability of finding an acceptable job. The empirical test of the theory, based on the analysis of data on US household heads unemployed in 1982 and employed in 1982 and 1983, found that the cumulative probability of reemployment in the traditional model was .422 and in the migration selectivity model was .624 after 30 weeks of searching. In addition, controlling for selectivity eliminated the significance of the relationship between race and job search duration in the model. The relationship between search duration and the county unemployment rate in 1982 became statistically significant, and the relationship between search duration and 1980 population per square mile in the 1982 county of residence became statistically insignificant. The finding that non-Whites have a longer duration of unemployment can better be understood as non-Whites' lower geographic mobility and lack of greater job contacts. The statistical significance of a high unemployment rate in the home labor market reducing the probability of finding employment was more in keeping with expectations. The findings assumed that the duration of employment accurately reflected the length of job search. The sample was redrawn to exclude discouraged workers and the analysis was repeated. The findings were similar to the full sample, with the coefficient for migration variable being negative and statistically significant and the coefficient for alpha remaining positive and statistically significant. Race in the selectivity model remained statistically insignificant. The findings supported the Schwartz model hypothesizing that the expansion of the radius of the search would reduce the duration of unemployment. The exclusion of the migration factor misspecified the equation for

[Geographic data for Neotropical bats (Chiroptera)].

Science.gov (United States)

Noguera-Urbano, Elkin A; Escalante, Tania

2014-03-01

The global effort to digitize biodiversity occurrence data from collections, museums and other institutions has stimulated the development of important tools to improve the knowledge and conservation of biodiversity. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) enables and opens access to biodiversity data of 321 million of records, from 379 host institutions. Neotropical bats are a highly diverse and specialized group, and the geographic information about them is increasing since few years ago, but there are a few reports about this topic. The aim of this study was to analyze the number of digital records in GBIF of Neotropical bats with distribution in 21 American countries, evaluating their nomenclatural and geographical consistence at scale of country. Moreover, we evaluated the gaps of information on 1 degrees latitude x 1 degrees longitude grids cells. There were over 1/2 million records, but 58% of them have no latitude and longitude data; and 52% full fit nomenclatural and geographic evaluation. We estimated that there are no records in 54% of the analyzed area; the principal gaps are in biodiversity hotspots like the Colombian and Brazilian Amazonia and Southern Venezuela. In conclusion, our study suggests that available data on GBIF have nomenclatural and geographic biases. GBIF data represent partially the bat species richness and the main gaps in information are in South America.

Indoor radon concentration data: Its geographic and geologic distribution, an example from the Capital District, NY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, J.J.; Overeynder, H.M.; Thomas, B.R.

1995-01-01

Most studies of the geographic distribution of indoor radon levels are plotted by county or ZIP code. This method is used for the radon potential maps produced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). The basis for the mapping is the mean or median indoor radon count for all the data provided by NYSDOH within each geographic area. While testing the indoor radon analyses provided to the authors by CMT Independent Laboratories, we discovered data that deviated markedly from the EPA and NYSDOH means for the Capital District of New York (Albany and surrounding counties). Their screening indoor radon average concentrations in pCi/L, indicate low potential for Schenectady (3.0), Saratoga (3.2), and Albany (3.7) counties; and moderate potential for Rensselaer (6.4) and Columbia (7.0) counties. Our database of over 3,000 analyses contains over 800 records of indoor radon counts above 4 pCi/L (14-47% of each county's analyses), many high enough to be rated as a serious health hazard. In order to obtain greater precision of information, the authors plotted their indoor radon data by street address using MapInfo, a geographic Information System (GIS), and StreetInfo, MapInfo's TIGER address database. We compared the geographic distribution of our data to both the Bedrock Geology and Surficial Geology Maps of New York State. The results show a striking relationship of radon concentrations to bedrock, faults and permeability of surficial material. Data being compiled and mapped by street address by the NYSDOH in Erie County in western New York, confirm our results

Representation of geographic terrain surface using global indexing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolar, Jan

2004-01-01

. Unlike cartographic maps, 3D models can capture the geometry of geographic features without flattening the environment, without cartographic projection?can avoid geometric distortion. More interestingly, however, 3D models can be composed into a single model spanning the whole world; it can be navigated...... visually in order to access information and data in the same geometric space as we navigate ourselves in our real environment.   This article attempts to narrow down the overhead of problems in visualization of 3D geographic information and intends to identify fundamental issues common to other systems......A global 3D geographic model a feasible solution for its visualization and management remains a challenging vision. The existence of a reusable platform would provide an unprecedented potential for development of applications related to geography and facilitate comprehension of geographic data...

Geographical data structures supporting regional analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, R.G.; Durfee, R.C.

1978-01-01

In recent years the computer has become a valuable aid in solving regional environmental problems. Over a hundred different geographic information systems have been developed to digitize, store, analyze, and display spatially distributed data. One important aspect of these systems is the data structure (e.g. grids, polygons, segments) used to model the environment being studied. This paper presents eight common geographic data structures and their use in studies of coal resources, power plant siting, population distributions, LANDSAT imagery analysis, and landuse analysis

Geographical Variations in the Environmental Determinants of Physical Inactivity among U.S. Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

An, Ruopeng; Li, Xinye; Jiang, Ning

2017-10-31

Physical inactivity is a major modifiable risk factor for morbidity, disability and premature mortality worldwide. This study assessed the geographical variations in the impact of environmental quality on physical inactivity among U.S. adults. Data on county-level prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity came from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. County environment was measured by the Environmental Quality Index (EQI), a comprehensive index of environmental conditions that affect human health. The overall EQI consists of five subdomains-air, water, land, social, and built environment. Geographically weighted regressions (GWRs) were performed to estimate and map county-specific impact of overall EQI and its five subdomains on physical inactivity prevalence. The prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity among U.S. counties was 25% in 2005. On average, one standard deviation decrease in the overall EQI was associated with an increase in county-level prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity by nearly 1%. However, substantial geographical variations in the estimated environmental determinants of physical inactivity were present. The estimated changes of county-level prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity resulted from one standard deviation decrease of the overall EQI ranged from an increase of over 3% to a decrease of nearly 2% across U.S. counties. Analogous, the estimated changes of county-level prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity resulted from one standard deviation decrease of the EQI air, water, land, social, and built environment subdomains ranged from an increase of 2.6%, 1.5%, 2.9%, 3.3%, and 1.7% to a decrease of 2.9%, 1.4%, 2.4%, 2.4%, and 0.8% across U.S. counties, respectively. Given the substantial heterogeneities in the environmental determinants of physical inactivity, locally customized physical activity interventions are warranted to address the most concerning area-specific environmental issue.

Corroborating a new probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for greater Tokyo from historical intensity observations

Science.gov (United States)

Bozkurt, S.; Stein, R.; Toda, S.

2006-12-01

The long recorded history of earthquakes in Japan affords an opportunity to forecast seismic shaking exclusively from past observations of shaking. For this we analyzed 10,000 intensity observations recorded during AD 1600-2000 in a 350 x 350 km area centered on Tokyo in a Geographic Information System. A frequency-intensity curve is found for each 5 x 5 km cell, and from this the probability of exceeding any intensity level can be estimated. The principal benefits of this approach is that it builds the fewest possible assumptions into a probabilistic seismic forecast, it includes site and source effects without imposing this behavior, and we do not need to know the size or location of any earthquake or the location and slip rate of any fault. The cost is that we must abandon any attempt to make a time-dependent forecast, which could be quite different. We believe the method is suitable to many applications of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, and to other regions. The two key assumptions are that the slope of the observed frequency-intensity relation at every site is the same, and that the 400-year record is long enough to encompass the full range of seismic behavior. Tests we conduct suggest that both assumptions are sound. The resulting 30-year probability of IJMA>=6 shaking (roughly equivalent to PGA>=0.9 g or MMI=IX-X) is 30-40% in Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama, and 10-15% in Chiba and Tsukuba, the range reflecting spatial variability and curve-fitting alternatives. The strongest shaking is forecast along the margins of Tokyo Bay, within the river sediments extending northwest from Tokyo, and at coastal sites near the plate boundary faults. We also produce long- term exceedance maps of peak ground acceleration for building code regulations, and short-term hazard maps associated with hypothetical catastrophe bonds. Our results for greater Tokyo resemble our independent Poisson probability developed from conventional seismic hazard analysis, as well as

Combined venomics, venom gland transcriptomics, bioactivities, and antivenomics of two Bothrops jararaca populations from geographic isolated regions within the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest

OpenAIRE

Gonçalves Machado, Larissa; Pla, Davinia; Sanz, Libia; Jorge, Roberta Jeane B.; Leitão De Araújo, Moema; Alves, Maria Lúcia M.; Alvares, Diego Janisch; De Miranda, Joari; Nowatzki, Jenifer; de Morais Zani, Karen; Fernandes, Wilson; Tanaka Azevedo, Anita Mitico; Fernández, Julián; Zingali, Russolina B.; Gutiérrez, José María

2016-01-01

Bothrops jararaca is a slender and semi-arboreal medically relevant pit viper species endemic to tropical and subtropical forests in southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina (Misiones). Within its geographic range, it is often abundant and is an important cause of snakebite. Although no subspecies are currently recognized, geographic analyses have revealed the existence of two well-supported B. jararaca clades that diverged during the Pliocene ~ 3.8 Mya and currently display a southe...

Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the greater horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, in Northeast Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tong; Sun, Keping; Park, Yung Chul; Feng, Jiang

2016-01-01

The greater horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum , is an important model organism for studies on chiropteran phylogeographic patterns. Previous studies revealed the population history of R. ferrumequinum from Europe and most Asian regions, yet there continue to be arguments about their evolutionary process in Northeast Asia. In this study, we obtained mitochondrial DNA cyt b and D-loop data of R. ferrumequinum from Northeast China, South Korea and Japan to clarify their phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary process. Our results indicate a highly supported monophyletic group of Northeast Asian greater horseshoe bats, in which Japanese populations formed a single clade and clustered into the mixed branches of Northeast Chinese and South Korean populations. We infer that R. ferrumequinum in Northeast Asia originated in Northeast China and South Korea during a cold glacial period, while some ancestors likely arrived in Japan by flying or land bridge and subsequently adapted to the local environment. Consequently, during the warm Eemian interglaciation, the Korea Strait, between Japan and South Korea, became a geographical barrier to Japanese and inland populations, while the Changbai Mountains, between China and North Korea, did not play a significant role as a barrier between Northeast China and South Korea populations.

Scale-free correlations in the geographical spreading of obesity

Science.gov (United States)

Gallos, Lazaros; Barttfeld, Pablo; Havlin, Shlomo; Sigman, Mariano; Makse, Hernan

2012-02-01

Obesity levels have been universally increasing. A crucial problem is to determine the influence of global and local drivers behind the obesity epidemic, to properly guide effective policies. Despite the numerous factors that affect the obesity evolution, we show a remarkable regularity expressed in a predictable pattern of spatial long-range correlations in the geographical spreading of obesity. We study the spatial clustering of obesity and a number of related health and economic indicators, and we use statistical physics methods to characterize the growth of the resulting clusters. The resulting scaling exponents allow us to broadly classify these indicators into two separate universality classes, weakly or strongly correlated. Weak correlations are found in generic human activity such as population distribution and the growth of the whole economy. Strong correlations are recovered, among others, for obesity, diabetes, and the food industry sectors associated with food consumption. Obesity turns out to be a global problem where local details are of little importance. The long-range correlations suggest influence that extends to large scales, hinting that the physical model of obesity clustering can be mapped to a long-range correlated percolation process.

Geographic Variations in Arthritis Prevalence, Health-Related Characteristics, and Management - United States, 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbour, Kamil E; Moss, Susan; Croft, Janet B; Helmick, Charles G; Theis, Kristina A; Brady, Teresa J; Murphy, Louise B; Hootman, Jennifer M; Greenlund, Kurt J; Lu, Hua; Wang, Yan

2018-03-16

Doctor-diagnosed arthritis is a common chronic condition affecting an estimated 23% (54 million) of adults in the United States, greatly influencing quality of life and costing approximately $300 billion annually. The geographic variations in arthritis prevalence, health-related characteristics, and management among states and territories are unknown. Therefore, public health professionals need to understand arthritis in their areas to target dissemination of evidence-based interventions that reduce arthritis morbidity. 2015. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System is an annual, random-digit-dialed landline and cellular telephone survey of noninstitutionalized adults aged ≥18 years residing in the United States. Self-reported data are collected from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Unadjusted and age-standardized prevalences of arthritis, arthritis health-related characteristics, and arthritis management were calculated. County-level estimates were calculated using a validated statistical modeling method. In 2015, in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, median age-standardized prevalence of arthritis was 23.0% (range: 17.2%-33.6%). Modeled prevalence of arthritis varied considerably by county (range: 11.2%-42.7%). In 13 states that administered the arthritis management module, among adults with arthritis, the age-standardized median percentage of participation in a self-management education course was 14.5% (range: 9.1%-19.0%), being told by a health care provider to engage in physical activity or exercise was 58.5% (range: 52.3%-61.9%), and being told to lose weight to manage arthritis symptoms (if overweight or obese) was 44.5% (range: 35.1%-53.2%). Respondents with arthritis who lived in the quartile of states with the highest prevalences of arthritis had the highest percentages of negative health-related characteristics (i.e., arthritis-attributable activity limitations, arthritis-attributable severe joint pain

Geographical Clusters of Rape in the United States: 2000-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Raid; Nabors, Nicole S.; Nelson, Arlene M.; Saqlain, Murshid; Kulldorff, Martin

2016-01-01

Background While rape is a very serious crime and public health problem, no spatial mapping has been attempted for rape on the national scale. This paper addresses the three research questions: (1) Are reported rape cases randomly distributed across the USA, after being adjusted for population density and age, or are there geographical clusters of reported rape cases? (2) Are the geographical clusters of reported rapes still present after adjusting for differences in poverty levels? (3) Are there geographical clusters where the proportion of reported rape cases that lead to an arrest is exceptionally low or exceptionally high? Methods We studied the geographical variation of reported rape events (2003-2012) and rape arrests (2000-2012) in the 48 contiguous states of the USA. The disease Surveillance software SaTScan™ with its spatial scan statistic is used to evaluate the spatial variation in rapes. The spatial scan statistic has been widely used as a geographical surveillance tool for diseases, and we used it to identify geographical areas with clusters of reported rape and clusters of arrest rates for rape. Results The spatial scan statistic was used to identify geographical areas with exceptionally high rates of reported rape. The analyses were adjusted for age, and in secondary analyses, for both age and poverty level. We also identified geographical areas with either a low or a high proportion of reported rapes leading to an arrest. Conclusions We have identified geographical areas with exceptionally high (low) rates of reported rape. The geographical problem areas identified are prime candidates for more intensive preventive counseling and criminal prosecution efforts by public health, social service, and law enforcement agencies Geographical clusters of high rates of reported rape are prime areas in need of expanded implementation of preventive measures, such as changing attitudes in our society toward rape crimes, in addition to having the criminal

[Clinical Results of Endoscopic Treatment of Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome].

Science.gov (United States)

Zeman, P; Rafi, M; Skala, P; Zeman, J; Matějka, J; Pavelka, T

2017-01-01

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY This retrospective study aims to present short-term clinical outcomes of endoscopic treatment of patients with greater trochanteric pain syndrome (GTPS). MATERIAL AND METHODS The evaluated study population was composed of a total of 19 patients (16 women, 3 men) with the mean age of 47 years (19-63 years). In twelve cases the right hip joint was affected, in the remaining seven cases it was the left side. The retrospective evaluation was carried out only in patients with greater trochanteric pain syndrome caused by independent chronic trochanteric bursitis without the presence of m. gluteus medius tear not responding to at least 3 months of conservative treatment. In patients from the followed-up study population, endoscopic trochanteric bursectomy was performed alone or in combination with iliotibial band release. The clinical results were evaluated preoperatively and with a minimum follow-up period of 1 year after the surgery (mean 16 months). The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for assessment of pain and WOMAC (Western Ontario MacMaster) score were used. In both the evaluated criteria (VAS and WOMAC score) preoperative and postoperative results were compared. Moreover, duration of surgery and presence of postoperative complications were assessed. Statistical evaluation of clinical results was carried out by an independent statistician. In order to compare the parameter of WOMAC score and VAS pre- and post-operatively the Mann-Whitney Exact Test was used. The statistical significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS The preoperative VAS score ranged 5-9 (mean 7.6) and the postoperative VAS ranged 0-5 (mean 2.3). The WOMAC score ranged 56.3-69.7 (mean 64.2) preoperatively and 79.8-98.3 (mean 89.7) postoperatively. When both the evaluated parameters of VAS and WOMAC score were compared in time, a statistically significant improvement (ppain syndrome yields statistically significant improvement of clinical results with the concurrent minimum incidence of

Analysis, Assessment and Modeling of The Urban Growth in Greater Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, Using Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Awadhi, T.

2008-01-01

Muscat Governorate is the main governorate in the Sultanate of Oman and at the same time, it is the capital of the country. The urban of Muscat expanded on the area rapidly. So, the process of the growth, the controlling factors and the side problems which become apparent need to be highlighted. In order to determine the urban growth between 1960 and 2003, multi data sources and techniques have been used under a GIS environment. This research aims to measure and to model the urban expansion of Muscat Governorate using the combined technologies of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS). Based on the detailed datasets and knowledge of historical land use maps attempts were made to simulate future growth patterns of the city. The outcome of this exercise was the design of six urban growth maps covering the years 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2003. The results show that the total urban expansion reached more than 650% between 1960 and 2003, with an annual growth rate of approximately 20%. A combination of human and physical factors controlled this rapid growth. The paper discusses also the current urban problems resulting from this rapid growth as well as its future spatial trends

Seasonal source-sink dynamics at the edge of a species' range

Science.gov (United States)

Kanda, L.L.; Fuller, T.K.; Sievert, P.R.; Kellogg, R.L.

2009-01-01

The roles of dispersal and population dynamics in determining species' range boundaries recently have received theoretical attention but little empirical work. Here we provide data on survival, reproduction, and movement for a Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) population at a local distributional edge in central Massachusetts (USA). Most juvenile females that apparently exploited anthropogenic resources survived their first winter, whereas those using adjacent natural resources died of starvation. In spring, adult females recolonized natural areas. A life-table model suggests that a population exploiting anthropogenic resources may grow, acting as source to a geographically interlaced sink of opossums using only natural resources, and also providing emigrants for further range expansion to new human-dominated landscapes. In a geographical model, this source-sink dynamic is consistent with the local distribution identified through road-kill surveys. The Virginia opossum's exploitation of human resources likely ameliorates energetically restrictive winters and may explain both their local distribution and their northward expansion in unsuitable natural climatic regimes. Landscape heterogeneity, such as created by urbanization, may result in source-sink dynamics at highly localized scales. Differential fitness and individual dispersal movements within local populations are key to generating regional distributions, and thus species ranges, that exceed expectations. ?? 2009 by the Ecological Society of America.

Seasonal source-sink dynamics at the edge of a species' range.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanda, L Leann; Fuller, Todd K; Sievert, Paul R; Kellogg, Robert L

2009-06-01

The roles of dispersal and population dynamics in determining species' range boundaries recently have received theoretical attention but little empirical work. Here we provide data on survival, reproduction, and movement for a Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) population at a local distributional edge in central Massachusetts (USA). Most juvenile females that apparently exploited anthropogenic resources survived their first winter, whereas those using adjacent natural resources died of starvation. In spring, adult females recolonized natural areas. A life-table model suggests that a population exploiting anthropogenic resources may grow, acting as source to a geographically interlaced sink of opossums using only natural resources, and also providing emigrants for further range expansion to new human-dominated landscapes. In a geographical model, this source-sink dynamic is consistent with the local distribution identified through road-kill surveys. The Virginia opossum's exploitation of human resources likely ameliorates energetically restrictive winters and may explain both their local distribution and their northward expansion in unsuitable natural climatic regimes. Landscape heterogeneity, such as created by urbanization, may result in source-sink dynamics at highly localized scales. Differential fitness and individual dispersal movements within local populations are key to generating regional distributions, and thus species ranges, that exceed expectations.

A Methodology for the Assessment of Unconventional (Continuous) Resources with an Application to the Greater Natural Buttes Gas Field, Utah

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olea, Ricardo A.; Cook, Troy A.; Coleman, James L.

2010-01-01

The Greater Natural Buttes tight natural gas field is an unconventional (continuous) accumulation in the Uinta Basin, Utah, that began production in the early 1950s from the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group. Three years later, production was extended to the Eocene Wasatch Formation. With the exclusion of 1100 non-productive ('dry') wells, we estimate that the final recovery from the 2500 producing wells existing in 2007 will be about 1.7 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) (48.2 billion cubic meters (BCM)). The use of estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) per well is common in assessments of unconventional resources, and it is one of the main sources of information to forecast undiscovered resources. Each calculated recovery value has an associated drainage area that generally varies from well to well and that can be mathematically subdivided into elemental subareas of constant size and shape called cells. Recovery per 5-acre cells at Greater Natural Buttes shows spatial correlation; hence, statistical approaches that ignore this correlation when inferring EUR values for untested cells do not take full advantage of all the information contained in the data. More critically, resulting models do not match the style of spatial EUR fluctuations observed in nature. This study takes a new approach by applying spatial statistics to model geographical variation of cell EUR taking into account spatial correlation and the influence of fractures. We applied sequential indicator simulation to model non-productive cells, while spatial mapping of cell EUR was obtained by applying sequential Gaussian simulation to provide multiple versions of reality (realizations) having equal chances of being the correct model. For each realization, summation of EUR in cells not drained by the existing wells allowed preparation of a stochastic prediction of undiscovered resources, which range between 2.6 and 3.4 TSCF (73.6 and 96.3 BCM) with a mean of 2.9 TSCF (82.1 BCM) for Greater Natural Buttes

DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF THE KEY TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE QUALITY CONTROL AND INSPECTION OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS SURVEY PRODUCTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Zhao

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The First National Geographical Condition Survey is a predecessor task to dynamically master basic situations of the nature, ecology and human activities on the earth’s surface and it is the brand-new mapping geographic information engineering. In order to ensure comprehensive, real and accurate survey results and achieve the quality management target which the qualified rate is 100 % and the yield is more than 80 %, it is necessary to carry out the quality control and result inspection for national geographical conditions survey on a national scale. To ensure that achievement quality meets quality target requirements, this paper develops the key technology method of “five-in-one” quality control that is constituted by “quality control system of national geographical condition survey, quality inspection technology system, quality evaluation system, quality inspection information management system and national linked quality control institutions” by aiming at large scale, wide coverage range, more undertaking units, more management levels, technical updating, more production process and obvious regional differences in the national geographical condition survey and combining with novel achievement manifestation, complicated dependency, more special reference data, and large data size. This project fully considering the domestic and foreign related research results and production practice experience, combined with the technology development and the needs of the production, it stipulates the inspection methods and technical requirements of each stage in the quality inspection of the geographical condition survey results, and extends the traditional inspection and acceptance technology, and solves the key technologies that are badly needed in the first national geographic survey.

Development and Application of the Key Technologies for the Quality Control and Inspection of National Geographical Conditions Survey Products

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Y.; Zhang, L.; Ma, W.; Zhang, P.; Zhao, T.

2018-04-01

The First National Geographical Condition Survey is a predecessor task to dynamically master basic situations of the nature, ecology and human activities on the earth's surface and it is the brand-new mapping geographic information engineering. In order to ensure comprehensive, real and accurate survey results and achieve the quality management target which the qualified rate is 100 % and the yield is more than 80 %, it is necessary to carry out the quality control and result inspection for national geographical conditions survey on a national scale. To ensure that achievement quality meets quality target requirements, this paper develops the key technology method of "five-in-one" quality control that is constituted by "quality control system of national geographical condition survey, quality inspection technology system, quality evaluation system, quality inspection information management system and national linked quality control institutions" by aiming at large scale, wide coverage range, more undertaking units, more management levels, technical updating, more production process and obvious regional differences in the national geographical condition survey and combining with novel achievement manifestation, complicated dependency, more special reference data, and large data size. This project fully considering the domestic and foreign related research results and production practice experience, combined with the technology development and the needs of the production, it stipulates the inspection methods and technical requirements of each stage in the quality inspection of the geographical condition survey results, and extends the traditional inspection and acceptance technology, and solves the key technologies that are badly needed in the first national geographic survey.

Micro- and macro-geographic scale effect on the molecular imprint of selection and adaptation in Norway spruce.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Scalfi

Full Text Available Forest tree species of temperate and boreal regions have undergone a long history of demographic changes and evolutionary adaptations. The main objective of this study was to detect signals of selection in Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst, at different sampling-scales and to investigate, accounting for population structure, the effect of environment on species genetic diversity. A total of 384 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs representing 290 genes were genotyped at two geographic scales: across 12 populations distributed along two altitudinal-transects in the Alps (micro-geographic scale, and across 27 populations belonging to the range of Norway spruce in central and south-east Europe (macro-geographic scale. At the macrogeographic scale, principal component analysis combined with Bayesian clustering revealed three major clusters, corresponding to the main areas of southern spruce occurrence, i.e. the Alps, Carpathians, and Hercynia. The populations along the altitudinal transects were not differentiated. To assess the role of selection in structuring genetic variation, we applied a Bayesian and coalescent-based F(ST-outlier method and tested for correlations between allele frequencies and climatic variables using regression analyses. At the macro-geographic scale, the F(ST-outlier methods detected together 11 F(ST-outliers. Six outliers were detected when the same analyses were carried out taking into account the genetic structure. Regression analyses with population structure correction resulted in the identification of two (micro-geographic scale and 38 SNPs (macro-geographic scale significantly correlated with temperature and/or precipitation. Six of these loci overlapped with F(ST-outliers, among them two loci encoding an enzyme involved in riboflavin biosynthesis and a sucrose synthase. The results of this study indicate a strong relationship between genetic and environmental variation at both geographic scales. It also

Micro- and macro-geographic scale effect on the molecular imprint of selection and adaptation in Norway spruce.

Science.gov (United States)

Scalfi, Marta; Mosca, Elena; Di Pierro, Erica Adele; Troggio, Michela; Vendramin, Giovanni Giuseppe; Sperisen, Christoph; La Porta, Nicola; Neale, David B

2014-01-01

Forest tree species of temperate and boreal regions have undergone a long history of demographic changes and evolutionary adaptations. The main objective of this study was to detect signals of selection in Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst), at different sampling-scales and to investigate, accounting for population structure, the effect of environment on species genetic diversity. A total of 384 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) representing 290 genes were genotyped at two geographic scales: across 12 populations distributed along two altitudinal-transects in the Alps (micro-geographic scale), and across 27 populations belonging to the range of Norway spruce in central and south-east Europe (macro-geographic scale). At the macrogeographic scale, principal component analysis combined with Bayesian clustering revealed three major clusters, corresponding to the main areas of southern spruce occurrence, i.e. the Alps, Carpathians, and Hercynia. The populations along the altitudinal transects were not differentiated. To assess the role of selection in structuring genetic variation, we applied a Bayesian and coalescent-based F(ST)-outlier method and tested for correlations between allele frequencies and climatic variables using regression analyses. At the macro-geographic scale, the F(ST)-outlier methods detected together 11 F(ST)-outliers. Six outliers were detected when the same analyses were carried out taking into account the genetic structure. Regression analyses with population structure correction resulted in the identification of two (micro-geographic scale) and 38 SNPs (macro-geographic scale) significantly correlated with temperature and/or precipitation. Six of these loci overlapped with F(ST)-outliers, among them two loci encoding an enzyme involved in riboflavin biosynthesis and a sucrose synthase. The results of this study indicate a strong relationship between genetic and environmental variation at both geographic scales. It also suggests that an

Ranging Behaviour of Commercial Free-Range Broiler Chickens 1: Factors Related to Flock Variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Peta S; Hemsworth, Paul H; Groves, Peter J; Gebhardt-Henrich, Sabine G; Rault, Jean-Loup

2017-07-20

Little is known about the ranging behaviour of chickens. Understanding ranging behaviour is required to improve management and shed and range design to ensure optimal ranging opportunities. Using Radio Frequency Identification technology, we tracked 300 individual broiler chickens in each of four mixed sex ROSS 308 flocks on one commercial farm across two seasons. Ranging behaviour was tracked from the first day of range access (21 days of age) until 35 days of age in winter and 44 days of age in summer. Range use was higher than previously reported from scan sampling studies. More chickens accessed the range in summer (81%) than winter (32%; p range use was greater in summer flocks (4.4 ± 0.1 visits for a total of 26.3 ± 0.8 min/day) than winter flocks (3.2 ± 0.2 visits for a total of 7.9 ± 1.0 min/day). Seasonal differences were only marginally explained by weather conditions and may reflect the reduction in range exposure between seasons (number of days, hours per day, and time of day). Specific times of the day ( p ranging and external factors that may explain ranging preferences.

Intraspecific morphological and genetic variation of common species predicts ranges of threatened ones

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, Trevon L.; Thomassen, Henri A.; Peralvo, Manuel; Buermann, Wolfgang; Milá, Borja; Kieswetter, Charles M.; Jarrín-V, Pablo; Devitt, Susan E. Cameron; Mason, Eliza; Schweizer, Rena M.; Schlunegger, Jasmin; Chan, Janice; Wang, Ophelia; Schneider, Christopher J.; Pollinger, John P.; Saatchi, Sassan; Graham, Catherine H.; Wayne, Robert K.; Smith, Thomas B.

2013-01-01

Predicting where threatened species occur is useful for making informed conservation decisions. However, because they are usually rare, surveying threatened species is often expensive and time intensive. Here, we show how regions where common species exhibit high genetic and morphological divergence among populations can be used to predict the occurrence of species of conservation concern. Intraspecific variation of common species of birds, bats and frogs from Ecuador were found to be a significantly better predictor for the occurrence of threatened species than suites of environmental variables or the occurrence of amphibians and birds. Fully 93 per cent of the threatened species analysed had their range adequately represented by the geographical distribution of the morphological and genetic variation found in seven common species. Both higher numbers of threatened species and greater genetic and morphological variation of common species occurred along elevation gradients. Higher levels of intraspecific divergence may be the result of disruptive selection and/or introgression along gradients. We suggest that collecting data on genetic and morphological variation in common species can be a cost effective tool for conservation planning, and that future biodiversity inventories include surveying genetic and morphological data of common species whenever feasible. PMID:23595273

Conservation genetics and geographic patterns of genetic variation of the vulnerable officinal herb Fritillaria walujewii (Liliaceae)

Science.gov (United States)

Zhihao Su; Borong Pan; Stewart C. Sanderson; Xiaojun Shi; Xiaolong Jiang

2015-01-01

The Chinese herb Fritillaria walujewii Regel is an important officinal species that is vulnerable because of over-harvesting. Here, we examined the geographic pattern of genetic variation across the species entire range, to study its evolution process and give implication needed for the conservation. Nine haplotypes were detected on the basis of three chloroplast...

The boreal winter Madden-Julian Oscillation's influence on summertime precipitation in the greater Caribbean

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Scott; Gamble, Douglas W.

2016-07-01

Precipitation totals in the greater Caribbean are known to be affected by interannual variability. In particular, dry conditions in the spring-summer have been physically linked to the positive phase of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in the literature. In this study, it was found through regression analysis that an active Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in winter geographically focused over the Maritime Continent contributes to a positive NAO in March via the generation of Rossby waves in the Northern Hemisphere. Specifically, a negative Pacific-North American pattern develops in the winter and transitions to an Atlantic pattern in spring. The positive NAO is a transient feature of this evolving wave train, but a center of significant positive 200 hPa geopotential heights is entrenched over the southeast U.S. throughout the February to May time period and is manifested as high pressure at the surface. The southern flank of this system increases the speeds of the trade winds and leads to a cooling of the Caribbean sea surface temperatures and, thus, convection suppression and reduced precipitation. Thus, this study advances our understanding of the climate of the greater Caribbean by using climate teleconnections to relate the MJO to rainfall in the region.

Geographic Video 3d Data Model And Retrieval

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Z.; Cui, C.; Kong, Y.; Wu, H.

2014-04-01

Geographic video includes both spatial and temporal geographic features acquired through ground-based or non-ground-based cameras. With the popularity of video capture devices such as smartphones, the volume of user-generated geographic video clips has grown significantly and the trend of this growth is quickly accelerating. Such a massive and increasing volume poses a major challenge to efficient video management and query. Most of the today's video management and query techniques are based on signal level content extraction. They are not able to fully utilize the geographic information of the videos. This paper aimed to introduce a geographic video 3D data model based on spatial information. The main idea of the model is to utilize the location, trajectory and azimuth information acquired by sensors such as GPS receivers and 3D electronic compasses in conjunction with video contents. The raw spatial information is synthesized to point, line, polygon and solid according to the camcorder parameters such as focal length and angle of view. With the video segment and video frame, we defined the three categories geometry object using the geometry model of OGC Simple Features Specification for SQL. We can query video through computing the spatial relation between query objects and three categories geometry object such as VFLocation, VSTrajectory, VSFOView and VFFovCone etc. We designed the query methods using the structured query language (SQL) in detail. The experiment indicate that the model is a multiple objective, integration, loosely coupled, flexible and extensible data model for the management of geographic stereo video.

Geographic profiling survey : a preliminary examination of geographic profilers' views and experiences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Emeno, Karla; Bennell, Craig; Snook, Brent; Taylor, Paul Jonathon

Geographic profiling (GP) is an investigative technique that involves predicting a serial offender?s home location (or some other anchor point) based on where he or she committed a crime. Although the use of GP in police investigations appears to be on the rise, little is known about the procedure

Geographic variation in the diet of opaleye (Girella nigricans with respect to temperature and habitat.

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Michael D Behrens

Full Text Available We studied diet variation in an omnivorous fish across its range, which allowed us to test predictions about the effect of ocean temperature and habitat on herbivory. Throughout most of its geographic range, from Southern California to central Baja California, the opaleye (Girella nigricans fed primarily on red and green algae, but there was significant variation in the amount of algal material in the diet among sites. The proportion of algal material in the diet was related to habitat, with algae making up a larger proportion of a fish's diet in algal-dominated habitats than in urchin barrens. Independent of habitat, the proportion of algal material in the diet increased with environmental temperature. Analyses of stable isotopes revealed similar changes in trophic position and confirmed that these associations with diet persisted over relatively long time scales. The shift to a more herbivorous diet at warmer temperatures is in agreement with past laboratory studies on this species that show a diet-dependent change in performance with temperature and can indicate a diet shift across the species' geographic range to meet its physiological demands. A possible plastic response to herbivory was a longer gut relative to body size. The results of this study are consistent with past findings that associate temperature with increases in the relative diversity of herbivorous fishes in tropical parts of the ocean.

Geographical Tatoos

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Valéria Cazetta

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The article deals with maps tattooed on bodies. My interest in studying the corporeality is inserted in a broader project entitled Geographies and (in Bodies. There is several published research on tattoos, but none in particular about tattooed maps. However some of these works interested me because they present important discussions in contemporary about body modification that helped me locate the body modifications most within the culture than on the nature. At this time, I looked at pictures of geographical tattoos available in several sites of the internet.

Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible? If so how? (Arabic)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Veenhoven (Ruut); E. Samuel (Emad)

2012-01-01

textabstractWhat is the final goal of public policy? Jeremy Bentham (1789) would say: greater happiness for a greater number. He thought of happiness as subjective enjoyment of life; in his words as “the sum of pleasures and pains”. In his time, the happiness of the great number could not be

Lead in Chinese villager house dust: Geographical variation and influencing factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bi, Xiangyang; Liu, Jinling; Han, Zhixuan; Yang, Wenlin

2015-01-01

House dust has been recognized as an important contributor to Pb exposure of children. Here we conducted a comprehensive study to investigate geographical variation of Pb in Chinese villager house dust. The influences of outdoor soil Pb concentrations, dates of construction, house decoration materials, heating types, and site specific pollution on Pb concentrations in house dust were evaluated. The concentrations of Pb in 477 house dust samples collected from twenty eight areas throughout China varied from 12 to 2510 mg/kg, with a median concentration of 42 mg/kg. The median Pb concentrations in different geographical areas ranged from 16 (Zhangjiakou, Hebei) to 195 mg/kg (Loudi, Hunan). No correlations were found between the house dust Pb concentrations and the age of houses, as well as house decoration materials. Whereas outdoor soil, coal combustion, and site specific pollution may be potential Pb sources. Principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed that elemental compositions of the house dust were controlled by both anthropogenic and geogenic sources. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the Pb bearing particles in the house dust were also studied. - Highlights: • Geographical variation in house dust Pb concentrations were observed. • Dust Pb concentrations were not associated with house age and decoration materials. • Soil, coal combustion, and site specific pollution were potential Pb sources. • Pb bearing particles were identified by SEM-EDX. - The variations of Pb in Chinese villager house dust were controlled by outdoor soil, coal combustion, and site specific pollution sources.

Geographic variation in gorilla limb bones.

Science.gov (United States)

Jabbour, Rebecca S; Pearman, Tessa L

2016-06-01

Gorilla systematics has received increased attention over recent decades from primatologists, conservationists, and paleontologists. Studies of geographic variation in DNA, skulls, and teeth have led to new taxonomic proposals, such as recognition of two gorilla species, Gorilla gorilla (western gorilla) and Gorilla beringei (eastern gorilla). Postcranial differences between mountain gorillas (G. beringei beringei) and western lowland gorillas (G. g. gorilla) have a long history of study, but differences between the limb bones of the eastern and western species have not yet been examined with an emphasis on geographic variation within each species. In addition, proposals for recognition of the Cross River gorilla as Gorilla gorilla diehli and gorillas from Tshiaberimu and Kahuzi as G. b. rex-pymaeorum have not been evaluated in the context of geographic variation in the forelimb and hindlimb skeletons. Forty-three linear measurements were collected from limb bones of 266 adult gorillas representing populations of G. b. beringei, Gorilla beringei graueri, G. g. gorilla, and G. g. diehli in order to investigate geographic diversity. Skeletal elements included the humerus, radius, third metacarpal, third proximal hand phalanx, femur, tibia, calcaneus, first metatarsal, third metatarsal, and third proximal foot phalanx. Comparisons of means and principal components analyses clearly differentiate eastern and western gorillas, indicating that eastern gorillas have absolutely and relatively smaller hands and feet, among other differences. Gorilla subspecies and populations cluster consistently by species, although G. g. diehli may be similar to the eastern gorillas in having small hands and feet. The subspecies of G. beringei are distinguished less strongly and by different variables than the two gorilla species. Populations of G. b. graueri are variable, and Kahuzi and Tshiaberimu specimens do not cluster together. Results support the possible influence of

LEGAL INSTRUMENT FOR PROTECTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION PRODUCT IN INDONESIA

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Almusawir Nansa

2013-07-01

Full Text Available As an archipelago country, Indonesia comprises of a large territory where every region is capable of producing distinctive and characterized products due to its geographical, social, and cultural factors, in addition to its higher quality compared to imported products. In the market, goods with distinct characterization as a result of various geographical locations of production regions is known as Geographical Indication Products. Geographical Indication defines as a characterization that indicates the origin of a product, which includes several influencing factors such as geographical factor, natural factor, human factor or the combination of both factors which eventually contribute to establish a certain distinction and quality upon a product. Several geographical indicated products in Indonesia are widely known to have excellent reputation on the market, namely Delinese tobacco, Temanggung tobacco, Ciancur rice, Muntok white pepper, Lampung black pepper, Kerinci cinnamon, Cilembu cassava, Bandanese nutmeg, Proboliggo sweet mango, Balinese Kintamani coffee, Kalosi coffee, Papuan matoa, etc. Those are several richness of goods from certain regions in Indonesia widely known for their characterization. Characterization of goods are resulted by variation of geographic locations of producing regions in Indonesia. These goods possess high quality and high economic value. Consequently, certain instruments are required to provide protection upon the regions producing those goods against the act of counterfeiting.

The National Geographic Names Data Base: Phase II instructions

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Donald J.; Payne, Roger L.

1987-01-01

The Geographic Names Information System is a computer-based information system developed to meet major national needs by providing information for named entities in the United States, its territories, and outlying areas. The National Geographic Names Data Base, a component of the Geographic Names Information System, currently contains most names and associated information recorded on the 1:24,000-scale (or largest scale available) topographic maps of the U.S. Geological Survey. The work involved in this initial compilation of names shown on the topographic-map series, and the development and editing of the National Geographic Names Data Base, is referred to as Phase I. Optimal use and effectiveness of an automated names system require that the names of features

Interoperability of Geographic Information: A Communication Process –Based Prototype

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Jean Brodeur

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Since 1990, municipal, state/provincial, and federal governments have developed numerous geographic databases over the years to fulfill organizations' specific needs. As such, same real world topographic phenomena have been abstracted differently, for instance vegetation (surface, trees (surface, wooded area (line, wooded area (point and line, milieu boisé (surface, zone boisée (unknown geometry. Today, information about these geographic phenomena is accessible on the Internet from Web infrastructures specially developed to simplify their access. Early in the nineties, the development of interoperability of geographic information has been undertaken to solve syntactic, structural, and semantic heterogeneities as well as spatial and temporal heterogeneities to facilitate sharing and integration of such data. Recently, we have proposed a new conceptual framework for interoperability of geographic information based on the human communication process, cognitive science, and ontology, and introduced geosemantic proximity, a reasoning methodology to qualify dynamically the semantic similarity between geographic abstractions. This framework could be of interest to other disciplines. This paper presents the details of our framework for interoperability of geographic information as well as a prototype.

Range shifts and global warming: ecological responses of Empetrum nigrum L. to experimental warming at its northern (high Arctic) and southern (Atlantic) geographical range margin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buizer, Bert; Weijers, Stef; Van Bodegom, Peter M; Van Breda, Johan; De Korte, Maarten; Van Rijckevorsel, Jaap; Rozema, Jelte; Alsos, Inger Greve; Eidesen, Pernille Bronken

2012-01-01

Global change is expected to lead to range shifts of plant species. The ecological mechanisms underpinning these shifts are currently not well understood. Here, we compared ecological responses possibly underlying southern range contraction and northern range expansion of Empetrum nigrum, a key species in northern heathlands, which may be related to global change. We hypothesized a negative response to warming in the ‘south’ (i.e. the Netherlands) and a positive response at the northern range margin (the tundra on Svalbard). Open top chambers (OTCs) were used to simulate global warming. In the ‘south’, OTC warming caused enhanced shoot growth and growth rate, biomass increment, advanced phenology, larger and heavier berries of Empetrum, while its growing season was extended by 75 days. Under OTC warming co-occurring Calluna vulgaris also showed an increased growing season length (by 98 days) as well as increased shoot growth rate and biomass growth, plant cover and height. Still, we found no evidence for increased competitiveness relative to Empetrum. In the ‘north’, Empetrum responded with increased shoot and biomass growth, enhanced berry development and ripening to warming. These responses exceeded those of co-occurring Cassiope tetragona with the exception of its biomass response. The direct and indirect ecological responses found do not readily explain the observed northward retreat of Empetrum at the southern range margin. The direct ecological responses found at its northern range margin are, on the other hand, in line with the increased occurrences of this species on Svalbard. (letter)

The fungal community structure of barley malts from diverse geographical regions correlates with malt quality parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Mandeep; Bowman, John P; Stewart, Doug C; Evans, David E

2015-12-23

Malt is a preferred base for fermentations that produce beer or whisky. Barley for malt is grown under diverse environments in different geographical locations. Malt provides an ecological niche for a varied range of microorganisms with both positive and negative effects on its quality for brewing. Little information exists in the literature on the microbial community structure of Australian malt as well as broader global geographical differences in the associated fungal and bacterial communities. The aims of the present study were to compare the bacterial and fungal community structures of Australian commercial malt with its international counterparts originating from different geographical regions using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) fingerprinting and clone library analyses of ribosomal RNA genes. Further, the relationship between malt associated microbial communities and conventional malt quality parameters was also compared. Results showed that differences in fungal communities of malts from different geographical location were more pronounced than bacterial communities. TRFLP analysis discriminated high quality commercial malts with low fungal loads from malts deliberately infected with fungal inocula (Fusarium/Penicillium). Malt moisture, beta-amylase, α-amylase and limit dextrinase contents showed significant correlations with fungal community structure. This investigation concluded that fungal community structure was more important to subsequent malt quality outcomes than bacteria. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The significant surface-water connectivity of "geographically isolated wetlands"

Science.gov (United States)

Calhoun, Aram J.K.; Mushet, David M.; Alexander, Laurie C.; DeKeyser, Edward S.; Fowler, Laurie; Lane, Charles R.; Lang, Megan W.; Rains, Mark C.; Richter, Stephen; Walls, Susan

2017-01-01

We evaluated the current literature, coupled with our collective research expertise, on surface-water connectivity of wetlands considered to be “geographically isolated” (sensu Tiner Wetlands 23:494–516, 2003a) to critically assess the scientific foundation of grouping wetlands based on the singular condition of being surrounded by uplands. The most recent research on wetlands considered to be “geographically isolated” shows the difficulties in grouping an ecological resource that does not reliably indicate lack of surface water connectivity in order to meet legal, regulatory, or scientific needs. Additionally, the practice of identifying “geographically isolated wetlands” based on distance from a stream can result in gross overestimates of the number of wetlands lacking ecologically important surface-water connections. Our findings do not support use of the overly simplistic label of “geographically isolated wetlands”. Wetlands surrounded by uplands vary in function and surface-water connections based on wetland landscape setting, context, climate, and geographic region and should be evaluated as such. We found that the “geographically isolated” grouping does not reflect our understanding of the hydrologic variability of these wetlands and hence does not benefit conservation of the Nation’s diverse wetland resources. Therefore, we strongly discourage use of categorizations that provide overly simplistic views of surface-water connectivity of wetlands fully embedded in upland landscapes.

Geographic Differences in the Earnings of Economics Majors

Science.gov (United States)

Winters, John V.; Xu, Weineng

2014-01-01

Economics has been shown to be a relatively high-earning college major, but geographic differences in earnings have been largely overlooked. The authors of this article use the American Community Survey to examine geographic differences in both absolute earnings and relative earnings for economics majors. They find that there are substantial…

Formal Ontologies and Uncertainty. In Geographical Knowledge

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Matteo Caglioni

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Formal ontologies have proved to be a very useful tool to manage interoperability among data, systems and knowledge. In this paper we will show how formal ontologies can evolve from a crisp, deterministic framework (ontologies of hard knowledge to new probabilistic, fuzzy or possibilistic frameworks (ontologies of soft knowledge. This can considerably enlarge the application potential of formal ontologies in geographic analysis and planning, where soft knowledge is intrinsically linked to the complexity of the phenomena under study.  The paper briefly presents these new uncertainty-based formal ontologies. It then highlights how ontologies are formal tools to define both concepts and relations among concepts. An example from the domain of urban geography finally shows how the cause-to-effect relation between household preferences and urban sprawl can be encoded within a crisp, a probabilistic and a possibilistic ontology, respectively. The ontology formalism will also determine the kind of reasoning that can be developed from available knowledge. Uncertain ontologies can be seen as the preliminary phase of more complex uncertainty-based models. The advantages of moving to uncertainty-based models is evident: whether it is in the analysis of geographic space or in decision support for planning, reasoning on geographic space is almost always reasoning with uncertain knowledge of geographic phenomena.

A comprehensive database of the geographic spread of past human Ebola outbreaks

Science.gov (United States)

Mylne, Adrian; Brady, Oliver J.; Huang, Zhi; Pigott, David M.; Golding, Nick; Kraemer, Moritz U.G.; Hay, Simon I.

2014-01-01

Ebola is a zoonotic filovirus that has the potential to cause outbreaks of variable magnitude in human populations. This database collates our existing knowledge of all known human outbreaks of Ebola for the first time by extracting details of their suspected zoonotic origin and subsequent human-to-human spread from a range of published and non-published sources. In total, 22 unique Ebola outbreaks were identified, composed of 117 unique geographic transmission clusters. Details of the index case and geographic spread of secondary and imported cases were recorded as well as summaries of patient numbers and case fatality rates. A brief text summary describing suspected routes and means of spread for each outbreak was also included. While we cannot yet include the ongoing Guinea and DRC outbreaks until they are over, these data and compiled maps can be used to gain an improved understanding of the initial spread of past Ebola outbreaks and help evaluate surveillance and control guidelines for limiting the spread of future epidemics. PMID:25984346

Geographical Gradients in Argentinean Terrestrial Mammal Species Richness and Their Environmental Correlates

Science.gov (United States)

Márquez, Ana L.; Real, Raimundo; Kin, Marta S.; Guerrero, José Carlos; Galván, Betina; Barbosa, A. Márcia; Olivero, Jesús; Palomo, L. Javier; Vargas, J. Mario; Justo, Enrique

2012-01-01

We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR) in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables) and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM)) influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate. We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT) that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity. PMID:23028254

Geographical Gradients in Argentinean Terrestrial Mammal Species Richness and Their Environmental Correlates

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Ana L. Márquez

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate. We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity.

SCHOOL LINGUISTIC CREATIVITY BASED ON SCIENTIFIC GEOGRAPHICAL TEXTS

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VIORICA BLÎNDĂ

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis and observation of the natural environment and of the social and economic one, observing phenomena, objects, beings, and geographical events are at the basis of producing geographical scientific texts. The symbols of iconotexts and cartotexts are another source of inspiration for linguistic interpretation. The linguistic creations that we selected for our study are the scientific analysis, the commentary, the characterization, the parallel, the synthesis, epitomizing and abstracting, the scientific communication, the essay, and the scientific description. The representations on maps, photos, graphics and profiles are translated into verbal or written expression in order to render geographical scientific information from diagrams and images through diverse discursive procedures. Through school linguistic creations, teachers develop their students’ observation spirit, in a written and oral form, their geographical thinking through metaphors, they develop and stimulate their students’ imagination and fantasy, their cognitive, reflexive and affective sensitivity, their abilities to express themselves, to present and argument in a scientific way according to different criteria (sufficiency, demonstrative reasoning, lineal reasoning, pros and cons, giving examples, inferential deduction through using truth tables, etc.. Trough description, students give names and define geographical objects and beings (plants, animals, and people according to their form and aspect, they explain toponyms and appellatives, they classify and make hierarchies, they define their identity through processes of differentiation, emblematizing, personification, location in time and space.

The spatial distribution of known predictors of autism spectrum disorders impacts geographic variability in prevalence in central North Carolina

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Hoffman Kate

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD remain largely unknown and widely debated; however, evidence increasingly points to the importance of environmental exposures. A growing number of studies use geographic variability in ASD prevalence or exposure patterns to investigate the association between environmental factors and ASD. However, differences in the geographic distribution of established risk and predictive factors for ASD, such as maternal education or age, can interfere with investigations of ASD etiology. We evaluated geographic variability in the prevalence of ASD in central North Carolina and the impact of spatial confounding by known risk and predictive factors. Methods Children meeting a standardized case definition for ASD at 8 years of age were identified through records-based surveillance for 8 counties biennially from 2002 to 2008 (n=532. Vital records were used to identify the underlying cohort (15% random sample of children born in the same years as children with an ASD, n=11,034, and to obtain birth addresses. We used generalized additive models (GAMs to estimate the prevalence of ASD across the region by smoothing latitude and longitude. GAMs, unlike methods used in previous spatial analyses of ASD, allow for extensive adjustment of individual-level risk factors (e.g. maternal age and education when evaluating spatial variability of disease prevalence. Results Unadjusted maps revealed geographic variation in surveillance-recognized ASD. Children born in certain regions of the study area were up to 1.27 times as likely to be recognized as having ASD compared to children born in the study area as a whole (prevalence ratio (PR range across the study area 0.57-1.27; global P=0.003. However, geographic gradients of ASD prevalence were attenuated after adjusting for spatial confounders (adjusted PR range 0.72-1.12 across the study area; global P=0.052. Conclusions In these data, spatial variation of ASD

NEPR Geographic Zone Map 2015

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This geographic zone map was created by interpreting satellite and aerial imagery, seafloor topography (bathymetry model), and the new NEPR Benthic Habitat Map...

Russian and Foreign Experience of Integration of Agent-Based Models and Geographic Information Systems

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Konstantin Anatol’evich Gulin

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The article provides an overview of the mechanisms of integration of agent-based models and GIS technology developed by Russian and foreign researchers. The basic framework of the article is based on critical analysis of domestic and foreign literature (monographs, scientific articles. The study is based on the application of universal scientific research methods: system approach, analysis and synthesis, classification, systematization and grouping, generalization and comparison. The article presents theoretical and methodological bases of integration of agent-based models and geographic information systems. The concept and essence of agent-based models are explained; their main advantages (compared to other modeling methods are identified. The paper characterizes the operating environment of agents as a key concept in the theory of agent-based modeling. It is shown that geographic information systems have a wide range of information resources for calculations, searching, modeling of the real world in various aspects, acting as an effective tool for displaying the agents’ operating environment and allowing to bring the model as close as possible to the real conditions. The authors also focus on a wide range of possibilities for various researches in different spatial and temporal contexts. Comparative analysis of platforms supporting the integration of agent-based models and geographic information systems has been carried out. The authors give examples of complex socio-economic models: the model of a creative city, humanitarian assistance model. In the absence of standards for research results description, the authors focus on the models’ elements such as the characteristics of the agents and their operation environment, agents’ behavior, rules of interaction between the agents and the external environment. The paper describes the possibilities and prospects of implementing these models

Geographic distributions and ecology of ornamental Curcuma (Zingiberaceae) in Northeastern Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Khumkratok, Sutthira; Boongtiang, Kriangsuk; Chutichudet, Prasit; Pramaul, Pairot

2012-10-01

The genus Curcuma is a very important economic plant. Members of this genus were used as food, medicine and ornament plants. The objectives of this study were to examine the geographic distributions and ecological conditions in the natural habitats of Curcuma in Northeastern Thailand. Species diversity was examined using the line transect method. Ecological conditions of the species were examined using a sampling plot of 20 x 20 m. A total of five species were found including Curcuma angustifolia Roxb., C. alismatifolia Gagnep., C. gracillima Gagnep., C. parviflora Wall. and C. rhabdota. These species were in an altitudinal range between 290 m and 831 m above sea level. Four species (C. angustifolia, C. alismatifolia, C. gracillima and C. rhabdota) were distributed in open gaps in dry dipterocarp forest. One species, C. parviflora was found in the contact zone between dry dipterocarp and bamboo (Gigantochloa sp.) forest. C. rhabdota was found only in a habitat with high humidity and shading along the Thailand-Lao PDR border. Significant ecological conditions of the natural habitats of these Curcuma species were identified. Altitude is the most important factor when determining the geographic distributions of these Curcuma species in Northeastern Thailand.

Lead in Chinese villager house dust: Geographical variation and influencing factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Bi, Xiangyang; Liu, Jinling; Han, Zhixuan; Yang, Wenlin

2015-12-01

House dust has been recognized as an important contributor to Pb exposure of children. Here we conducted a comprehensive study to investigate geographical variation of Pb in Chinese villager house dust. The influences of outdoor soil Pb concentrations, dates of construction, house decoration materials, heating types, and site specific pollution on Pb concentrations in house dust were evaluated. The concentrations of Pb in 477 house dust samples collected from twenty eight areas throughout China varied from 12 to 2510 mg/kg, with a median concentration of 42 mg/kg. The median Pb concentrations in different geographical areas ranged from 16 (Zhangjiakou, Hebei) to 195 mg/kg (Loudi, Hunan). No correlations were found between the house dust Pb concentrations and the age of houses, as well as house decoration materials. Whereas outdoor soil, coal combustion, and site specific pollution may be potential Pb sources. Principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed that elemental compositions of the house dust were controlled by both anthropogenic and geogenic sources. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the Pb bearing particles in the house dust were also studied. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CYBERNETICS AND GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION: CYBERNETICS OF LEARNING AND LEARNING OF CYBERNETICS

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M. R. Arpentieva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Modern geographical education implies a broad implementation of innovative technologies, allowing students to fully and deeply understand the subject and methods of professional activity, and effectively and productively act upon this understanding. Therefore, in the work of modern geographer computer and media technologies occupy a significant place, and geographic education occupies an important place in learning cybernetic disciplines: computer technologies act as an important condition for obtaining high quality professional education, as well as an important tool of professional activity of modern specialist-geographer. The article is devoted to comparing three modern approaches to the study and optimization of training Cybernetics and programming in the framework of geographical education: an approach devoted to the study of “learning styles”; the metacognitive approach to learning computer science and programming; and intersubjective, evergetic or actually cybernetic, approach. It describes their advantages and limitations in the context of geographical education, as well as the internal unity as different forms of study of productivity and conditions of the dialogical interaction between teacher and student in the context of obtaining high-quality geographical education.

A novel approach for assessing density and range-wide abundance of prairie dogs

Science.gov (United States)

Aaron N. Facka; Paulette L. Ford; Gary W. Roemer

2008-01-01

Habitat loss, introduced disease, and government-sponsored eradication programs have caused population declines in all 5 species of prairie dogs. Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) currently occupy only about 2% of an extensive geographic range (160 million hectares) and were recently considered for listing under the United States...

Range Expansion and the Origin of USA300 North American Epidemic Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

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Lavanya Challagundla

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The USA300 North American epidemic (USA300-NAE clone of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has caused a wave of severe skin and soft tissue infections in the United States since it emerged in the early 2000s, but its geographic origin is obscure. Here we use the population genomic signatures expected from the serial founder effects of a geographic range expansion to infer the origin of USA300-NAE and identify polymorphisms associated with its spread. Genome sequences from 357 isolates from 22 U.S. states and territories and seven other countries are compared. We observe two significant signatures of range expansion, including decreases in genetic diversity and increases in derived allele frequency with geographic distance from the Pennsylvania region. These signatures account for approximately half of the core nucleotide variation of this clone, occur genome wide, and are robust to heterogeneity in temporal sampling of isolates, human population density, and recombination detection methods. The potential for positive selection of a gyrA fluoroquinolone resistance allele and several intergenic regions, along with a 2.4 times higher recombination rate in a resistant subclade, is noted. These results are the first to show a pattern of genetic variation that is consistent with a range expansion of an epidemic bacterial clone, and they highlight a rarely considered but potentially common mechanism by which genetic drift may profoundly influence bacterial genetic variation.

Geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques in environmental assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kenny, F.M.

1996-01-01

Digital map products and spatial inventories are becoming increasingly available from geological surveys, agricultural, natural resource, environmental, energy, transportation and forestry departments. As well there are now multitudes of specialized digital airborne and satellite image products available. This wide availability of geographically referenced data and the advances in spatial data analysis software are providing geoscientists with new tools and new ways of viewing traditionally used data. Through several examples, this paper will demonstrate how remote sensing and GIS technologies can contribute to environmental assessment of an urban fringe area. Nowhere is the need for spatial inventories and mapping greater than in such areas, where pre-existing information becomes rapidly outdated. A 260-km 2 site, north of Metropolitan Toronto was chosen as a study area. A spatial data base was constructed which included imagery from three different satellite sensors, a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), and digital drainage network, and a digital copy of the Ontario Geological Survey's Quaternary geological map. (author). 15 refs., 1 tab., 17 figs

GEOGRAPHIC AND ECOLOGICAL AMPLITUDE IN THE NECTARIVOROUS BAT ANOURA FISTULATA (PYHLLOSTOMIDAE: GLOSSOPHAGINAE

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HUGO MANTILLA-MELUK

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The wide range of feeding habits among phyllostomid bats has resulted in the selection of unique and contrasting morphological attributes. It has been suggested that nectarivorous bat species co-evolve with the plants they use as primary source of food, and changes in morphology and behavior in the bat, are in some way directed by changes in morphology and phenological cycles of the plants. The nectarivorous bat Anoura fistulata (Pyhllostomidae: Glossophaginae has the longest tongue in proportion to body size among mammals; feature that apparently allows the species to take nectar from flowers with long corollas, some of them typical of highland ecosystems. In spite of this unique morphological adaptation, little is known on the ecological requirements of the species. Herein, Geographic Information System-based analyses and niche modeling techniques were applied to investigate the geographic and ecological niche breath of A. fistulata. We also introduce the first Bolivian record of the species collected at Hernando Siles, Department of Chuquisaca (20°10’0.0’’ S, 64°15’0.00’’ W, at 1,524 m, which represents a remarkable extension in the distribution of the species of more than 7°. Our analyses revealed that A. fistulata occurs in contrasting ecosystems, from Andean montane and pre-montane moist forest in Western Ecuador and Central Colombia, up to arid and semiarid environments in southern Colombia and Bolivia . Anoura fistulata occurs across a wide elevational range between 1,175 and 2,510 m, which is well represented along the geologic unit of the Batholith of Ecuador. A constriction of this elevational belt along the Peruvian Punas and Yungas was suggested as a natural barrier for the establishment of A. fistulata. The Peruvian Punas and Yungas isolate A. fistulata of Bolivia from records in the northern range of the distribution of the species.

47 CFR 22.911 - Cellular geographic service area.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Cellular Geographic Service Area (CGSA) of a cellular system is the geographic area considered by the FCC... application for modification of the CGSA using FCC Form 601, a depiction of what the carrier believes the CGSA... location and the locus of points where the predicted or measured median field strength finally drops to 32...

Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aimar Ventsel

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Book review of the publication Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations. Edited by Gary Backhaus and John Murungi. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, Lexington Books, 2006, xxxiii+241 pp.

Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aimar Ventsel

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Book review of the publication Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations. Edited by Gary Backhaus and John Murungi. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, Lexington Books, 2006, xxxiii+241 pp.

Geographic Variation Immediate and Delayed Breast Reconstruction Utilization in Ontario, Canada and Plastic Surgeon Availability: A Population-Based Observational Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Platt, Jennica; Zhong, Toni; Moineddin, Rahim; Booth, Gillian L; Easson, Alexandra M; Fernandes, Kimberly; Gozdyra, Peter; Baxter, Nancy N

2015-08-01

Utilization of breast reconstruction (BR) is low in many jurisdictions. We studied the geographical and surgical workforce factors that contribute to access and use of BR using a small area analysis approach with a geographical unit of analysis. We linked administrative data from Ontario Canada to calculate the age-standardized rates for immediate BR (IBR) (same time as mastectomy) between 2002 and 2011, and delayed BR (DBR) (within 3 years of mastectomy) for each county. The influence of plastic surgeon access on variation in county rates of BR was examined using Poisson random effects models. 12,663 women underwent mastectomy in Ontario; 2,948 had BR within 3 years (23.3%). Over 50% of the counties had no access to any plastic surgeon. County IBR rates ranged from 0 to 21.5%; plastic surgeon access explained 46% of geographic variation (pplastic surgeons were significantly less than counties with high access (relative rate [RR] 0.48 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35-0.66], RR 0.61 [CI 0.43-0.87] and RR 0.70 [CI 0.52-0.96], respectively) after adjusting for age and county socioeconomic characteristics. For DBR, while there was less geographic variation, very low access counties demonstrated reduced rates (RR 0.60 [CI 0.47-0.76]). Geographic access to a plastic surgeon is a major determinant of BR. Targeted interventions for regions without high access to plastic surgeons may improve overall rates and reduce geographic disparities in care, particularly for IBR.

Sonography of greater trochanteric pain syndrome and the rarity of primary bursitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Suzanne S; Surrey, David E; Nazarian, Levon N

2013-11-01

Greater trochanteric pain syndrome is a common condition with clinical features of pain and tenderness at the lateral aspect of the hip. Diagnosing the origin of greater trochanteric pain is important because the treatment varies depending on the cause. We hypothesized that sonographic evaluation of sources for greater trochanteric pain syndrome would show that bursitis was not the most commonly encountered abnormality. We performed a retrospective review of musculoskeletal sonographic examinations performed at our institution over a 6-year period for greater trochanteric pain syndrome; completed a tabulation of the sonographic findings; and assessed the prevalence of trochanteric bursitis, gluteal tendon abnormalities, iliotibial band abnormalities, or a combination of findings. Prevalence of abnormal findings, associations of bursitis, gluteal tendinosis, gluteal tendon tears, and iliotibial band abnormalities were calculated. The final study population consisted of 877 unique patients: 602 women, 275 men; average age, 54 years; and age range, 15-87 years). Of the 877 patients with greater trochanteric pain, 700 (79.8%) did not have bursitis on ultrasound. A minority of patients (177, 20.2%) had trochanteric bursitis. Of the 877 patients with greater trochanteric pain, 438 (49.9%) had gluteal tendinosis, four (0.5%) had gluteal tendon tears, and 250 (28.5%) had a thickened iliotibial band. The cause of greater trochanteric pain syndrome is usually some combination of pathology involving the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus tendons as well as the iliotibial band. Bursitis is present in only the minority of patients. These findings have implications for treatment of this common condition.

Ecological and evolutionary processes at expanding range margins.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, C D; Bodsworth, E J; Wilson, R J; Simmons, A D; Davies, Z G; Musche, M; Conradt, L

2001-05-31

Many animals are regarded as relatively sedentary and specialized in marginal parts of their geographical distributions. They are expected to be slow at colonizing new habitats. Despite this, the cool margins of many species' distributions have expanded rapidly in association with recent climate warming. We examined four insect species that have expanded their geographical ranges in Britain over the past 20 years. Here we report that two butterfly species have increased the variety of habitat types that they can colonize, and that two bush cricket species show increased fractions of longer-winged (dispersive) individuals in recently founded populations. Both ecological and evolutionary processes are probably responsible for these changes. Increased habitat breadth and dispersal tendencies have resulted in about 3- to 15-fold increases in expansion rates, allowing these insects to cross habitat disjunctions that would have represented major or complete barriers to dispersal before the expansions started. The emergence of dispersive phenotypes will increase the speed at which species invade new environments, and probably underlies the responses of many species to both past and future climate change.

Feature selection and recognition from nonspecific volatile profiles for discrimination of apple juices according to variety and geographical origin.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jing; Yue, Tianli; Yuan, Yahong

2012-10-01

Apple juice is a complex mixture of volatile and nonvolatile components. To develop discrimination models on the basis of the volatile composition for an efficient classification of apple juices according to apple variety and geographical origin, chromatography volatile profiles of 50 apple juice samples belonging to 6 varieties and from 5 counties of Shaanxi (China) were obtained by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography. The volatile profiles were processed as continuous and nonspecific signals through multivariate analysis techniques. Different preprocessing methods were applied to raw chromatographic data. The blind chemometric analysis of the preprocessed chromatographic profiles was carried out. Stepwise linear discriminant analysis (SLDA) revealed satisfactory discriminations of apple juices according to variety and geographical origin, provided respectively 100% and 89.8% success rate in terms of prediction ability. Finally, the discriminant volatile compounds selected by SLDA were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The proposed strategy was able to verify the variety and geographical origin of apple juices involving only a reduced number of discriminate retention times selected by the stepwise procedure. This result encourages the similar procedures to be considered in quality control of apple juices. This work presented a method for an efficient discrimination of apple juices according to apple variety and geographical origin using HS-SPME-GC-MS together with chemometric tools. Discrimination models developed could help to achieve greater control over the quality of the juice and to detect possible adulteration of the product. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

Geographical variations in the use of cancer treatments are associated with survival of lung cancer patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Henrik; Coupland, Victoria H; Tataru, Daniela

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer outcomes in England are inferior to comparable countries. Patient or disease characteristics, healthcare-seeking behaviour, diagnostic pathways, and oncology service provision may contribute. We aimed to quantify associations between geographic variations in treatment...... and survival of patients in England. METHODS: We retrieved detailed cancer registration data to analyse the variation in survival of 176,225 lung cancer patients, diagnosed 2010-2014. We used Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression to investigate survival in the two-year period following...... diagnosis. RESULTS: Survival improved over the period studied. The use of active treatment varied between geographical areas, with inter-quintile ranges of 9%-17% for surgical resection, 4%-13% for radical radiotherapy, and 22%-35% for chemotherapy. At 2 years, there were 188 potentially avoidable deaths...

New records and range extensions of several species of native bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from Mississippi

Science.gov (United States)

Currently published literature includes 184 species of bees that occur within the state of Mississippi. The geographic ranges of seven additional species are extended into the state of Mississippi: Andrena (Melandrena) obscuripennis Smith, 1853, Anthemurgus passiflorae Robertson, 1902, Dieunomia bol...

Research and implementation of geographic information service mode in digital home

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, B.; Liu, K.; Gan, Y.; Zhong, M.

2014-04-01

Accompanying infrastructure improvements and networking technology innovation, the development of digital home service industry has gotten more and more attention. However, the digital home service levels have not sufficiently met rising demand from users. Therefore, it is urgent to propose and develop new service modes for the digital home. Geographic information services can provide various spatial information services such as map search, spatial information query. It has become an inevitable trend to implement geographic information services in the digital home. This paper proposes three new geographic information services modes for the digital home after sufficient requirement analysis: pushed information service mode, interactive information service mode, personalized information service mode. The key technologies to implement geographic information services on digital televisions are studied, involving digital television middleware technology, network transmission technology and visualization technology. According to the service modes' characteristics mentioned above, a service system in the digital home is established to implement geographic information services on the basis of digital television. The implementation of geographic information services in the digital home not only enriches the digital home services content, but also promotes geographic information from specialization to public popularity.

GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION MEDIATIZATION AND MEDIASECURITY ISSUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. R. Arpentieva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the interaction of legal and moral development of media technologies in the context of geographical education. The article summarizes the experience of the theoretical analysis of mediatization in geographic education, the legal and moral aspects of the disorders and ways of their prevention and correction in the process of educational interaction between teacher and student, between student and teacher, mediated mediatechnologies. It is noted that geographical education in the modern world is education, which is closely associated with the use of media technologies. In other types of education the role of media technologies in improving the quality of education is less obvious, in the field of teaching and learning geography, it speaks very clearly. Therefore, the problems associated with its mediatization, are very important and their solution is particularly compelling. These issues are primarily associated with actively flowing social, economic, political and ideological crisis in many communities and countries of the Earth. Many of them as in the “mirror” are reflected in the sphere of high technologies, including media technologies. The article provides guidance and direction to the correction of violations at the individual and social levels.

Ontology for cell-based geographic information

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Bin; Huang, Lina; Lu, Xinhai

2009-10-01

Inter-operability is a key notion in geographic information science (GIS) for the sharing of geographic information (GI). That requires a seamless translation among different information sources. Ontology is enrolled in GI discovery to settle the semantic conflicts for its natural language appearance and logical hierarchy structure, which are considered to be able to provide better context for both human understanding and machine cognition in describing the location and relationships in the geographic world. However, for the current, most studies on field ontology are deduced from philosophical theme and not applicable for the raster expression in GIS-which is a kind of field-like phenomenon but does not physically coincide to the general concept of philosophical field (mostly comes from the physics concepts). That's why we specifically discuss the cell-based GI ontology in this paper. The discussion starts at the investigation of the physical characteristics of cell-based raster GI. Then, a unified cell-based GI ontology framework for the recognition of the raster objects is introduced, from which a conceptual interface for the connection of the human epistemology and the computer world so called "endurant-occurrant window" is developed for the better raster GI discovery and sharing.

Analysis of host preference and geographical distribution of Anastrepha suspensa (Diptera: Tephritidae) using phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I DNA sequence data.

Science.gov (United States)

Boykin, L M; Shatters, R G; Hall, D G; Burns, R E; Franqui, R A

2006-10-01

Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) is an economically important pest, restricted to the Greater Antilles and southern Florida. It infests a wide variety of hosts and is of quarantine importance in citrus, a multi-million dollar industry in Florida. The observed recent increase in citrus infested with A. suspensa in Florida has raised questions regarding host-specificity of certain populations and genetic diversity of the pest throughout its geographical distribution. Cytochrome oxidase I (COI) DNA sequence data was used to characterize the genetic diversity of A. suspensa from Florida and Caribbean populations reared from different host plants. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic methods were used to analyse COI data. Sequence variation among mitochondrial COI genes from 107 A. suspensa samples collected throughout Florida and the Caribbean ranged between 0 and 10% and placed all A. suspensa as a monophyletic group that united all A. suspensa in a clade sister to a Central American group of the A. fraterculus paraphyletic species complex. The most likely tree of the COI locus indicated that COI sequence variation was too low to provide resolution at the subspecies level, therefore monophyletic groups based on host-plant use, geography (Florida, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic) or population sampled are not supported. This result indicates that either no population segregation has occurred based on these biological or geographical distinctions and that this is a generalist, polyphagous invasive genotype. Alternatively, if populations are distinct, the segregation event was more recent than can be distinguished based on COI sequence variation.

Geographic Disparities in Liver Availability: Accidents of Geography, or Consequences of Poor Social Policy?

Science.gov (United States)

Ladin, K; Zhang, G; Hanto, D W

2017-09-01

Recently, a redistricting proposal intended to equalize Model for End-stage Liver Disease score at transplant recommended expanding liver sharing to mitigate geographic variation in liver transplantation. Yet, it is unclear whether variation in liver availability is arbitrary and a disparity requiring rectification or reflects differences in access to care. We evaluate the proposal's claim that organ supply is an "accident of geography" by examining the relationship between local organ supply and the uneven landscape of social determinants and policies that contribute to differential death rates across the United States. We show that higher mortality leading to greater availability of organs may in part result from disproportionate risks incurred at the local level. Disparities in public safety laws, health care infrastructure, and public funding may influence the risk of death and subsequent availability of deceased donors. These risk factors are disproportionately prevalent in regions with high organ supply. Policies calling for organ redistribution from high-supply to low-supply regions may exacerbate existing social and health inequalities by redistributing the single benefit (greater organ availability) of greater exposure to environmental and contextual risks (e.g. violent death, healthcare scarcity). Variation in liver availability may not be an "accident of geography" but rather a byproduct of disadvantage. © 2017 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Geographic divergence in upper thermal limits across insect life stages: does behavior matter?

Science.gov (United States)

MacLean, Heidi J; Higgins, Jessica K; Buckley, Lauren B; Kingsolver, Joel G

2016-05-01

Insects with complex life cycles vary in size, mobility, and thermal ecology across life stages. We examine how differences in the capacity for thermoregulatory behavior influence geographic differences in physiological heat tolerance among egg and adult Colias butterflies. Colias adults exhibit differences in morphology (wing melanin and thoracic setal length) along spatial gradients, whereas eggs are morphologically indistinguishable. Here we compare Colias eriphyle eggs and adults from two elevations and Colias meadii from a high elevation. Hatching success and egg development time of C. eriphyle eggs did not differ significantly with the elevation of origin. Egg survival declined in response to heat-shock temperatures above 38-40 °C and egg development time was shortest at intermediate heat-shock temperatures of 33-38 °C. Laboratory experiments with adults showed survival in response to heat shock was significantly greater for Colias from higher than from lower elevation sites. Common-garden experiments at the low-elevation field site showed that C. meadii adults initiated heat-avoidance and over-heating behaviors significantly earlier in the day than C. eriphyle. Our study demonstrates the importance of examining thermal tolerances across life stages. Our findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that thermoregulatory behavior inhibits the geographic divergence of physiological traits in mobile stages, and suggest that sessile stages may evolve similar heat tolerances in different environments due to microclimatic variability or evolutionary constraints.

SCHOOL LINGUISTIC CREATIVITY BASED ON SCIENTIFIC GEOGRAPHICAL TEXTS

OpenAIRE

VIORICA BLÎNDĂ

2012-01-01

The analysis and observation of the natural environment and of the social and economic one, observing phenomena, objects, beings, and geographical events are at the basis of producing geographical scientific texts. The symbols of iconotexts and cartotexts are another source of inspiration for linguistic interpretation. The linguistic creations that we selected for our study are the scientific analysis, the commentary, the characteriz...

Geographical and temporal conservation of antibody recognition of Plasmodium falciparum variant surface antigens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Morten A; Vestergaard, Lasse S; Lusingu, John

2004-01-01

The slow acquisition of protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria probably reflects the extensive diversity of important antigens. The variant surface antigens (VSA) that mediate parasite adhesion to a range of host molecules are regarded as important targets of acquired protective immunity......, but their diversity makes them questionable vaccine candidates. We determined levels of VSA-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) in human plasma collected at four geographically distant and epidemiologically distinct localities with specificity for VSA expressed by P. falciparum isolates from three African countries...

Louisiana Parishes, Geographic NAD83, USGS (1998) [parishes_USGS_1998

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This data set contains vector line map information. The vector data contain selected base categories of geographic features, and characteristics of these features,...

Louisiana Geology, Geographic NAD83, NWRC (1998) [geology_NWRC_1998

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This data set contains vector line map information. The vector data contain selected base categories of geographic features, and characteristics of these features,...

Geographic Knowledge Extraction and Semantic Similarity in OpenStreetMap

OpenAIRE

Ballatore, Andrea; Bertolotto, Michela; Wilson, David C.

2012-01-01

In recent years, a web phenomenon known as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has produced large crowdsourced geographic data sets. OpenStreetMap (OSM), the leading VGI project, aims at building an open-content world map through user contributions. OSM semantics consists of a set of properties (called 'tags') describing geographic classes, whose usage is defined by project contributors on a dedicated Wiki website. Because of its simple and open semantic structure, the OSM approach often...

Geographic variation in health insurance benefit in Qianjiang District, China

OpenAIRE

Ye, Ting; Wu, Yue; Zhang, Liang

2017-01-01

Background: Health insurance coverage is of great importance; yet, it is unclear whether there is some geographic variation in health insurance benefit for urban and rural patients covered by a same basic health insurance, especially in China.Objective: To identify the potential geographic variation in health insurance benefit and its possible socioeconomic and geographical factors at the town level.Methods: All the beneficiaries underthe health insurance who had the in-hospital experience in...

Development of the OCRWM transportation geographic information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peck, M. III; McGuinn, E.J.; Osborne, J.W.

1995-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) is responsible for disposing of the nation's high-level radioactive waste. Current plans call for OCRWM to ship commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from 77 individual reactor sites to a central facility for disposal. The Transportation Geographic Information System (TGIS) is a valuable tool in planning for the SNF shipments and communicating with the public regarding the shipments. The TGIS consists of a geographic information system (GIS) combined with a set of databases that provide data on specific geographic areas, transportation networks, and point locations. Planning activities may include analyzing possible routing options or criteria, highlighting route-specific attributes such as the location of culturally sensitive areas, providing route-specific data such as accident statistics, determining the affected population density along a route to support risk assessment activities, or providing emergency response information such as responder locations and hospitals along the proposed routes. The TGIS is a useful communication tool in helping to address the public's concern over how the shipments will be managed, particularly in the area of route selection by providing graphic portrayals of potential routes in their true geographic contexts

Geographic mobility of Danish dual-erner couples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Filges, Trine

2010-01-01

We analyze the relationship between geographical residence and job mobility for Danish dual-earner couples. We estimate the probability of moving residence and changing job, taking the interdependence between the events into account. The results point to the importance of addressing the interrela......We analyze the relationship between geographical residence and job mobility for Danish dual-earner couples. We estimate the probability of moving residence and changing job, taking the interdependence between the events into account. The results point to the importance of addressing...

Behavioral and physiological correlates of the geographic distributions of amphibious sea kraits (Laticauda spp.)

Science.gov (United States)

Brischoux, François; Tingley, Reid; Shine, Richard; Lillywhite, Harvey B.

2013-02-01

The physiological costs of living in seawater likely influenced the secondary evolutionary transitions to marine life in tetrapods. However, these costs are alleviated for species that commute between the land and the sea, because terrestrial habitats can provide frequent access to fresh water. Here, we investigate how differences in the ecology and physiology of three sea krait species (Laticauda spp.) interact to determine their environmental tolerances and geographic distributions. These three species vary in their relative use of terrestrial versus marine environments, and they display concomitant adaptations to life on land versus at sea. A species with relatively high dehydration rates in seawater (Laticauda colubrina) occupied oceanic areas with low mean salinities, whereas a species with comparatively high rates of transcutaneous evaporative water loss on land (Laticauda semifasciata) occupied regions with low mean temperatures. A third taxon (Laticauda laticaudata) was intermediate in both of these traits, and yet occupied the broadest geographic range. Our results suggest that the abilities of sea kraits to acquire fresh water on land and tolerate dehydration at sea determine their environmental tolerances and geographic distributions. This finding supports the notion that speciation patterns within sea kraits have been driven by interspecific variation in the degree of reliance upon terrestrial versus marine habitats. Future studies could usefully examine the effects of osmotic challenges on diversification rates in other secondarily marine tetrapod species.

Developing Trainee Teacher Practice with Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Walshe, Nicola

2017-01-01

There is general agreement that geographical information systems (GIS) have a place within the geography classroom; they offer the potential to support geographical learning, exploring real-world problems through student-centred learning, and developing spatial thinking. Despite this, teachers often avoid engaging with GIS and research suggests…

ROMANIA: GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOPOLITICAL POSITION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ciprian Beniamin Benea

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The paper intends to bring to the reader’s attention the importance of understanding the role education plays in creating a good geopolitical position for a state which has a good geographical position, and which is well endowed in natural resources. The case of Romania is the main focus of the paper. There is presented a peculiar strange situation of a country (Romania which is very well located from geographical point of view but which is incapable to exploit its natural endowments and special location. One reason for this situation is the fact that most people living in present Romania belong to a category named in this paper ‘individuals’. Individuals are not aware of their country’s geography and history, let alone its possible future development possibilities. They do not know the role their country could play, and living in an atomized society, they choose emigration as the easiest way to escape harsh social and economic environment. Contrary to this attitude is that of a citizen, a man conscious about his country’s potential, and which is dedicated to work hardly together with his fellows in order to promote national interests in a peaceful manner. Even there was found remnants of an ancient city close to present day Romanian territory – proves of well endowed environment – moral and psychological factors have contributed after 1990 in an crucial manner to push Romania from its civilization path back to the archaic spirit, from active urban spirit to rural mentality. In such a situation it is not uncommon for a nation to lose its means for projecting power, which could promote the value and the importance of a geographical position – transportation; rural mentality has nothing to do with modern transportation as they are technical tools with geopolitical essence for controlling space. It is a well known fact that transportation and geopolitics are closely interrelated. Furthermore, social dissolution in post communist

The Influence of Technology on Geographic Cognition and Tourism Experience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tussyadiah, Iis; Zach, Florian

2011-01-01

Tourists today have access to retrieve voluminous geographic information about destinations while travelling as various context-aware geographic technologies have become increasingly ubiquitous. These technologies are suggested to aid tourists in the process of destination consumption to gain...... meaningful tourism experiences. This study found that people using different types of technologies for everyday routine perceive that these technologies help them with spatial inference to acquire geographic information; making sense of direction and orientation, and interacting with and within places....... Further, within the travel context, geographic technology was found to influence the dimensions of sensory, affective and social experience, as well as the cognitive and bodily experience. The type of technology used for travel was also found to be a significant predictor of the sensory, affective...

Mapping the geographical distribution of lymphatic filariasis in Zambia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mwase, Enala T; Stensgaard, Anna-Sofie; Nsakashalo-Senkwe, Mutale

2014-01-01

to be an important determinant of medium-high prevalence levels. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: LF was found to be surprisingly widespread in Zambia, although in most places with low prevalence. The produced maps and the identified environmental correlates of LF infection will provide useful guidance for planning...... volunteers from 108 geo-referenced survey sites across Zambia were examined for circulating filarial antigens (CFA) with rapid format ICT cards, and a map indicating the distribution of CFA prevalences in Zambia was prepared. 78% of survey sites had CFA positive cases, with prevalences ranging between 1......% and 54%. Most positive survey sites had low prevalence, but six foci with more than 15% prevalence were identified. The observed geographical variation in prevalence pattern was examined in more detail using a species distribution modeling approach to explore environmental requirements for parasite...

Stonehenge's Greater Cursus

Science.gov (United States)

Burley, Paul; Mooers, Howard D.

2016-01-01

Archaeological investigations have emphasized relationships between solar and lunar phenomena and architectural features of prehistoric sites located on the Stonehenge ritual landscape. However, no over-riding landscape design has been identified to explain the purpose of placing hundreds of Neolithic through Iron Age burial sites upon the landscape. Our research and analysis shows the mid-4th millennium BC (mid-Neolithic) landscape represents an 'above, so below' cosmo-geographical relationship. Type, shape, size and orientation of specific elements (such as long barrows, henges, cursus and topography) created a hierotopy representing the Winter Hexagon asterism, Milky Way, ecliptic and other stellar features. The resulting pattern of ritual sites represents translocation of the astronomical Otherworld - the Spirit World - onto the plain. Results of the analysis create a new paradigm of purpose for the built landscape circa 3500 BC, and identifies the reason why Stonehenge is located where it is with respect to other contemorary monuments.

Evaluation of the genetic distinctiveness of Greater Sage-grouse in the Bi-State Planning Area

Science.gov (United States)

Oyler-McCance, Sara J.; Casazza, Michael L.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to further characterize a distinct population of Greater Sage-grouse: the population located along the border between Nevada and California (Bi-State Planning Area) and centered around the Mono Basin. This population was previously determined to be genetically distinct from other Greater Sage-grouse populations across their range. Previous genetic work focused on characterizing genetic variation across the species' range and thereby used a coarse sampling approach for species characterization. The goal of this study was to investigate this population further by obtaining samples from breeding locations within the population and analyzing those samples with the same mitochondrial and microsatellite loci used in previous studies. Blood samples were collected in six locations within the Bi-State Planning Area. Genetic data from subpopulations were then compared with each other and also with two populations outside of the Bi-State Planning Area. Particular attention was paid to subpopulation boundaries and internal dynamics by drawing comparisons among particular regions within the Bi-State Planning Area and regions proximal to it. All newly sampled subpopulations contained mitochondrial haplotypes and allele frequencies that were consistent with the genetically unique Bi-State (Mono Basin) Greater Sage-grouse described previously. This reinforces the fact that this group of Greater Sage-grouse is genetically unique and warrants special attention. Maintaining the genetic integrity of this population could protect the evolutionary potential of this population of Greater Sage-grouse. Additionally, the White Mountains subpopulation was found to be significantly distinct from all other Bi-State subpopulations.

Geographical Mobility of Danish Dual-Earner Couples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deding, Mette; Filges, Trine

In this paper, we analyse the empirical relationship between geographical residence mobility and geographical job mobility for Danish dual-earner couples. Based on register data from Statistics Denmark from 1999 and 2000, we estimate three probabilities, taking the interdependence between...... the work region matters for the determination of the residence region. Furthermore, although the model stresses the importance of looking at both spouses, we do not find marked differences between the men and the women. Thus, our results do not indicate that one spouse is more important than the other...

Geographically isolated wetlands: Rethinking a misnomer

Science.gov (United States)

Mushet, David M.; Calhoun, Aram J.K.; Alexander, Laurie C.; Cohen, Matthew J.; DeKeyser, Edward S.; Fowler, Laurie G.; Lane, Charles R.; Lang, Megan W.; Rains, Mark C.; Walls, Susan

2015-01-01

We explore the category “geographically isolated wetlands” (GIWs; i.e., wetlands completely surrounded by uplands at the local scale) as used in the wetland sciences. As currently used, the GIW category (1) hampers scientific efforts by obscuring important hydrological and ecological differences among multiple wetland functional types, (2) aggregates wetlands in a manner not reflective of regulatory and management information needs, (3) implies wetlands so described are in some way “isolated,” an often incorrect implication, (4) is inconsistent with more broadly used and accepted concepts of “geographic isolation,” and (5) has injected unnecessary confusion into scientific investigations and discussions. Instead, we suggest other wetland classification systems offer more informative alternatives. For example, hydrogeomorphic (HGM) classes based on well-established scientific definitions account for wetland functional diversity thereby facilitating explorations into questions of connectivity without an a priori designation of “isolation.” Additionally, an HGM-type approach could be used in combination with terms reflective of current regulatory or policymaking needs. For those rare cases in which the condition of being surrounded by uplands is the relevant distinguishing characteristic, use of terminology that does not unnecessarily imply isolation (e.g., “upland embedded wetlands”) would help alleviate much confusion caused by the “geographically isolated wetlands” misnomer.

Quantifying the Driving Forces of Informal Urbanization in the Western Part of the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taher Osman

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the driving forces (DFs of informal urbanization (IU in the greater Cairo metropolitan region (GCMR using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. The IU patterns in the GCMR have been extremely influenced by seven DFs: geographical characteristics, availability of life facilities, economic incentives, land demand and supply, population increase, administrative function, and development plans. This research found that these forces vary significantly in how they influence urban growth in the three study sectors, namely, the middle, north, and south areas in the western part of the GCMR. The forces with the highest influence were economic incentives in the middle sector, population increase in the north sector, and the administrative function in the south sector. Due to the lower availability of buildable land in the middle sector, the land demand and supply force had a lesser influence in this sector compared to in the north and south sectors. The development plans force had medium influence in all sectors. The geographical characteristics force had little influence in both the middle and the north sectors, but higher influence than economic incentives, availability of life facilities, and development plans in the south sector. Because of the spatial variances in life facilities organizations in the GCMR, the life facilities availability force had little effect on IU in the south sector.

Interspecific and geographic variation in the diets of sympatric carnivores: dingoes/wild dogs and red foxes in south-eastern Australia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naomi E Davis

Full Text Available Dingoes/wild dogs (Canis dingo/familiaris and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes are widespread carnivores in southern Australia and are controlled to reduce predation on domestic livestock and native fauna. We used the occurrence of food items in 5875 dingo/wild dog scats and 11,569 fox scats to evaluate interspecific and geographic differences in the diets of these species within nine regions of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. The nine regions encompass a wide variety of ecosystems. Diet overlap between dingoes/wild dogs and foxes varied among regions, from low to near complete overlap. The diet of foxes was broader than dingoes/wild dogs in all but three regions, with the former usually containing more insects, reptiles and plant material. By contrast, dingoes/wild dogs more regularly consumed larger mammals, supporting the hypothesis that niche partitioning occurs on the basis of mammalian prey size. The key mammalian food items for dingoes/wild dogs across all regions were black wallaby (Wallabia bicolor, brushtail possum species (Trichosurus spp., common wombat (Vombatus ursinus, sambar deer (Rusa unicolor, cattle (Bos taurus and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus. The key mammalian food items for foxes across all regions were European rabbit, sheep (Ovis aries and house mouse (Mus musculus. Foxes consumed 6.1 times the number of individuals of threatened Critical Weight Range native mammal species than did dingoes/wild dogs. The occurrence of intraguild predation was asymmetrical; dingoes/wild dogs consumed greater biomass of the smaller fox. The substantial geographic variation in diet indicates that dingoes/wild dogs and foxes alter their diet in accordance with changing food availability. We provide checklists of taxa recorded in the diets of dingoes/wild dogs and foxes as a resource for managers and researchers wishing to understand the potential impacts of policy and management decisions on dingoes/wild dogs, foxes and the food

The geographical distribution of tremellaceous fungi in Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Władysław Wojewoda

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The geographical distribution of the Polish tremellaceous fungi is discussed in this paper. The list of localities and the maps of the distribution of 60 Polish species (45 of Tremellales, 13 of Auriculariales and 2 of Septobasidiales are given. The author distinguishes several geographical elements, and describes the vertical distribution of these fungi. This paper is a supplement to "Fungi (Mycota", vol. 8, Polish Flora (Wojewoda 1977.

Predictive models and spatial variations of vital capacity in healthy people from 6 to 84 years old in China based on geographical factors.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Jinwei; Ge, Miao; Wang, Congxia; Jiang, Naigui; Zhang, Mingxin; Yun, Pujun

2014-07-01

The aim of this study was to provide a scientific basic for a unified standard of the reference value of vital capacity (VC) of healthy subjects from 6 and 84 years old in China. The normal reference value of VC was correlated to seven geographical factors, including altitude (X1), annual duration of sunshine (X2), annual mean air temperature (X3), annual mean relative humidity (X4), annual precipitation amount (X5), annual air temperature range (X6) and annual mean wind speed (X7). Predictive models were established by five different linear and nonlinear methods. The best models were selected by t-test. The geographical distribution map of VC in different age groups can be interpolated by Kriging's method using ArcGIS software. It was found that the correlation of VC and geographical factors in China was quite significant, especially for both males and females aged from 6 to 45. The best models were built for different age groups. The geographical distribution map shows the spatial variations of VC in China precisely. The VC of healthy subjects can be simulated by the best model or acquired from the geographical distribution map provided the geographical factors for that city or county of China are known.

Changes in the geographical distribution and abundance of the tick Ixodes ricinus during the past 30 years in Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaenson Thomas GT

2012-01-01

respondents, the abundance of ticks had increased markedly in LB- and TBE-endemic areas in South (Götaland and Central Sweden. Conclusions The results suggest that I. ricinus has expanded its range in North Sweden and has become distinctly more abundant in Central and South Sweden during the last three decades. However, in the northern mountain region I. ricinus is still absent. The increased abundance of the tick can be explained by two main factors: First, the high availability of large numbers of important tick maintenance hosts, i.e., cervids, particularly roe deer (Capreolus capreolus during the last three decades. Second, a warmer climate with milder winters and a prolonged growing season that permits greater survival and proliferation over a larger geographical area of both the tick itself and deer. High reproductive potential of roe deer, high tick infestation rate and the tendency of roe deer to disperse great distances may explain the range expansion of I. ricinus and particularly the appearance of new TBEV foci far away from old TBEV-endemic localities. The geographical presence of LB in Sweden corresponds to the distribution of I. ricinus. Thus, LB is now an emerging disease risk in many parts of North Sweden. Unless countermeasures are undertaken to keep the deer populations, particularly C. capreolus and Dama dama, at the relatively low levels that prevailed before the late 1970s - especially in and around urban areas where human population density is high - by e.g. reduced hunting of red fox (Vulpes vulpes and lynx (Lynx lynx, the incidences of human LB and TBE are expected to continue to be high or even to increase in Sweden in coming decades.

Changes in the geographical distribution and abundance of the tick Ixodes ricinus during the past 30 years in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaenson, Thomas G T; Jaenson, David G E; Eisen, Lars; Petersson, Erik; Lindgren, Elisabet

2012-01-10

markedly in LB- and TBE-endemic areas in South (Götaland) and Central Sweden. The results suggest that I. ricinus has expanded its range in North Sweden and has become distinctly more abundant in Central and South Sweden during the last three decades. However, in the northern mountain region I. ricinus is still absent. The increased abundance of the tick can be explained by two main factors: First, the high availability of large numbers of important tick maintenance hosts, i.e., cervids, particularly roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) during the last three decades. Second, a warmer climate with milder winters and a prolonged growing season that permits greater survival and proliferation over a larger geographical area of both the tick itself and deer. High reproductive potential of roe deer, high tick infestation rate and the tendency of roe deer to disperse great distances may explain the range expansion of I. ricinus and particularly the appearance of new TBEV foci far away from old TBEV-endemic localities. The geographical presence of LB in Sweden corresponds to the distribution of I. ricinus. Thus, LB is now an emerging disease risk in many parts of North Sweden. Unless countermeasures are undertaken to keep the deer populations, particularly C. capreolus and Dama dama, at the relatively low levels that prevailed before the late 1970s--especially in and around urban areas where human population density is high--by e.g. reduced hunting of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and lynx (Lynx lynx), the incidences of human LB and TBE are expected to continue to be high or even to increase in Sweden in coming decades.

The effects of phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation on forecasts of species range shifts under climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Valladares, Fernando; Matesanz, Silvia; Guilhaumon, François; Araújo, Miguel B; Balaguer, Luis; Benito-Garzón, Marta; Cornwell, Will; Gianoli, Ernesto; van Kleunen, Mark; Naya, Daniel E; Nicotra, Adrienne B; Poorter, Hendrik; Zavala, Miguel A

2014-11-01

Species are the unit of analysis in many global change and conservation biology studies; however, species are not uniform entities but are composed of different, sometimes locally adapted, populations differing in plasticity. We examined how intraspecific variation in thermal niches and phenotypic plasticity will affect species distributions in a warming climate. We first developed a conceptual model linking plasticity and niche breadth, providing five alternative intraspecific scenarios that are consistent with existing literature. Secondly, we used ecological niche-modeling techniques to quantify the impact of each intraspecific scenario on the distribution of a virtual species across a geographically realistic setting. Finally, we performed an analogous modeling exercise using real data on the climatic niches of different tree provenances. We show that when population differentiation is accounted for and dispersal is restricted, forecasts of species range shifts under climate change are even more pessimistic than those using the conventional assumption of homogeneously high plasticity across a species' range. Suitable population-level data are not available for most species so identifying general patterns of population differentiation could fill this gap. However, the literature review revealed contrasting patterns among species, urging greater levels of integration among empirical, modeling and theoretical research on intraspecific phenotypic variation. © 2014 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and CNRS.

The Current Status of the Distribution Range of the Western Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis (Curculionidae: Solytinae) in Northern Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Valerio-Mendoza, O; Armendáriz-Toledano, F; Cuéllar-Rodríguez, G; Negrón, José F; Zúñiga, G

2017-09-01

The distribution range of the western pine beetle Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is supported only by scattered records in the northern parts of Mexico, suggesting that its populations may be marginal and rare in this region. In this study, we review the geographical distribution of D. brevicomis in northern Mexico and perform a geometric morphometric analysis of seminal rod shape to evaluate its reliability for identifying this species with respect to other members of the Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) complex. Our results provide 30 new records, with 26 distributed in the Sierra Madre Occidental and 4 in the Sierra Madre Oriental. These records extend the known distribution range of D. brevicomis to Durango and Tamaulipas states in northern Mexico. Furthermore, we find high geographic variation in size and shape of the seminal rod, with conspicous differences among individuals from different geographical regions, namely west and east of the Great Basin and between mountain systems in Mexico. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.

application of geographic information system (gis) in industrial land ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DEPHILIHS

Land capability index mapping using Geographic Information System (GIS) principles was used for this study. The study was undertaken using Arc View ... Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is one of the best approaches for this type of ..... western segments and to a small extent the east. Some of the available lands are ...

Fast, Inclusive Searches for Geographic Names Using Digraphs

Science.gov (United States)

Donato, David I.

2008-01-01

An algorithm specifies how to quickly identify names that approximately match any specified name when searching a list or database of geographic names. Based on comparisons of the digraphs (ordered letter pairs) contained in geographic names, this algorithmic technique identifies approximately matching names by applying an artificial but useful measure of name similarity. A digraph index enables computer name searches that are carried out using this technique to be fast enough for deployment in a Web application. This technique, which is a member of the class of n-gram algorithms, is related to, but distinct from, the soundex, PHONIX, and metaphone phonetic algorithms. Despite this technique's tendency to return some counterintuitive approximate matches, it is an effective aid for fast, inclusive searches for geographic names when the exact name sought, or its correct spelling, is unknown.

Medicare Geographic Variation - Public Use File

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Medicare Geographic Variation Public Use File provides the ability to view demographic, utilization and quality indicators at the state level (including...

‘Utilitarian’ judgments in sacrificial moral dilemmas do not reflect impartial concern for the greater good

OpenAIRE

Kahane, Guy; Everett, Jim A.C.; Earp, Brian D.; Farias, Miguel; Savulescu, Julian

2015-01-01

A growing body of research has focused on so-called ?utilitarian? judgments in moral dilemmas in which participants have to choose whether to sacrifice one person in order to save the lives of a greater number. However, the relation between such ?utilitarian? judgments and genuine utilitarian impartial concern for the greater good remains unclear. Across four studies, we investigated the relationship between ?utilitarian? judgment in such sacrificial dilemmas and a range of traits, attitudes,...

Thermal barriers constrain microbial elevational range size via climate variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jianjun; Soininen, Janne

2017-08-01

Range size is invariably limited and understanding range size variation is an important objective in ecology. However, microbial range size across geographical gradients remains understudied, especially on mountainsides. Here, the patterns of range size of stream microbes (i.e., bacteria and diatoms) and macroorganisms (i.e., macroinvertebrates) along elevational gradients in Asia and Europe were examined. In bacteria, elevational range size showed non-significant phylogenetic signals. In all taxa, there was a positive relationship between niche breadth and species elevational range size, driven by local environmental and climatic variables. No taxa followed the elevational Rapoport's rule. Climate variability explained the most variation in microbial mean elevational range size, whereas local environmental variables were more important for macroinvertebrates. Seasonal and annual climate variation showed negative effects, while daily climate variation had positive effects on community mean elevational range size for all taxa. The negative correlation between range size and species richness suggests that understanding the drivers of range is key for revealing the processes underlying diversity. The results advance the understanding of microbial species thermal barriers by revealing the importance of seasonal and diurnal climate variation, and highlight that aquatic and terrestrial biota may differ in their response to short- and long-term climate variability. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Geographic Analysis of Neurosurgery Workforce in Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hye Ran; Park, Sukh Que; Kim, Jae Hyun; Hwang, Jae Chan; Lee, Gwang Soo; Chang, Jae-Chil

2018-01-01

Objective In respect of the health and safety of the public, universal access to health care is an issue of the greatest importance. The geographic distribution of doctors is one of the important factors contributing to access to health care. The aim of this study is to assess the imbalances in the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons across Korea. Methods Population data was obtained from the National Statistical Office. We classified geographic groups into 7 metropolitan cities, 78 non-metropolitan cities, and 77 rural areas. The number of doctors and neurosurgeons per 100000 populations in each county unit was calculated using the total number of doctors and neurosurgeons at the country level from 2009 to 2015. The density levels of neurosurgeon and doctor were calculated and depicted in maps. Results Between 2009 and 2015, the number of neurosurgeons increased from 2002 to 2557, and the ratio of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations increased from 4.02 to 4.96. The number of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations was highest in metropolitan cities and lowest in rural areas from 2009 to 2015. A comparison of the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons in 2009 and 2015 showed an increase in the regional gap. The neurosurgeon density was affected by country unit characteristics (p=0.000). Conclusion Distribution of neurosurgeons throughout Korea is uneven. Neurosurgeons are being increasingly concentrated in a limited number of metropolitan cities. This phenomenon will need to be accounted when planning for a supply of neurosurgeons, allocation of resources and manpower, and the provision of regional neurosurgical services. PMID:29354242

Geographic Analysis of Neurosurgery Workforce in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hye Ran; Park, Sukh Que; Kim, Jae Hyun; Hwang, Jae Chan; Lee, Gwang Soo; Chang, Jae-Chil

2018-01-01

In respect of the health and safety of the public, universal access to health care is an issue of the greatest importance. The geographic distribution of doctors is one of the important factors contributing to access to health care. The aim of this study is to assess the imbalances in the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons across Korea. Population data was obtained from the National Statistical Office. We classified geographic groups into 7 metropolitan cities, 78 non-metropolitan cities, and 77 rural areas. The number of doctors and neurosurgeons per 100000 populations in each county unit was calculated using the total number of doctors and neurosurgeons at the country level from 2009 to 2015. The density levels of neurosurgeon and doctor were calculated and depicted in maps. Between 2009 and 2015, the number of neurosurgeons increased from 2002 to 2557, and the ratio of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations increased from 4.02 to 4.96. The number of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations was highest in metropolitan cities and lowest in rural areas from 2009 to 2015. A comparison of the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons in 2009 and 2015 showed an increase in the regional gap. The neurosurgeon density was affected by country unit characteristics ( p =0.000). Distribution of neurosurgeons throughout Korea is uneven. Neurosurgeons are being increasingly concentrated in a limited number of metropolitan cities. This phenomenon will need to be accounted when planning for a supply of neurosurgeons, allocation of resources and manpower, and the provision of regional neurosurgical services.

Educational Geographers and Applied Geography.

Science.gov (United States)

Frazier, John W.

1979-01-01

Describes the development of applied geography programs and restructuring of curricula with an emphasis on new technique and methodology courses, though retaining the liberal arts role. Educational geographers can help the programs to succeed through curriculum analysis, auditing, advising students, and liaison with other geography sources. (CK)

Greater-confinement disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trevorrow, L.E.; Schubert, J.P.

1989-01-01

Greater-confinement disposal (GCD) is a general term for low-level waste (LLW) disposal technologies that employ natural and/or engineered barriers and provide a degree of confinement greater than that of shallow-land burial (SLB) but possibly less than that of a geologic repository. Thus GCD is associated with lower risk/hazard ratios than SLB. Although any number of disposal technologies might satisfy the definition of GCD, eight have been selected for consideration in this discussion. These technologies include: (1) earth-covered tumuli, (2) concrete structures, both above and below grade, (3) deep trenches, (4) augered shafts, (5) rock cavities, (6) abandoned mines, (7) high-integrity containers, and (8) hydrofracture. Each of these technologies employ several operations that are mature,however, some are at more advanced stages of development and demonstration than others. Each is defined and further described by information on design, advantages and disadvantages, special equipment requirements, and characteristic operations such as construction, waste emplacement, and closure

78 FR 65700 - Notice of Availability of the Utah Greater Sage-Grouse Draft Land Use Plan Amendments and...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-01

.../Garfield/Antimony, Pinyon, Warm Springs, House Range, Pony Express, Box Elder, Randolph, Park City, and...) Pinyon Management Framework Plan (MFP) (1978) Warm Springs RMP (1987) House Range RMP (1987) Pony Express... lands identified as having the highest value to maintaining sustainable Greater Sage-Grouse populations...

Geographic variation in opinions on climate change at state and local scales in the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Howe, Peter D.; Mildenberger, Matto; Marlon, Jennifer R.; Leiserowitz, Anthony

2015-06-01

Addressing climate change in the United States requires enactment of national, state and local mitigation and adaptation policies. The success of these initiatives depends on public opinion, policy support and behaviours at appropriate scales. Public opinion, however, is typically measured with national surveys that obscure geographic variability across regions, states and localities. Here we present independently validated high-resolution opinion estimates using a multilevel regression and poststratification model. The model accurately predicts climate change beliefs, risk perceptions and policy preferences at the state, congressional district, metropolitan and county levels, using a concise set of demographic and geographic predictors. The analysis finds substantial variation in public opinion across the nation. Nationally, 63% of Americans believe global warming is happening, but county-level estimates range from 43 to 80%, leading to a diversity of political environments for climate policy. These estimates provide an important new source of information for policymakers, educators and scientists to more effectively address the challenges of climate change.

Geographical representation of the European populations with a view to the assessment of collective doses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garnier, A.; Sauve, A.; Madelmont, C.

1980-01-01

Demographical data are very important in assessing health consequences of the siting of nuclear plants. In addition to a detailed description of the distribution of population living in the neighbourhood of every site, a less definite representation of the population as a whole is needed to assess the consequences of the long-range transport of pollutants within or outside the national boundaries, in order to determine the collective doses according to the concepts of the ICRP recommendations. For this purpose, the census data of the nine countries of the European Community have been collected. They are presented in two forms: either by communes or following a more or less close-meshed grid. The points have been defined by their geographical coordinates. After merging the informations, the demographic data were classified according to the geographical coordinates. One of them is a distribution programme of the population in the meshes of an European grid, some examples of which are shown. (H.K.)

Scrotal tongue and geographic tongue: polygenic and associated traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Eidelman, E; Chosack, A; Cohen, T

1976-11-01

The familial nature of scrotal and geographic tongue was investigated in parents and siblings of 156 probands having these conditions. The prevalence in parents and siblings was significantly higher than that in the control populations. The prevalence in sibilings from families in which at least one parent was also affected was significantly higher than that in siblings from families in which neither parent was affected. The prevalence of scrotal tongue alone in siblins was similar irrespective of the condition in the proband. The prevalence of geographic tongue alone was highest in siblins of probands having only geographic tongue. A polygenic mode of inheritance with some genes common to both conditions is suggested.

Geographic patterns of cigarette butt waste in the urban environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Marah, Maacah; Novotny, Thomas E

2011-05-01

This reports the initial phase of a study to quantify the spatial pattern of cigarette butt waste in an urban environment. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to create a weighted overlay analysis model which was then applied to the locations of businesses where cigarettes are sold or are likely to be consumed and venues where higher concentrations of butts may be deposited. The model's utility was tested using a small-scale litter audit in three zip codes of San Diego, California. We found that cigarette butt waste is highly concentrated around businesses where cigarettes are sold or consumed. The mean number of butts for predicted high waste sites was 38.1 (SD 18.87), for predicted low waste sites mean 4.8 (SD 5.9), psales and consumption. A GIS and weighted overlay model may be a useful tool in predicting urban locations of greater and lesser amounts of cigarette butt waste. These data can in turn be used to develop economic cost studies and plan mitigation strategies in urban communities.

Marc Antrop - a revolutionary transdisciplinary scientist or a traditional geographer?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper

2009-01-01

practicians. Tree main problems have faced IALE since the very beginning: to ensure landscape science collaboration (1) between east and west, (2) between disciplines across the boundaries of nature science, social science and humanities, and (3) between academic disciplines and professionals...... for the enthusiastic radical way Marc is working in international networks and activities. He might have done it, just simply because he is a traditional geographer. With his heart beating for the regional geographic synthesis, despite all trends and fashions of many ‘geographers' trying to move this discipline...

Geographic Mobility and Social Inequality among Peruvian University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Ryan; Cuenca, Ricardo; Blanco Ramirez, Gerardo; Aragón, Jorge

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore geographic mobility among university students in Peru and to understand how mobility patterns differ by region and by demographic indicators of inequality. The ways that students may be able to move geographically in order to access quality higher education within the educational system can be a driver of…

47 CFR 64.1801 - Geographic rate averaging and rate integration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Geographic rate averaging and rate integration. 64.1801 Section 64.1801 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS RULES RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS Geographic Rate Averaging and...

Geographic variation in avian incubation periods and parental influences on embryonic temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Thomas E; Auer, Sonya K; Bassar, Ronald D; Niklison, Alina M; Lloyd, Penn

2007-11-01

Theory predicts shorter embryonic periods in species with greater embryo mortality risk and smaller body size. Field studies of 80 passerine species on three continents yielded data that largely conflicted with theory; incubation (embryonic) periods were longer rather than shorter in smaller species, and egg (embryo) mortality risk explained some variation within regions, but did not explain larger differences in incubation periods among geographic regions. Incubation behavior of parents seems to explain these discrepancies. Bird embryos are effectively ectothermic and depend on warmth provided by parents sitting on the eggs to attain proper temperatures for development. Parents of smaller species, plus tropical and southern hemisphere species, commonly exhibited lower nest attentiveness (percent of time spent on the nest incubating) than larger and northern hemisphere species. Lower nest attentiveness produced cooler minimum and average embryonic temperatures that were correlated with longer incubation periods independent of nest predation risk or body size. We experimentally tested this correlation by swapping eggs of species with cool incubation temperatures with eggs of species with warm incubation temperatures and similar egg mass. Incubation periods changed (shortened or lengthened) as expected and verified the importance of egg temperature on development rate. Slower development resulting from cooler temperatures may simply be a cost imposed on embryos by parents and may not enhance offspring quality. At the same time, incubation periods of transferred eggs did not match host species and reflect intrinsic differences among species that may result from nest predation and other selection pressures. Thus, geographic variation in embryonic development may reflect more complex interactions than previously recognized.

Quality of service management framework for dynamic chaining of geographic information services

Science.gov (United States)

Onchaga, Richard

2006-06-01

Dynamic chaining of geographic information services (geo-services) is gaining popularity as a new paradigm for evolving flexible geo-information systems and for providing on-demand access to geo-information. In dynamic chaining, disparate geo-services are discovered and composed at run time to yield more elaborate functionality and create value-added geo-information. Common approaches to service chaining discover and compose disparate geo-services based on the functional capability of individual geo-services. The primary concern of common approaches is thus the emergent behavior of the resulting composite geo-service. However, as geo-services become mundane and take on a greater and more strategic role in mission critical processes, deliverable quality of service (QoS) becomes an important concern. QoS concerns operational characteristics of a service that determine its utility in an application context. To address pertinent QoS requirements, a new approach to service chaining becomes necessary. In this paper we propose a QoS-aware chaining approach in which geo-services are discovered, composed and executed considering both functional and QoS requirements. We prescribe a QoS management framework that defines fundamental principles, concepts and mechanisms which can be applied to evolve an effective distributed computing platform for QoS-aware chaining of geo-services - the so-called geo-service infrastructure. The paper also defines an extensible QoS model for services delivered by dynamic compositions of geo-services. The process of orthophoto generation is used to demonstrate the applicability of the prescribed framework to service-oriented geographic information processing.

Geographic Variation in Medicare Spending Dashboard

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Geographic Variation Dashboards present Medicare fee-for-service per-capita spending at the state and county level in an interactive format. We calculated the...

Geographic Skills: A Case Study of Students in the United Arab Emirates

Science.gov (United States)

Alhosani, Naeema Mohamed Dawood; Yagoub, M. M.

2015-01-01

The worldwide technology boom has created an information revolution. Consequently, a large number of people who previously had limited access to geographic data can now use Internet-based geographic information for a number of diverse purposes. The average person has access to geographic information for tourism, shopping, business, and even route…

U Plant Geographic Zone Cleanup Prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romine, L.D.; Leary, K.D.; Lackey, M.B.; Robertson, J.R.

2006-01-01

The U Plant geographic zone (UPZ) occupies 0.83 square kilometers on the Hanford Site Central Plateau (200 Area). It encompasses the U Plant canyon (221-U Facility), ancillary facilities that supported the canyon, soil waste sites, and underground pipelines. The UPZ cleanup initiative coordinates the cleanup of the major facilities, ancillary facilities, waste sites, and contaminated pipelines (collectively identified as 'cleanup items') within the geographic zone. The UPZ was selected as a geographic cleanup zone prototype for resolving regulatory, technical, and stakeholder issues and demonstrating cleanup methods for several reasons: most of the area is inactive, sufficient characterization information is available to support decisions, cleanup of the high-risk waste sites will help protect the groundwater, and the zone contains a representative cross-section of the types of cleanup actions that will be required in other geographic zones. The UPZ cleanup demonstrates the first of 22 integrated zone cleanup actions on the Hanford Site Central Plateau to address threats to groundwater, the environment, and human health. The UPZ contains more than 100 individual cleanup items. Cleanup actions in the zone will be undertaken using multiple regulatory processes and decision documents. Cleanup actions will include building demolition, waste site and pipeline excavation, and the construction of multiple, large engineered barriers. In some cases, different cleanup actions may be taken at item locations that are immediately adjacent to each other. The cleanup planning and field activities for each cleanup item must be undertaken in a coordinated and cohesive manner to ensure effective execution of the UPZ cleanup initiative. The UPZ zone cleanup implementation plan (ZCIP) [1] was developed to address the need for a fundamental integration tool for UPZ cleanup. As UPZ cleanup planning and implementation moves forward, the ZCIP is intended to be a living document that will

Protection of Geographical Indication and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Chinese Food Product Resources

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

SUN Zhi-guo; WANG Shu-ting; XIONG Wan-zhen; HUANG Li-min

2012-01-01

The geographical Indications intellectual property and intangible cultural heritage are the general focus of attention of the world today. In the Chinese food product resources, there are 44 kinds of national geographical indication products, 41 national geographical indication trademarks, 9 kinds of national and 212 kinds of provincial-level intangible cultural heritage. This article introduces the geographical indication protection and geographical indication trademark registration of the Chinese food products, the protection of intangible cultural heritage of traditional craftsmanship; discusses the countermeasures for the protection of geographical indication intellectual property and intangible cultural heritage; finally puts forth several recommendations.

Spatiotemporal Pattern of PM2.5 Concentrations in Mainland China and Analysis of Its Influencing Factors using Geographically Weighted Regression

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Jieqiong; Du, Peijun; Samat, Alim; Xia, Junshi; Che, Meiqin; Xue, Zhaohui

2017-01-01

Based on annual average PM2.5 gridded dataset, this study first analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern of PM2.5 across Mainland China during 1998-2012. Then facilitated with meteorological site data, land cover data, population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, etc., the contributions of latent geographic factors, including socioeconomic factors (e.g., road, agriculture, population, industry) and natural geographical factors (e.g., topography, climate, vegetation) to PM2.5 were explored through Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model. The results revealed that PM2.5 concentrations increased while the spatial pattern remained stable, and the proportion of areas with PM2.5 concentrations greater than 35 μg/m3 significantly increased from 23.08% to 29.89%. Moreover, road, agriculture, population and vegetation showed the most significant impacts on PM2.5. Additionally, the Moran’s I for the residuals of GWR was 0.025 (not significant at a 0.01 level), indicating that the GWR model was properly specified. The local coefficient estimates of GDP in some cities were negative, suggesting the existence of the inverted-U shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for PM2.5 in Mainland China. The effects of each latent factor on PM2.5 in various regions were different. Therefore, regional measures and strategies for controlling PM2.5 should be formulated in terms of the local impacts of specific factors.

Restricted gene flow at the micro- and macro-geographical scale in marble trout based on mtDNA and microsatellite polymorphism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patarnello Tomaso

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The genetic structure of the marble trout Salmo trutta marmoratus, an endemic salmonid of northern Italy and the Balkan peninsula, was explored at the macro- and micro-scale level using a combination of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and microsatellite data. Results Sequence variation in the mitochondrial control region showed the presence of nonindigenous haplotypes indicative of introgression from brown trout into marble trout. This was confirmed using microsatellite markers, which showed a higher introgression at nuclear level. Microsatellite loci revealed a strong genetic differentiation across the geographical range of marble trout, which suggests restricted gene flow both at the micro-geographic (within rivers and macro-geographic (among river systems scale. A pattern of Isolation-by-Distance was found, in which genetic samples were correlated with hydrographic distances. A general West-to-East partition of the microsatellite polymorphism was observed, which was supported by the geographic distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes. Conclusion While introgression at both mitochondrial and nuclear level is unlikely to result from natural migration and might be the consequence of current restocking practices, the pattern of genetic substructuring found at microsatellites has been likely shaped by historical colonization patterns determined by the geological evolution of the hydrographic networks.

Importance of regional variation in conservation planning: A rangewide example of the Greater Sage-Grouse

Science.gov (United States)

Doherty, Kevin E.; Evans, Jeffrey S.; Coates, Peter S.; Juliusson, Lara; Fedy, Bradley C.

2016-01-01

We developed rangewide population and habitat models for Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) that account for regional variation in habitat selection and relative densities of birds for use in conservation planning and risk assessments. We developed a probabilistic model of occupied breeding habitat by statistically linking habitat characteristics within 4 miles of an occupied lek using a nonlinear machine learning technique (Random Forests). Habitat characteristics used were quantified in GIS and represent standard abiotic and biotic variables related to sage-grouse biology. Statistical model fit was high (mean correctly classified = 82.0%, range = 75.4–88.0%) as were cross-validation statistics (mean = 80.9%, range = 75.1–85.8%). We also developed a spatially explicit model to quantify the relative density of breeding birds across each Greater Sage-Grouse management zone. The models demonstrate distinct clustering of relative abundance of sage-grouse populations across all management zones. On average, approximately half of the breeding population is predicted to be within 10% of the occupied range. We also found that 80% of sage-grouse populations were contained in 25–34% of the occupied range within each management zone. Our rangewide population and habitat models account for regional variation in habitat selection and the relative densities of birds, and thus, they can serve as a consistent and common currency to assess how sage-grouse habitat and populations overlap with conservation actions or threats over the entire sage-grouse range. We also quantified differences in functional habitat responses and disturbance thresholds across the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) management zones using statistical relationships identified during habitat modeling. Even for a species as specialized as Greater Sage-Grouse, our results show that ecological context matters in both the strength of habitat selection (i

Geographic Analysis of the Radiation Oncology Workforce

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aneja, Sanjay [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States); Smith, Benjamin D. [University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Gross, Cary P. [Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States); Department of General Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Wilson, Lynn D. [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Haffty, Bruce G. [Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ (United States); Roberts, Kenneth [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Yu, James B., E-mail: james.b.yu@yale.edu [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States)

2012-04-01

Purpose: To evaluate trends in the geographic distribution of the radiation oncology (RO) workforce. Methods and Materials: We used the 1995 and 2007 versions of the Area Resource File to map the ratio of RO to the population aged 65 years or older (ROR) within different health service areas (HSA) within the United States. We used regression analysis to find associations between population variables and 2007 ROR. We calculated Gini coefficients for ROR to assess the evenness of RO distribution and compared that with primary care physicians and total physicians. Results: There was a 24% increase in the RO workforce from 1995 to 2007. The overall growth in the RO workforce was less than that of primary care or the overall physician workforce. The mean ROR among HSAs increased by more than one radiation oncologist per 100,000 people aged 65 years or older, from 5.08 per 100,000 to 6.16 per 100,000. However, there remained consistent geographic variability concerning RO distribution, specifically affecting the non-metropolitan HSAs. Regression analysis found higher ROR in HSAs that possessed higher education (p = 0.001), higher income (p < 0.001), lower unemployment rates (p < 0.001), and higher minority population (p = 0.022). Gini coefficients showed RO distribution less even than for both primary care physicians and total physicians (0.326 compared with 0.196 and 0.292, respectively). Conclusions: Despite a modest growth in the RO workforce, there exists persistent geographic maldistribution of radiation oncologists allocated along socioeconomic and racial lines. To solve problems surrounding the RO workforce, issues concerning both gross numbers and geographic distribution must be addressed.

Geographic Analysis of the Radiation Oncology Workforce

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aneja, Sanjay; Smith, Benjamin D.; Gross, Cary P.; Wilson, Lynn D.; Haffty, Bruce G.; Roberts, Kenneth; Yu, James B.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate trends in the geographic distribution of the radiation oncology (RO) workforce. Methods and Materials: We used the 1995 and 2007 versions of the Area Resource File to map the ratio of RO to the population aged 65 years or older (ROR) within different health service areas (HSA) within the United States. We used regression analysis to find associations between population variables and 2007 ROR. We calculated Gini coefficients for ROR to assess the evenness of RO distribution and compared that with primary care physicians and total physicians. Results: There was a 24% increase in the RO workforce from 1995 to 2007. The overall growth in the RO workforce was less than that of primary care or the overall physician workforce. The mean ROR among HSAs increased by more than one radiation oncologist per 100,000 people aged 65 years or older, from 5.08 per 100,000 to 6.16 per 100,000. However, there remained consistent geographic variability concerning RO distribution, specifically affecting the non-metropolitan HSAs. Regression analysis found higher ROR in HSAs that possessed higher education (p = 0.001), higher income (p < 0.001), lower unemployment rates (p < 0.001), and higher minority population (p = 0.022). Gini coefficients showed RO distribution less even than for both primary care physicians and total physicians (0.326 compared with 0.196 and 0.292, respectively). Conclusions: Despite a modest growth in the RO workforce, there exists persistent geographic maldistribution of radiation oncologists allocated along socioeconomic and racial lines. To solve problems surrounding the RO workforce, issues concerning both gross numbers and geographic distribution must be addressed.

A three-dimensional natural resource damage assessment and coupled geographical information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reed, M.; French, D.; Feng, S.S.; Knauss, W.

1991-01-01

In this paper a numerical model for natural resource damage assessments is discussed. The model addresses a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The transport equations for both pollutant and biota are solved with a three-dimensional Lagrangian particle methodology. The model can simulate continuous releases of a contaminant, with representation of complex coastal boundaries, variable bathymetry, multiple shoreline types, and spatially variable ecosystem habitats. A graphic interface gives the user complete and facile control of the dynamic transport and biological submodels, as ell as the ability to display elements of the underlying geographical information system (GIS) data base. The model is being implemented on a 386 PC

Linking seasonal home range size with habitat selection and movement in a mountain ungulate.

Science.gov (United States)

Viana, Duarte S; Granados, José Enrique; Fandos, Paulino; Pérez, Jesús M; Cano-Manuel, Francisco Javier; Burón, Daniel; Fandos, Guillermo; Aguado, María Ángeles Párraga; Figuerola, Jordi; Soriguer, Ramón C

2018-01-01

Space use by animals is determined by the interplay between movement and the environment, and is thus mediated by habitat selection, biotic interactions and intrinsic factors of moving individuals. These processes ultimately determine home range size, but their relative contributions and dynamic nature remain less explored. We investigated the role of habitat selection, movement unrelated to habitat selection and intrinsic factors related to sex in driving space use and home range size in Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica . We used GPS collars to track ibex across the year in two different geographical areas of Sierra Nevada, Spain, and measured habitat variables related to forage and roost availability. By using integrated step selection analysis (iSSA), we show that habitat selection was important to explain space use by ibex. As a consequence, movement was constrained by habitat selection, as observed displacement rate was shorter than expected under null selection. Selection-independent movement, selection strength and resource availability were important drivers of seasonal home range size. Both displacement rate and directional persistence had a positive relationship with home range size while accounting for habitat selection, suggesting that individual characteristics and state may also affect home range size. Ibex living at higher altitudes, where resource availability shows stronger altitudinal gradients across the year, had larger home ranges. Home range size was larger in spring and autumn, when ibex ascend and descend back, and smaller in summer and winter, when resources are more stable. Therefore, home range size decreased with resource availability. Finally, males had larger home ranges than females, which might be explained by differences in body size and reproductive behaviour. Movement, selection strength, resource availability and intrinsic factors related to sex determined home range size of Iberian ibex. Our results highlight the need to integrate

Different Factors of Llap as a Geographic Region

OpenAIRE

, F. Isufi; , S. Halimi; , F. Humolli

2011-01-01

In this work attempts were made to express in the best possible manner the factors which differentiate the Llap as geographic region. The Llap Region is located in the north-east of Kosovo. Within the ethnic geography, the Llap area is having peripheric position, but within the Balkan Penninsula it is having a central position, while along Llap goes the Highway which connects Kosovo and Serbia. The Llap region has important natural conditions; such as very good geographic position, running an...

Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY09 by Congressional District

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY08 by Congressional District

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

Geographic distribution of the tortoises and freshwater turtles of Colombia and their representation in the protected area network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forero Medina, German; Yusti Munoz, Ana Paola; Castano Mora, Olga V

2014-01-01

Colombia has a remarkable diversity of tortoises and freshwater turtles. However, a considerable portion of these species is threatened, and for others there is not enough information to make an adequate evaluation of their conservation status. This study is a first approximation to the quantitative evaluation of the geographic distribution of Colombia's non-marine chelonians. Based on records of occurrence for each species, we evaluated the geographic distribution using statistical models (maxent), hydrological basins, and the extent of occurrence and area of occupancy. Based on the presence data and the models, we studied the representation of each species in national natural parks (NNP), which correspond to the most rigorous conservation category of IUCN classification in Colombia, and other types of protected areas such as private reserves. We generated distribution models and estimated the area (km"2) for 25 out of 27 species in the country. This information will be valuable for updating and evaluating the threat categories at the national level. The areas with the highest species richness correspond to the riverine ecosystems of the Amazon and Orinoco River Basins and the Caribbean Region, particularly the Western Caribbean. This region is a top priority not only because of its richness but also because of the presence of endemics and its high level of threat. Only 56 % of the species have confirmed records within national parks. A greater portion could be present in these areas according to the statistical models, but only ten of those species would have more than 10 % of their ranges within a park's boundary. Although the resulting models have certain limitations due to the nature of the data and analyses, they can be a starting point for research on the occurrence of turtles in NNP. Endemic species are poorly represented in protected areas, both in NNP and in other categories. Thus, protected areas that can assure the persistence of their populations are

Teaching Introductory GIS Programming to Geographers Using an Open Source Python Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Etherington, Thomas R.

2016-01-01

Computer programming is not commonly taught to geographers as a part of geographic information system (GIS) courses, but the advent of NeoGeography, big data and open GIS means that programming skills are becoming more important. To encourage the teaching of programming to geographers, this paper outlines a course based around a series of…

αA crystallin may protect against geographic atrophy-meta-analysis of cataract vs. cataract surgery for geographic atrophy and experimental studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Zhou

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Cataract and geographic atrophy (GA, also called advanced "dry" age-related macular degeneration are the two major causes of visual impairment in the developed world. The association between cataract surgery and the development of GA was controversial in previous studies. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed a meta-analysis by pooling the current evidence in literature and found that cataract is associated with an increased risk of geographic atrophy with a summary odds ratio (OR of 3.75 (95% CI: 95% CI: 1.84-7.62. However, cataract surgery is not associated with the risk of geographic atrophy (polled OR=3.23, 95% CI: 0.63-16.47. Further experiments were performed to analyze how the αA-crystallin, the major component of the lens, influences the development of GA in a mouse model. We found that theαA-crystallin mRNA and protein expression increased after oxidative stress induced by NaIO(3 in immunohistochemistry of retinal section and western blot of posterior eyecups. Both functional and histopathological evidence confirmed that GA is more severe in αA-crystallin knockout mice compared to wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, αA-crystallin may protect against geographic atrophy. This study provides a better understanding of the relationship between cataract, cataract surgery, and GA.

Effects of grown origin, genotype, harvest year, and their interactions of wheat kernels on near infrared spectral fingerprints for geographical traceability.

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Zhao, Haiyan; Guo, Boli; Wei, Yimin; Zhang, Bo

2014-01-01

The effects of origin, genotype, harvest year, and their interactions on wheat near infrared (NIR) spectra were studied to find the reasons for differences in NIR fingerprints of wheat from different geographical origins and the stability of NIR fingerprints among different years. Ten varieties were grown in three regions of China for 2 years. 180 kernel samples were analysed by NIR. The spectra after pre-treatment were analysed by principal component analysis, multi-way analysis of variance, and discriminant partial least-squares. The results showed that origin, genotype, year, and their interactions all had significant effects on wheat NIR fingerprints. The second overtones of N-H and C-H stretching vibrations and a combination of stretch and deformation of C-H group in wheat were mainly influenced by the geographical origin. The wavelength ranges 975-990 nm, 1200 nm, and 1355-1380 nm contained plenty of origin information to build robust discriminant models of wheat geographical origin. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tanzanian food origins and protected geographical indications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

John, Innocensia Festo; Egelyng, Henrik; Lokina, Azack

2016-01-01

As the world's population is constantly growing, food security will remain on the policy Agenda, particularly in Africa. At the same time, global food systems experience a new wave focusing on local foods and food sovereignty featuring high quality food products of verifiable geographical origin...... of food origin products in Tanzania that have potential for GI certification. The hypothesis was that there are origin products in Tanzania whose unique characteristics are linked to the area of production. Geographical indications can be useful policy instruments contributing to food security...... the diversity of supply of natural and unique quality products and so contribute to enhanced food security....

Locomotor performance of cane toads differs between native-range and invasive populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kosmala, Georgia; Christian, Keith; Brown, Gregory; Shine, Richard

2017-07-01

Invasive species provide a robust opportunity to evaluate how animals deal with novel environmental challenges. Shifts in locomotor performance-and thus the ability to disperse-(and especially, the degree to which it is constrained by thermal and hydric extremes) are of special importance, because they might affect the rate that an invader can spread. We studied cane toads ( Rhinella marina ) across a broad geographical range: two populations within the species' native range in Brazil, two invasive populations on the island of Hawai'i and eight invasive populations encompassing the eastern, western and southern limits of the toad invasion in Australia. A toad's locomotor performance on a circular raceway was strongly affected by both its temperature and its hydration state, but the nature and magnitude of those constraints differed across populations. In their native range, cane toads exhibited relatively low performance (even under optimal test conditions) and a rapid decrease in performance at lower temperatures and hydration levels. At the other extreme, performance was high in toads from southern Australia, and virtually unaffected by desiccation. Hawai'ian toads broadly resembled their Brazilian conspecifics, plausibly reflecting similar climatic conditions. The invasion of Australia has been accompanied by a dramatic enhancement in the toads' locomotor abilities, and (in some populations) by an ability to maintain locomotor performance even when the animal is cold and/or dehydrated. The geographical divergences in performance among cane toad populations graphically attest to the adaptability of invasive species in the face of novel abiotic challenges.

Place Branding – Geographical Approach. Case Study: Waterloo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius-Cristian Neacşu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study represents an exploratory analysis of the evolution of the place branding concept, with an important focus on the geographical perspective. How has this notion, a newcomer into the geographers' analysis, changed over time and what role does it have in the decision making process of intervening into the way a certain place is organised or as an instrument of economic revival and territorial development? At least from the perspective of Romanian geographical literature, the originality and novelty of this study is obvious. An element of the originality of this research is the attempt of redefining the concept of place branding so that it is more meaningful from the perspective of spatial analyses. The reason for which Waterloo was chosen as a case study is multi-dimensional: the case studies so far have mainly focused on large cities (urban branding instead of place branding and this site has all the theoretical elements to create a stand-alone brand.

Principles of logic and the use of digital geographic information systems

Science.gov (United States)

Robinove, Charles Joseph

1986-01-01

Digital geographic information systems allow many different types of data to be spatially and statistically analyzed. Logical operations can be performed on individual or multiple data planes by algorithms that can be implemented in computer systems. Users and creators of the systems should fully understand these operations. This paper describes the relationships of layers and features in geographic data bases and the principles of logic that can be applied by geographic information systems and suggests that a thorough knowledge of the data that are entered into a geographic data base and of the logical operations will produce results that are most satisfactory to the user. Methods of spatial analysis are reduced to their primitive logical operations and explained to further such understanding.

Geographical Information System Model for Potential Mines Data Management Presentation in Kabupaten Gorontalo

Science.gov (United States)

Roviana, D.; Tajuddin, A.; Edi, S.

2017-03-01

Mining potential in Indonesian is very abundant, ranging from Sabang to Marauke. Kabupaten Gorontalo is one of many places in Indonesia that have different types of minerals and natural resources that can be found in every district. The abundant of mining potential must be balanced with good management and ease of getting information by investors. The current issue is, (1) ways of presenting data/information about potential mines area is still manually (the maps that already capture from satellite image, then printed and attached to information board in the office) it caused the difficulties of getting information; (2) the high cost of maps printing; (3) the difficulties of regency leader (bupati) to obtain information for strategic decision making about mining potential. The goal of this research is to build a model of Geographical Information System that could provide data management of potential mines, so that the investors could easily get information according to their needs. To achieve that goal Research and Development method is used. The result of this research, is a model of Geographical Information System that implemented in an application to presenting data management of mines.

Design and Establishment of Quality Model of Fundamental Geographic Information Database

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, W.; Zhang, J.; Zhao, Y.; Zhang, P.; Dang, Y.; Zhao, T.

2018-04-01

In order to make the quality evaluation for the Fundamental Geographic Information Databases(FGIDB) more comprehensive, objective and accurate, this paper studies and establishes a quality model of FGIDB, which formed by the standardization of database construction and quality control, the conformity of data set quality and the functionality of database management system, and also designs the overall principles, contents and methods of the quality evaluation for FGIDB, providing the basis and reference for carry out quality control and quality evaluation for FGIDB. This paper designs the quality elements, evaluation items and properties of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database gradually based on the quality model framework. Connected organically, these quality elements and evaluation items constitute the quality model of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database. This model is the foundation for the quality demand stipulation and quality evaluation of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database, and is of great significance on the quality assurance in the design and development stage, the demand formulation in the testing evaluation stage, and the standard system construction for quality evaluation technology of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database.

China's Mission in Surveying, Mapping and Geographic Information during Global Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, D.; Xue, C.; Chen, X.

2018-04-01

In the new era, it is proposed that China should be transformed from a participant and a cooperator into a designer, an impeller and a leader, continue taking an effect of responsible great power, increase public product supply, perfect a global governance system and contribute to China's wisdom and China's schemes during global governance, thus surveying and mapping geographic information takes on great mission. On the one hand, we have to timely grasp global geographic information data resources to provide an important scientific data support for China's wisdom and China's schemes. On the other hand, we have to provide surveying and mapping geographic information infrastructure construction and public products for developing countries, support location services within a global territorial scope, and realize the smoothness of talent flow, material flow and information flow between China and countries in the world. Meanwhile, external assistance and international communication and cooperation of surveying and mapping geographic information are also enhanced, and popularization and application of a geographic information technology in underdeveloped countries and regions are promoted.

[Current progress in food geographical origin traceability by near infrared spectroscopy technology].

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Dong-Hong; Wang, Xi-Chang; Liu, Li-Ping; Liu, Yuan

2011-04-01

The geographical origin traceability of food, an important part of traceability system, is effective in protecting the quality and safety of foodstuffs. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR), which is a powerful technique for geographical origin traceability, has attracted extensive attention by scientists due to its speediness, non-pollution and simple operation. This paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of techniques that have been used for food geographical origin traceability. The basic principles of NIR and its applications in different food geographical origin traceability are presented too. Furthermore, problems in applications are analyzed and the future development trends are discussed.

Angiostrongylus spp. in the Americas: geographical and chronological distribution of definitive hosts versus disease reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Valente, Romina; Robles, Maria Del Rosario; Navone, Graciela T; Diaz, Julia I

2018-03-01

Angiostrongyliasis is an infection caused by nematode worms of the genus Angiostrongylus. The adult worms inhabit the pulmonary arteries, heart, bronchioles of the lung, or mesenteric arteries of the caecum of definitive host. Of a total of 23 species of Angiostrongylus cited worldwide, only nine were registered in the American Continent. Two species, A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis, are considered zoonoses when the larvae accidentally parasitise man. In the present study, geographical and chronological distribution of definitive hosts of Angiostrongylus in the Americas is analysed in order to observe their relationship with disease reports. Moreover, the role of different definitive hosts as sentinels and dispersers of infective stages is discussed. The study area includes the Americas. First records of Angiostrongylus spp. in definitive or accidental hosts were compiled from the literature. Data were included in tables and figures and were matched to geographic information systems (GIS). Most geographical records of Angiostrongylus spp. both for definitive and accidental hosts belong to tropical areas, mainly equatorial zone. In relation to those species of human health importance, as A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis, most disease cases indicate a coincidence between the finding of definitive host and disease record. However, in some geographic site there are gaps between report of definitive host and disease record. In many areas, human populations have invaded natural environments and their socioeconomic conditions do not allow adequate medical care. Consequently, many cases for angiostrongyliasis could have gone unreported or unrecognised throughout history and in the nowadays. Moreover, the population expansion and the climatic changes invite to make broader and more complete range of observation on the species that involve possible epidemiological risks. This paper integrates and shows the current distribution of Angiostrongylus species in America

Angiostrongylus spp. in the Americas: geographical and chronological distribution of definitive hosts versus disease reports

Science.gov (United States)

Valente, Romina; Robles, Maria del Rosario; Navone, Graciela T; Diaz, Julia I

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND Angiostrongyliasis is an infection caused by nematode worms of the genus Angiostrongylus. The adult worms inhabit the pulmonary arteries, heart, bronchioles of the lung, or mesenteric arteries of the caecum of definitive host. Of a total of 23 species of Angiostrongylus cited worldwide, only nine were registered in the American Continent. Two species, A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis, are considered zoonoses when the larvae accidentally parasitise man. OBJECTIVES In the present study, geographical and chronological distribution of definitive hosts of Angiostrongylus in the Americas is analysed in order to observe their relationship with disease reports. Moreover, the role of different definitive hosts as sentinels and dispersers of infective stages is discussed. METHODS The study area includes the Americas. First records of Angiostrongylus spp. in definitive or accidental hosts were compiled from the literature. Data were included in tables and figures and were matched to geographic information systems (GIS). FINDINGS Most geographical records of Angiostrongylus spp. both for definitive and accidental hosts belong to tropical areas, mainly equatorial zone. In relation to those species of human health importance, as A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis, most disease cases indicate a coincidence between the finding of definitive host and disease record. However, in some geographic site there are gaps between report of definitive host and disease record. In many areas, human populations have invaded natural environments and their socioeconomic conditions do not allow adequate medical care. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Consequently, many cases for angiostrongyliasis could have gone unreported or unrecognised throughout history and in the nowadays. Moreover, the population expansion and the climatic changes invite to make broader and more complete range of observation on the species that involve possible epidemiological risks. This paper integrates and shows the

A review of geographic variation and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in prescription drug use research.

Science.gov (United States)

Wangia, Victoria; Shireman, Theresa I

2013-01-01

While understanding geography's role in healthcare has been an area of research for over 40 years, the application of geography-based analyses to prescription medication use is limited. The body of literature was reviewed to assess the current state of such studies to demonstrate the scale and scope of projects in order to highlight potential research opportunities. To review systematically how researchers have applied geography-based analyses to medication use data. Empiric, English language research articles were identified through PubMed and bibliographies. Original research articles were independently reviewed as to the medications or classes studied, data sources, measures of medication exposure, geographic units of analysis, geospatial measures, and statistical approaches. From 145 publications matching key search terms, forty publications met the inclusion criteria. Cardiovascular and psychotropic classes accounted for the largest proportion of studies. Prescription drug claims were the primary source, and medication exposure was frequently captured as period prevalence. Medication exposure was documented across a variety of geopolitical units such as countries, provinces, regions, states, and postal codes. Most results were descriptive and formal statistical modeling capitalizing on geospatial techniques was rare. Despite the extensive research on small area variation analysis in healthcare, there are a limited number of studies that have examined geographic variation in medication use. Clearly, there is opportunity to collaborate with geographers and GIS professionals to harness the power of GIS technologies and to strengthen future medication studies by applying more robust geospatial statistical methods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Issues Surrounding the Use of Virtual Reality in Geographic Education

Science.gov (United States)

Lisichenko, Richard

2015-01-01

As with all classroom innovations intended to improve geographic education, the adoption of virtual reality (VR) poses issues for consideration prior to endorsing its use. Of these, effectiveness, implementation, and safe use need to be addressed. Traditionally, sense of place, geographic knowledge, and firsthand experiences provided by field…

Geographic Education--Where Have We Failed?

Science.gov (United States)

Gritzner, Charles F.

1981-01-01

Discusses geography's rather low status and relatively poor public image in the United States and some of the consequences. Among the world's educated industrial nations, the United States ranks among the least literate in a geographical sense. (RM)

Geographic profiling and animal foraging.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Comber, Steven C; Nicholls, Barry; Rossmo, D Kim; Racey, Paul A

2006-05-21

Geographic profiling was originally developed as a statistical tool for use in criminal cases, particularly those involving serial killers and rapists. It is designed to help police forces prioritize lists of suspects by using the location of crime scenes to identify the areas in which the criminal is most likely to live. Two important concepts are the buffer zone (criminals are less likely to commit crimes in the immediate vicinity of their home) and distance decay (criminals commit fewer crimes as the distance from their home increases). In this study, we show how the techniques of geographic profiling may be applied to animal data, using as an example foraging patterns in two sympatric colonies of pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus, in the northeast of Scotland. We show that if model variables are fitted to known roost locations, these variables may be used as numerical descriptors of foraging patterns. We go on to show that these variables can be used to differentiate patterns of foraging in these two species.

Long range implantation by MEVVA metal ion source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Tonghe; Wu Yuguang; Ma Furong; Liang Hong

2001-01-01

Metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) source ion implantation is a new technology used for achieving long range ion implantation. It is very important for research and application of the ion beam modification of materials. The results show that the implanted atom diffusion coefficient increases in Mo implanted Al with high ion flux and high dose. The implanted depth is 311.6 times greater than that of the corresponding ion range. The ion species, doses and ion fluxes play an important part in the long-range implantation. Especially, thermal atom chemistry have specific effect on the long-range implantation during high ion flux implantation at transient high target temperature

Geographic range and morphological and chromosomal variability of Carex molestiformis (Cyperaceae) east of the Mississippi River

Science.gov (United States)

Carex molestiformis (frightful sedge), described in 1997 as an endemic to the Ozark and Ouachita Mountain regions, is newly collected from Georgia, Mississippi, and Ohio. Herbarium records have also confirmed this species from North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia bringing the overall range of...

Geographical information systems and computer cartography

CERN Document Server

Jones, Chris B

2014-01-01

A concise text presenting the fundamental concepts in Geographical Information Systems (GIS), emphasising an understanding of techniques in management, analysis and graphic display of spatial information. Divided into five parts - the first part reviews the development and application of GIS, followed by a summary of the characteristics and representation of geographical information. It concludes with an overview of the functions provided by typical GIS systems. Part Two introduces co-ordinate systems and map projections, describes methods for digitising map data and gives an overview of remote sensing. Part Three deals with data storage and database management, as well as specialised techniques for accessing spatial data. Spatial modelling and analytical techniques for decision making form the subject of Part Four, while the final part is concerned with graphical representation, emphasising issues of graphics technology, cartographic design and map generalisation.

Native-range habitats of invasive plants: are they similar to invaded-range habitats and do they differ according to the geographical direction of invasion?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hejda, Martin; Chytrý, M.; Pergl, Jan; Pyšek, Petr

2015-01-01

Roč. 21, č. 3 (2015), s. 312-321 ISSN 1366-9516 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP505/11/1112 Institutional support: RVO:67985939 Keywords : biological invasions * direction of invasions * native-range habitats Subject RIV: EF - Botanics Impact factor: 4.566, year: 2015

Range contraction and increasing isolation of a polar bear subpopulation in an era of sea-ice loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Laidre, Kristin L; Born, Erik W; Atkinson, Stephen N; Wiig, Øystein; Andersen, Liselotte W; Lunn, Nicholas J; Dyck, Markus; Regehr, Eric V; McGovern, Richard; Heagerty, Patrick

2018-02-01

Climate change is expected to result in range shifts and habitat fragmentation for many species. In the Arctic, loss of sea ice will reduce barriers to dispersal or eliminate movement corridors, resulting in increased connectivity or geographic isolation with sweeping implications for conservation. We used satellite telemetry, data from individually marked animals (research and harvest), and microsatellite genetic data to examine changes in geographic range, emigration, and interpopulation connectivity of the Baffin Bay (BB) polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) subpopulation over a 25-year period of sea-ice loss. Satellite telemetry collected from n  = 43 (1991-1995) and 38 (2009-2015) adult females revealed a significant contraction in subpopulation range size (95% bivariate normal kernel range) in most months and seasons, with the most marked reduction being a 70% decline in summer from 716,000 km 2 (SE 58,000) to 211,000 km 2 (SE 23,000) ( p  Bears in the 2000s were less likely to leave BB, with significant reductions in the numbers of bears moving into Davis Strait (DS) in winter and Lancaster Sound (LS) in summer. Harvest recoveries suggested both short and long-term fidelity to BB remained high over both periods (83-99% of marked bears remained in BB). Genetic analyses using eight polymorphic microsatellites confirmed a previously documented differentiation between BB, DS, and LS; yet weakly differentiated BB from Kane Basin (KB) for the first time. Our results provide the first multiple lines of evidence for an increasingly geographically and functionally isolated subpopulation of polar bears in the context of long-term sea-ice loss. This may be indicative of future patterns for other polar bear subpopulations under climate change.

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) - USGS National Map Downloadable Data Collection

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Current distribution of Pilularia globulifera L. in Poland – changes of geographical range and habitat preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Szczęśniak

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Pilularia globulifera is a subatlantic European fern threatened with extinction. In Poland, it reaches the eastern border of its continuous range. Up to the end of the 20th century, it was observed here in 21 stands; only 2 of them existed by the second half of the century, so the species was categorized as critically endangered. Five new locations have been found in western and northwestern Poland during the last 10 years. Abundant and permanent populations grow in 3 locations, while 2 stands were ephemeral. All the current stands are situated in anthropogenic habitats with spontaneous vegetation, in oligotrophic to eutrophic waters. One of the new localities is about 280 km distant from the eastern range of the limit known previously. Pilularia forms its own plant community Pilularietum globuliferae, enters plots of Ranunculo-Juncetum bulbosi and occurs in mesotrophic to eutrophic rushes of Eleocharis palustris, Phragmites australis, Typha angustifolia and Equisetum fluviatile. Specimens are vigorous and regularly produce sporocarps.

Non-professional user`s understanding of Geographic Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arleth, Mette

2003-01-01

of digital media, including online access to a variety of GI-based services; maps, online Geographic information systems, interactive 3D models etc. However, can we expect that a citizen, who has no relevant professional basis for understanding the concept geographic information, be able to use GI......-based online services and comprehend the information contents? Using the Gi-based online services qualitatively in the participatory process obviously requires knowledge of the non-professional user`s understanding and use of GI. This paper discusses the needs for research into this field as well as relevant...

Combining Land Capability Evaluation, Geographic Information ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Combining Land Capability Evaluation, Geographic Information Systems, AnD Indigenous Technologies for Soil Conservation in Northern Ethiopia. ... Land capability and land use status were established following the procedures of a modified treatment-oriented capability classification using GIS. The case study ...

Predictable variation of range-sizes across an extreme environmental gradient in a lizard adaptive radiation: evolutionary and ecological inferences.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Pincheira-Donoso

Full Text Available Large-scale patterns of current species geographic range-size variation reflect historical dynamics of dispersal and provide insights into future consequences under changing environments. Evidence suggests that climate warming exerts major damage on high latitude and elevation organisms, where changes are more severe and available space to disperse tracking historical niches is more limited. Species with longer generations (slower adaptive responses, such as vertebrates, and with restricted distributions (lower genetic diversity, higher inbreeding in these environments are expected to be particularly threatened by warming crises. However, a well-known macroecological generalization (Rapoport's rule predicts that species range-sizes increase with increasing latitude-elevation, thus counterbalancing the impact of climate change. Here, I investigate geographic range-size variation across an extreme environmental gradient and as a function of body size, in the prominent Liolaemus lizard adaptive radiation. Conventional and phylogenetic analyses revealed that latitudinal (but not elevational ranges significantly decrease with increasing latitude-elevation, while body size was unrelated to range-size. Evolutionarily, these results are insightful as they suggest a link between spatial environmental gradients and range-size evolution. However, ecologically, these results suggest that Liolaemus might be increasingly threatened if, as predicted by theory, ranges retract and contract continuously under persisting climate warming, potentially increasing extinction risks at high latitudes and elevations.

Identification of geographical origin of sesame seeds by near infrared spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Y.K.; Cho, R.K.

1998-01-01

Geographical origin of the Korean, Chinese and Japanese sesame seeds were identified very high accuracy by NIR spectroscopy. The NIR instrument of filter type showed the same accuracy of the monochromator scanning type to identify the geographical origin of the sesame seeds. in case of adulteration between the Korean and Chinese sesame seeds, the ratio of addition could be determined about 10% error level. The reason of identification of geographical origin by NIR spectroscopy, it was supposed to the difference of oil cake substance

Geographical assemblages of European raptors and owls

Science.gov (United States)

López-López, Pascual; Benavent-Corai, José; García-Ripollés, Clara

2008-09-01

In this work we look for geographical structure patterns in European raptors (Order: Falconiformes) and owls (Order: Strigiformes). For this purpose we have conducted our research using freely available tools such as statistical software and databases. To perform the study, presence-absence data for the European raptors and owl species (Class Aves) were downloaded from the BirdLife International website. Using the freely available "pvclust" R-package, we applied similarity Jaccard index and cluster analysis in order to delineate biogeographical relationships for European countries. According to the cluster of similarity, we found that Europe is structured into two main geographical assemblages. The larger length branch separated two main groups: one containing Iceland, Greenland and the countries of central, northern and northwestern Europe, and the other group including the countries of eastern, southern and southwestern Europe. Both groups are divided into two main subgroups. According to our results, the European raptors and owls could be considered structured into four meta-communities well delimited by suture zones defined by Remington (1968) [Remington, C.L., 1968. Suture-zones of hybrid interaction between recently joined biotas. Evol. Biol. 2, 321-428]. Climatic oscillations during the Quaternary Ice Ages could explain at least in part the modern geographical distribution of the group.

Relationship between welfare and individual ranging behaviour in commercial free-range laying hens.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsen, H; Hemsworth, P H; Cronin, G M; Gebhardt-Henrich, S G; Smith, C L; Rault, J-L

2018-01-24

Laying hens housed in free-range systems have access to an outdoor range, and individual hens within a flock differ in their ranging behaviour. Whether there is a link between ranging and laying hen welfare remains unclear. We analysed the relationships between ranging by individual hens on a commercial free-range layer farm and behavioural, physiological and health measures of animal welfare. We hypothesised that hens that access the range more will be (1) less fearful in general and in response to novelty and humans, (2) have better health in terms of physical body condition and (3) have a reduced physiological stress response to behavioural tests of fear and health assessments than hens that use the range less. Using radio frequency identification tracking across two flocks, we recorded individual hens' frequency, duration and consistency of ranging. We also assessed how far hens ventured into the range based on three zones: 0 to 2.4, 2.4 to 11.4 or >11.4 m from the shed. We assessed hen welfare using a variety of measures including: tonic immobility, open field, novel object, human approach, and human avoidance (HAV) behavioural tests; stress-induced plasma corticosterone response and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites; live weight, comb colour, and beak, plumage, footpad, and keel bone condition. Range use was positively correlated with plasma corticosterone response, faecal glucocorticoid metabolites, and greater flight distance during HAV. Hens that used the range more, moved towards rather than away from the novel object more often than hens that ranged less. Distance ranged from the shed was significantly associated with comb colour and beak condition, in that hens with darker combs and more intact beaks ranged further. Overall the findings suggest that there is no strong link between outdoor range usage and laying hen welfare. Alternatively, it may be that hens that differed in their ranging behaviour showed few differences in measures of welfare because

International Voluntary Health Networks (IVHNs). A social-geographical framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Benet; Laurie, Nina; Smith, Matt Baillie

2018-03-01

Trans-national medicine, historically associated with colonial politics, is now central to discourses of global health and development, thrust into mainstream media by catastrophic events (earthquakes, disease epidemics), and enshrined in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Volunteer human-resource is an important contributor to international health-development work. International Voluntary Health Networks (IVHNs, that connect richer and poorer countries through healthcare) are situated at a meeting-point between geographies and sociologies of health. More fully developed social-geographic understandings will illuminate this area, currently dominated by instrumental health-professional perspectives. The challenge we address is to produce a geographically and sociologically-robust conceptual framework that appropriately recognises IVHNs' potentials for valuable impacts, while also unlocking spaces of constructive critique. We examine the importance of the social in health geography, and geographical potentials in health sociology (focusing on professional knowledge construction, inequality and capital, and power), to highlight the mutual interests of these two fields in relation to IVHNs. We propose some socio-geographical theories of IVHNs that do not naturalise inequality, that understand health as a form of capital, prioritise explorations of power and ethical practice, and acknowledge the more-than-human properties of place. This sets an agenda for theoretically-supported empirical work on IVHNs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[New findings on the geographic distribution of the verrucarum group (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Colombia].

Science.gov (United States)

Bejarano, Eduar Elías; Sierra, Diana; Vélez, Iván Darío

2003-09-01

The incrimination of sand flies belonging to verrucarum species group in the leishmaniasis transmission underscores the need for a detailed information on the geographical distribution of these species. The current listing adds 34 new records that extend significantly the knowledge of the geographical distribution of the verrucarum group in Colombia. The most important new records pertain to Lutzomyia spinicrassa in the tropical dry forest of the Atlantic coast, Lutzomyia ovallesi in the Orinoco and Amazon River watersheds regions of Colombia, and the sympatric occurrence of Lutzomyia spinicrassa and Lutzomyia quasitownsendi in the eastern chain of the Andes mountains. Additionally, the municipal and altitudinal distributions are compiled for 19 new species recorded for Colombia. The series townsendi of the verrucarum group generally restricted to premontane and lower montane zones based on distribution data on Lutzomyia longiflocosa, L. quasitownsendi, Lutzomyia sauroida, L. spinicrassa, Lutzomyia torvida, Lutzomyia townsendi and Lutzomyia youngi. The series verrucarum is distributed from the tropical lowland to the montane zones, and includes species with wide geographical range (Lutzomyia evansi, Lutzomyia columbiana, L. ovallesi, Lutzomyia nuneztovari, Lutzomyia nevesi), and species of highly endemic distribution (Lutzomyia andina, Lutzomyia disiuncta, Lutzomyia moralesi, Lutzomyia antioquiensis). Members of the series pia (Lutzomyia pia, Lutzomyia limafalcaoae) and the series serrana (Lutzomyia serrana) occur from the tropical lowlands to the lower montane zones. The altitudinal divergences may be intrinsically tied to speciation process, especially as it relates to the climatic and geologic events that have affected the flora and fauna of the Andean region.

Potential distribution of the endangered endemic lizard Liolaemus lutzae Mertens, 1938 (Liolaemidae: are there other suitable areas for a geographically restricted species?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GR. Winck

Full Text Available In this study we attempted to access further information on the geographical distribution of the endangered lizard Liolaemus lutzae, estimating its potential distribution through the maximum entropy algorithm. For this purpose, we related its points of occurrence with matrices of environmental variables. After examining the correlation between environmental matrices, we selected 10 for model construction. The main variables influencing the current geographic distribution of L. lutzae were the diurnal temperature range and altitude. The species endemism seemed to be a consequence of a reduction of the original distribution area. Alternatively, the resulting model may reflect the geographic distribution of an ancestral lineage, since the model selected areas of occurrence of the two other species of Liolaemus from Brazil (L. arambarensis and L. occipitalis, all living in sand dune habitats and having psamophilic habits. Due to the high loss rate of habitat occupied by the species, the conservation and recovery of the remaining areas affected by human actions is essential.

Effects of range-wide variation in climate and isolation on floral traits and reproductive output of Clarkia pulchella.

Science.gov (United States)

Bontrager, Megan; Angert, Amy L

2016-01-01

Plant mating systems and geographic range limits are conceptually linked by shared underlying drivers, including landscape-level heterogeneity in climate and in species' abundance. Studies of how geography and climate interact to affect plant traits that influence mating system and population dynamics can lend insight to ecological and evolutionary processes shaping ranges. Here, we examined how spatiotemporal variation in climate affects reproductive output of a mixed-mating annual, Clarkia pulchella. We also tested the effects of population isolation and climate on mating-system-related floral traits across the range. We measured reproductive output and floral traits on herbarium specimens collected across the range of C. pulchella. We extracted climate data associated with specimens and derived a population isolation metric from a species distribution model. We then examined how predictors of reproductive output and floral traits vary among populations of increasing distance from the range center. Finally, we tested whether reproductive output and floral traits vary with increasing distance from the center of the range. Reproductive output decreased as summer precipitation decreased, and low precipitation may contribute to limiting the southern and western range edges of C. pulchella. High spring and summer temperatures are correlated with low herkogamy, but these climatic factors show contrasting spatial patterns in different quadrants of the range. Limiting factors differ among different parts of the range. Due to the partial decoupling of geography and environment, examining relationships between climate, reproductive output, and mating-system-related floral traits reveals spatial patterns that might be missed when focusing solely on geographic position. © 2016 Botanical Society of America.

A Geographic Method for High Resolution Spatial Heat Planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Steffen

2014-01-01

more detailed modelling that takes the geographic placement of buildings and the differences among DH systems into account. In the present article, a method for assessing the costs of DH expansions has been developed. The method was applied in a geographic information system (GIS) model that consists...... are considering distribution costs based on the geographic properties of each area and assessing transmission costs based on an iterative process that examines expansion potentials gradually. The GIS model is only applicable to a Danish context, but the method itself can be applied to other countries....... of three parts and assesses the costs of heat production, distribution, and transmission. The model was also applied to an actual case in order to show how it can be used. The model shows many improvements in the method for the assessment of distribution costs and transmission costs. Most notable...

Relationship between Air Pollution and Weather Conditions under Complicated Geographical conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Q.; Jiang, P.; Li, M.

2017-12-01

Air pollution is one of the most serious issues all over the world, especially in megacities with constrained geographical conditions for air pollution diffusion. However, the dynamic mechanism of air pollution diffusion under complicated geographical conditions is still be confused. Researches to explore relationship between air pollution and weather conditions from the perspective of local atmospheric circulations can contribute more to solve such problem. We selected three megacities (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) under different geographical condition (mountain-plain transition region, coastal alluvial plain and coastal hilly terrain) to explore the relationship between air pollution and weather conditions. RDA (Redundancy analysis) model was used to analyze how the local atmospheric circulation acts on the air pollutant diffusion. The results show that there was a positive correlation between the concentration of air pollutants and air pressure, while temperature, precipitation and wind speed have negative correlations with the concentration of air pollutants. Furthermore, geographical conditions, such as topographic relief, have significant effects on the direction, path and intensity of local atmospheric circulation. As a consequence, air pollutants diffusion modes in different cities under various geographical conditions are diverse from each other.

Geographic pathology of Helicobacter pylori gastritis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liu, Yi; Ponsioen, Cyriel I. J.; Xiao, Shu-Dong; Tytgat, Guido N. J.; ten Kate, Fiebo J. W.

2005-01-01

Background and aim. Helicobacter pylori is etiologically associated with gastritis and gastric cancer. There are significant geographical differences between the clinical manifestation of H. pylori infections. The aim of this study was to compare gastric mucosal histology in relation to age among H.

Geographic variation in avian incubation periods and parental influences on embryonic temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, T.E.; Auer, S.K.; Bassar, R.D.; Niklison, Alina M.; Lloyd, P.

2007-01-01

Theory predicts shorter embryonic periods in species with greater embryo mortality risk and smaller body size. Field studies of 80 passerine species on three continents yielded data that largely conflicted with theory; incubation (embryonic) periods were longer rather than shorter in smaller species, and egg (embryo) mortality risk explained some variation within regions, but did not explain larger differences in incubation periods among geographic regions. Incubation behavior of parents seems to explain these discrepancies. Bird embryos are effectively ectothermic and depend on warmth provided by parents sitting on the eggs to attain proper temperatures for development. Parents of smaller species, plus tropical and southern hemisphere species, commonly exhibited lower nest attentiveness (percent of time spent on the nest incubating) than larger and northern hemisphere species. Lower nest attentiveness produced cooler minimum and average embryonic temperatures that were correlated with longer incubation periods independent of nest predation risk or body size. We experimentally tested this correlation by swapping eggs of species with cool incubation temperatures with eggs of species with warm incubation temperatures and similar egg mass. Incubation periods changed (shortened or lengthened) as expected and verified the importance of egg temperature on development rate. Slower development resulting from cooler temperatures may simply be a cost imposed on embryos by parents and may not enhance offspring quality. At the same time, incubation periods of transferred eggs did not match host species and reflect intrinsic differences among species that may result from nest predation and other selection pressures. Thus, geographic variation in embryonic development may reflect more complex interactions than previously recognized. ?? 2007 The Author(s).

Geographic resolution issues in RAM transportation risk analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills G, Scott; Neuhauser, Sieglinde

2000-01-01

Over the years that radioactive material (RAM) transportation risk estimates have been calculated using the RADTRAN code, demand for improved geographic resolution of route characteristics, especially density of population neighboring route segments, has led to code improvements that provide more specific route definition. With the advent of geographic information systems (GISs), the achievable resolution of route characteristics is theoretically very high. The authors have compiled population-density data in 1-kilometer increments for routes extending over hundreds of kilometers without impractical expenditures of time. Achievable resolution of analysis is limited, however, by the resolution of available data. U.S. Census data typically have 1-km or better resolution within densely-populated portions of metropolitan areas but census blocks are much larger in rural areas. Geographic resolution of accident-rate data, especially for heavy/combination trucks, are typically tabulated on a statewide basis. These practical realities cause one to ask what level(s) of resolution may be necessary for meaningful risk analysis of transportation actions on a state or interstate scale

08471 Report -- Geographic Privacy-Aware Knowledge Discovery and Delivery

OpenAIRE

Kuijpers, Bart; Pedreschi, Dino; Saygin, Yucel; Spaccapietra, Stefano

2009-01-01

The Dagstuhl-Seminar on Geographic Privacy-Aware Knowledge Discovery and Delivery was held during 16 - 21 November, 2008, with 37 participants registered from various countries from Europe, as well as other parts of the world such as United States, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil. Issues in the newly emerging area of geographic knowledge discovery with a privacy perspective were discussed in a week to consolidate some of the research questions. The Dagstuhl program included...

Crime Mapping and Geographical Information Systems in Crime Analysis

OpenAIRE

Dağlar, Murat; Argun, Uğur

2016-01-01

As essential apparatus in crime analysis, crime mapping and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are being progressively more accepted by police agencies. Development in technology and the accessibility of geographic data sources make it feasible for police departments to use GIS and crime mapping. GIS and crime mapping can be utilized as devices to discover reasons contributing to crime, and hence let law enforcement agencies proactively take action against the crime problems before they b...

Identification of geographically distributed sub-populations of Leishmania (Leishmania major by microsatellite analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schwenkenbecher Jan

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Leishmania (Leishmania major, one of the agents causing cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL in humans, is widely distributed in the Old World where different species of wild rodent and phlebotomine sand fly serve as animal reservoir hosts and vectors, respectively. Despite this, strains of L. (L. major isolated from many different sources over many years have proved to be relatively uniform. To investigate the population structure of the species highly polymorphic microsatellite markers were employed for greater discrimination among it's otherwise closely related strains, an approach applied successfully to other species of Leishmania. Results Multilocus Microsatellite Typing (MLMT based on 10 different microsatellite markers was applied to 106 strains of L. (L. major from different regions where it is endemic. On applying a Bayesian model-based approach, three main populations were identified, corresponding to three separate geographical regions: Central Asia (CA; the Middle East (ME; and Africa (AF. This was congruent with phylogenetic reconstructions based on genetic distances. Re-analysis separated each of the populations into two sub-populations. The two African sub-populations did not correlate well with strains' geographical origin. Strains falling into the sub-populations CA and ME did mostly group according to their place of isolation although some anomalies were seen, probably, owing to human migration. Conclusion The model- and distance-based analyses of the microsatellite data exposed three main populations of L. (L. major, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, each of which separated into two sub-populations. This probably correlates with the different species of rodent host.

Research on a Method of Geographical Information Service Load Balancing

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Heyuan; Li, Yongxing; Xue, Zhiyong; Feng, Tao

2018-05-01

With the development of geographical information service technologies, how to achieve the intelligent scheduling and high concurrent access of geographical information service resources based on load balancing is a focal point of current study. This paper presents an algorithm of dynamic load balancing. In the algorithm, types of geographical information service are matched with the corresponding server group, then the RED algorithm is combined with the method of double threshold effectively to judge the load state of serve node, finally the service is scheduled based on weighted probabilistic in a certain period. At the last, an experiment system is built based on cluster server, which proves the effectiveness of the method presented in this paper.

Global patterns of fragmentation and connectivity of mammalian carnivore habitat.

Science.gov (United States)

Crooks, Kevin R; Burdett, Christopher L; Theobald, David M; Rondinini, Carlo; Boitani, Luigi

2011-09-27

Although mammalian carnivores are vulnerable to habitat fragmentation and require landscape connectivity, their global patterns of fragmentation and connectivity have not been examined. We use recently developed high-resolution habitat suitability models to conduct comparative analyses and to identify global hotspots of fragmentation and connectivity for the world's terrestrial carnivores. Species with less fragmentation (i.e. more interior high-quality habitat) had larger geographical ranges, a greater proportion of habitat within their range, greater habitat connectivity and a lower risk of extinction. Species with higher connectivity (i.e. less habitat isolation) also had a greater proportion of high-quality habitat, but had smaller, not larger, ranges, probably reflecting shorter distances between habitat patches for species with restricted distributions; such species were also more threatened, as would be expected given the negative relationship between range size and extinction risk. Fragmentation and connectivity did not differ among Carnivora families, and body mass was associated with connectivity but not fragmentation. On average, only 54.3 per cent of a species' geographical range comprised high-quality habitat, and more troubling, only 5.2 per cent of the range comprised such habitat within protected areas. Identification of global hotspots of fragmentation and connectivity will help guide strategic priorities for carnivore conservation.

A comparison of habitat use and demography of red squirrels at the southern edge of their range

Science.gov (United States)

Katherine M. Leonard; John L. Koprowski

2009-01-01

Populations at the edge of their geographic range may demonstrate different population dynamics from central populations. Endangered Mt. Graham red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis), endemic to southeastern Arizona, represent the southernmost red squirrel population and are found at lower densities than conspecifics in the center of the...

Range expansion of the Asian native giant resin bee Megachile sculpturalis (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae) in France.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Féon, Violette; Aubert, Matthieu; Genoud, David; Andrieu-Ponel, Valérie; Westrich, Paul; Geslin, Benoît

2018-02-01

In 2008, a new species for the French bee fauna was recorded in Allauch near Marseille: the giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis (Smith, 1853). This was the first European record of this species that is native to East Asia. To our knowledge, it is the first introduced bee species in Europe. Here, we provide an overview of the current distribution of M. sculpturalis in France and we describe the history of its range expansion. Besides our own observations, information was compiled from literature and Internet websites, and by contacting naturalist networks. We collected a total of 117 records ( locality  ×  year combinations) for the 2008-2016 period. The geographical range of M. sculpturalis has extended remarkably, now occupying a third of continental France, with the most northern and western records located 335 and 520 km from Allauch, respectively. Information on its phenology, feeding, and nesting behavior is also provided. We report several events of nest occupation or eviction of Osmia sp. and Xylocopa sp. individuals by M. sculpturalis . Our results show that M. sculpturalis is now well established in France. Given its capacity to adapt and rapidly expand its range, we recommend amplifying the monitoring of this species to better anticipate the changes in its geographical range and its potential impacts on native bees.

Fungi identify the geographic origin of dust samples.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neal S Grantham

Full Text Available There is a long history of archaeologists and forensic scientists using pollen found in a dust sample to identify its geographic origin or history. Such palynological approaches have important limitations as they require time-consuming identification of pollen grains, a priori knowledge of plant species distributions, and a sufficient diversity of pollen types to permit spatial or temporal identification. We demonstrate an alternative approach based on DNA sequencing analyses of the fungal diversity found in dust samples. Using nearly 1,000 dust samples collected from across the continental U.S., our analyses identify up to 40,000 fungal taxa from these samples, many of which exhibit a high degree of geographic endemism. We develop a statistical learning algorithm via discriminant analysis that exploits this geographic endemicity in the fungal diversity to correctly identify samples to within a few hundred kilometers of their geographic origin with high probability. In addition, our statistical approach provides a measure of certainty for each prediction, in contrast with current palynology methods that are almost always based on expert opinion and devoid of statistical inference. Fungal taxa found in dust samples can therefore be used to identify the origin of that dust and, more importantly, we can quantify our degree of certainty that a sample originated in a particular place. This work opens up a new approach to forensic biology that could be used by scientists to identify the origin of dust or soil samples found on objects, clothing, or archaeological artifacts.

Can genetically based clines in plant defence explain greater herbivory at higher latitudes?

Science.gov (United States)

Anstett, Daniel N; Ahern, Jeffrey R; Glinos, Julia; Nawar, Nabanita; Salminen, Juha-Pekka; Johnson, Marc T J

2015-12-01

Greater plant defence is predicted to evolve at lower latitudes in response to increased herbivore pressure. However, recent studies question the generality of this pattern. In this study, we tested for genetically based latitudinal clines in resistance to herbivores and underlying defence traits of Oenothera biennis. We grew plants from 137 populations from across the entire native range of O. biennis. Populations from lower latitudes showed greater resistance to multiple specialist and generalist herbivores. These patterns were associated with an increase in total phenolics at lower latitudes. A significant proportion of the phenolics were driven by the concentrations of two major ellagitannins, which exhibited opposing latitudinal clines. Our analyses suggest that these findings are unlikely to be explained by local adaptation of herbivore populations or genetic variation in phenology. Rather greater herbivory at high latitudes can be explained by latitudinal clines in the evolution of plant defences. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Geographic distribution of wild potato species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hijmans, R.J.; Spooner, D.M.

2001-01-01

The geographic distribution of wild potatoes (Solanaceae sect. Petota) was analyzed using a database of 6073 georeferenced observations. Wild potatoes occur in 16 countries, but 88% of the observations are from Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, and Peru. Most species are rare and narrowly endemic: for 77

Ontology-based geographic data set integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uitermark, H.T.J.A.; Uitermark, Harry T.; Oosterom, Peter J.M.; Mars, Nicolaas; Molenaar, Martien; Molenaar, M.

1999-01-01

In order to develop a system to propagate updates we investigate the semantic and spatial relationships between independently produced geographic data sets of the same region (data set integration). The goal of this system is to reduce operator intervention in update operations between corresponding

The Data Reliability of Volunteered Geographic Information with Using Traffic Accident Data

Science.gov (United States)

Sevinç, H. K.; Karaş, I. R.

2017-11-01

The development of mobile technologies is important in the lives of humans. Mobile devices constitute a great part of the daily lives of people. It has come to such a point that when people first wake up, they check their smart phones for the first thing. Users may share their positions with the GNSS sensors in mobile devices or they can add information about their positions in mobile applications. Users contribute to Geographical Information System with this sharing. These users consist of native (citizens) living in that geographical position not of the CBS specialists. Creating, collecting, sharing and disseminating the geographical data provided by voluntary individuals constitute the Volunteered Geographic Information System. The data in the Volunteered Geographic Information System are received from amateur users. "How reliable will the data received from amateur users instead of specialists of the field be in scientific terms?" In this study, the reliability between the data received from the voluntary users through Volunteered Geographic Information System and real data is investigated. The real data consist of the traffic accident coordinates. The data that will be received from users will be received through the speed values in the relevant coordinates and the marking of the users for possible accident points on the map.

Geographical patterns in the beta diversity of China's woody plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Zhiheng; Fang, Jingyun; Tang, Zhiyao

2012-01-01

Beta diversity (i.e. species turnover rate across space) is fundamental for understanding mechanisms controlling large-scale species richness patterns. However, the influences on beta diversity are still a matter of debate. In particular, the relative role of environmental and spatial processes (e.......g. environmental niche versus dispersal limitation of species) remains elusive, and the influence of species range size has been poorly tested. Here, using distribution maps of 11 405 woody species in China (ca 9.6 ¿ 106 km2), we investigated 1) the geographical and directional patterns of beta diversity for all...... with their environmental niches due to dispersal limitation induced by China’s topography and/or their low dispersal ability. The projected rapid climatic changes will likely endanger such species. Species dispersal processes should be taken into account in future conservation strategies in China....

A geographic analysis of wind turbine placement in Northern California

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodman, Laura C.; Meentemeyer, Ross K.

2006-01-01

The development of new wind energy projects requires a significant consideration of land use issues. An analytic framework using a Geographic Information System (GIS) was developed to evaluate site suitability for wind turbines and to predict the locations and extent of land available for feasible wind power development. The framework uses rule-based spatial analysis to evaluate different scenarios. The suitability criteria include physical requirements as well as environmental and human impact factors. By including socio-political concerns, this technique can assist in forecasting the acceptance level of wind farms by the public. The analysis was used to evaluate the nine-county region of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. The model accurately depicts areas where large-scale wind farms have been developed or proposed. It also shows that there are many locations available in the Bay Area for the placement of smaller-scale wind turbines. The framework has application to other regions where future wind farm development is proposed. This information can be used by energy planners to predict the extent that wind energy can be developed based on land availability and public perception

HEVC for high dynamic range services

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seung-Hwan; Zhao, Jie; Misra, Kiran; Segall, Andrew

2015-09-01

Displays capable of showing a greater range of luminance values can render content containing high dynamic range information in a way such that the viewers have a more immersive experience. This paper introduces the design aspects of a high dynamic range (HDR) system, and examines the performance of the HDR processing chain in terms of compression efficiency. Specifically it examines the relation between recently introduced Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) ST 2084 transfer function and the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. SMPTE ST 2084 is designed to cover the full range of an HDR signal from 0 to 10,000 nits, however in many situations the valid signal range of actual video might be smaller than SMPTE ST 2084 supported range. The above restricted signal range results in restricted range of code values for input video data and adversely impacts compression efficiency. In this paper, we propose a code value remapping method that extends the restricted range code values into the full range code values so that the existing standards such as HEVC may better compress the video content. The paper also identifies related non-normative encoder-only changes that are required for remapping method for a fair comparison with anchor. Results are presented comparing the efficiency of the current approach versus the proposed remapping method for HM-16.2.

Modeling the geographical studies with GeoGebra-software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionica Soare

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The problem of mathematical modeling in geography is one of the most important strategies in order to establish the evolution and the prevision of geographical phenomena. Models must have a simplified structure, to reflect essential components and must be selective, structured, and suggestive and approximate the reality. Models could be static or dynamic, developed in a theoretical, symbolic, conceptual or mental way, mathematically modeled. The present paper is focused on the virtual model which uses GeoGebra software, free and available at www.geogebra.org, in order to establish new methods of geographical analysis in a dynamic, didactic way.

Analysis of 14C and 13C in teeth provides precise birth dating and clues to geographical origin.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkass, K; Buchholz, B A; Druid, H; Spalding, K L

2011-06-15

The identification of human bodies in situations when there are no clues as to the person's identity from circumstantial data, poses a difficult problem to the investigators. The determination of age and sex of the body can be crucial in order to limit the search to individuals that are a possible match. We analyzed the proportion of bomb pulse derived carbon-14 ((14)C) incorporated in the enamel of teeth from individuals from different geographical locations. The 'bomb pulse' refers to a significant increase in (14)C levels in the atmosphere caused by above ground test detonations of nuclear weapons during the cold war (1955-1963). By comparing (14)C levels in enamel with (14)C atmospheric levels systematically recorded over time, high precision birth dating of modern biological material is possible. Above ground nuclear bomb testing was largely restricted to a couple of locations in the northern hemisphere, producing differences in atmospheric (14)C levels at various geographical regions, particularly in the early phase. Therefore, we examined the precision of (14)C birth dating of enamel as a function of time of formation and geographical location. We also investigated the use of the stable isotope (13)C as an indicator of geographical origin of an individual. Dental enamel was isolated from 95 teeth extracted from 84 individuals to study the precision of the (14)C method along the bomb spike. For teeth formed before 1955 (N=17), all but one tooth showed negative Δ(14)C values. Analysis of enamel from teeth formed during the rising part of the bomb-spike (1955-1963, N=12) and after the peak (>1963, N=66) resulted in an average absolute date of birth estimation error of 1.9±1.4 and 1.3±1.0 years, respectively. Geographical location of an individual had no adverse effect on the precision of year of birth estimation using radiocarbon dating. In 46 teeth, measurement of (13)C was also performed. Scandinavian teeth showed a substantially greater depression in

Comparing alternative approaches to measuring the geographical accessibility of urban health services: Distance types and aggregation-error issues

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Riva Mylène

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the past two decades, geographical accessibility of urban resources for population living in residential areas has received an increased focus in urban health studies. Operationalising and computing geographical accessibility measures depend on a set of four parameters, namely definition of residential areas, a method of aggregation, a measure of accessibility, and a type of distance. Yet, the choice of these parameters may potentially generate different results leading to significant measurement errors. The aim of this paper is to compare discrepancies in results for geographical accessibility of selected health care services for residential areas (i.e. census tracts computed using different distance types and aggregation methods. Results First, the comparison of distance types demonstrates that Cartesian distances (Euclidean and Manhattan distances are strongly correlated with more accurate network distances (shortest network and shortest network time distances across the metropolitan area (Pearson correlation greater than 0.95. However, important local variations in correlation between Cartesian and network distances were observed notably in suburban areas where Cartesian distances were less precise. Second, the choice of the aggregation method is also important: in comparison to the most accurate aggregation method (population-weighted mean of the accessibility measure for census blocks within census tracts, accessibility measures computed from census tract centroids, though not inaccurate, yield important measurement errors for 5% to 10% of census tracts. Conclusion Although errors associated to the choice of distance types and aggregation method are only important for about 10% of census tracts located mainly in suburban areas, we should not avoid using the best estimation method possible for evaluating geographical accessibility. This is especially so if these measures are to be included as a dimension of the

Quantifying the geographic range of Pinus patula var ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Conversely, molecular marker results indicated that four of the populations, Manzanal, San Mateo, Tlacuache (Oaxaca) and Yextla (Guerrero) were genetically indistinguishable or closely related to P. patula. The remaining two populations, Juquila (Oaxaca) and Palo Blanco (Guerrero), were closely related genetically to P.

GNIS: Geographic Names Information Systems - All features

Data.gov (United States)

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) actively seeks data from and partnerships with Government agencies at all levels and other interested organizations....

Geographical variation in dementia: systematic review with meta-analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Russ, Tom C; Batty, G David; Hearnshaw, Gena F; Fenton, Candida; Starr, John M

2012-01-01

Background Geographical variation in dementia prevalence and incidence may indicate important socio-environmental contributions to dementia aetiology. However, previous comparisons have been hampered by combining studies with different methodologies. This review systematically collates and synthesizes studies examining geographical variation in the prevalence and incidence of dementia based on comparisons of studies using identical methodologies. Methods Papers were identified by a comprehensive electronic search of relevant databases, scrutinising the reference sections of identified publications, contacting experts in the field and re-examining papers already known to us. Identified articles were independently reviewed against inclusion/exclusion criteria and considered according to geographical scale. Rural/urban comparisons were meta-analysed. Results Twelve thousand five hundred and eighty records were reviewed and 51 articles were included. Dementia prevalence and incidence varies at a number of scales from the national down to small areas, including some evidence of an effect of rural living [prevalence odds ratio (OR) = 1.11, 90% confidence interval (CI) 0.79–1.57; incidence OR = 1.20, 90% CI 0.84–1.71]. However, this association of rurality was stronger for Alzheimer disease, particularly when early life rural living was captured (prevalence OR = 2.22, 90% CI 1.19–4.16; incidence OR = 1.64, 90% CI 1.08–2.50). Conclusions There is evidence of geographical variation in rates of dementia in affluent countries at a variety of geographical scales. Rural living is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer disease, and there is a suggestion that early life rural living further increases this risk. However, the fact that few studies have been conducted in resource-poor countries limits conclusions. PMID:22798662

Temperature effects on gametophyte life-history traits and geographic distribution of two cryptic kelp species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L Valeria Oppliger

Full Text Available A major determinant of the geographic distribution of a species is expected to be its physiological response to changing abiotic variables over its range. The range of a species often corresponds to the geographic extent of temperature regimes the organism can physiologically tolerate. Many species have very distinct life history stages that may exhibit different responses to environmental factors. In this study we emphasized the critical role of the haploid microscopic stage (gametophyte of the life cycle to explain the difference of edge distribution of two related kelp species. Lessonia nigrescens was recently identified as two cryptic species occurring in parapatry along the Chilean coast: one located north and the other south of a biogeographic boundary at latitude 29-30°S. Six life history traits from microscopic stages were identified and estimated under five treatments of temperature in eight locations distributed along the Chilean coast in order to (1 estimate the role of temperature in the present distribution of the two cryptic L. nigrescens species, (2 compare marginal populations to central populations of the two cryptic species. In addition, we created a periodic matrix model to estimate the population growth rate (λ at the five temperature treatments. Differential tolerance to temperature was demonstrated between the two species, with the gametophytes of the Northern species being more tolerant to higher temperatures than gametophytes from the south. Second, the two species exhibited different life history strategies with a shorter haploid phase in the Northern species contrasted with considerable vegetative growth in the Southern species haploid stage. These results provide strong ecological evidence for the differentiation process of the two cryptic species and show local adaptation of the life cycle at the range limits of the distribution. Ecological and evolutionary implications of these findings are discussed.

Choroidal Round Hyporeflectivities in Geographic Atrophy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleonora Corbelli

Full Text Available In geographic atrophy (GA, choroidal vessels typically appear on structural optical coherence tomography (OCT as hyperreflective round areas with highly reflective borders. We observed that some GA eyes show choroidal round hyporeflectivities with highly reflective borders beneath the atrophy, and futher investigated the charcteristcs by comparing structural OCT, indocyanine green angiography (ICGA and OCT angiography (OCT-A.Round hyporeflectivities were individuated from a pool of patients with GA secondary to non-neovascular age-related macular degeneration consecutively presenting between October 2015 and March 2016 at the Medical Retina & Imaging Unit of the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele. Patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination including ICGA, structural OCT and OCT-A. The correspondence between choroidal round hyporeflectivities beneath GA on structural OCT and ICGA and OCT-A imaging were analyzed.Fifty eyes of 26 consecutive patients (17 females and 9 males; mean age 76.8±6.2 years with GA were included. Twenty-nine round hyporeflectivities have been found by OCT in choroidal layers in 21 eyes of 21 patients (42.0%; estimated prevalence of 57.7%. All 29 round hyporeflectivities showed constantly a hyperreflective border and a backscattering on structural OCT, and appeared as hypofluorescent in late phase ICGA and as dark foci with non detectable flow in the choroidal segmentation of OCT-A. Interestingly, the GA area was greater in eyes with compared to eyes without round hyporeflectivities (9.30±5.74 and 5.57±4.48mm2, respectively; p = 0.01.Our results suggest that most round hyporeflectivities beneath GA may represent non-perfused or hypo-perfused choroidal vessels with non-detectable flow.

Choroidal Round Hyporeflectivities in Geographic Atrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Corbelli, Eleonora; Sacconi, Riccardo; De Vitis, Luigi Antonio; Carnevali, Adriano; Rabiolo, Alessandro; Querques, Lea; Bandello, Francesco; Querques, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

In geographic atrophy (GA), choroidal vessels typically appear on structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) as hyperreflective round areas with highly reflective borders. We observed that some GA eyes show choroidal round hyporeflectivities with highly reflective borders beneath the atrophy, and futher investigated the charcteristcs by comparing structural OCT, indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and OCT angiography (OCT-A). Round hyporeflectivities were individuated from a pool of patients with GA secondary to non-neovascular age-related macular degeneration consecutively presenting between October 2015 and March 2016 at the Medical Retina & Imaging Unit of the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele. Patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination including ICGA, structural OCT and OCT-A. The correspondence between choroidal round hyporeflectivities beneath GA on structural OCT and ICGA and OCT-A imaging were analyzed. Fifty eyes of 26 consecutive patients (17 females and 9 males; mean age 76.8±6.2 years) with GA were included. Twenty-nine round hyporeflectivities have been found by OCT in choroidal layers in 21 eyes of 21 patients (42.0%; estimated prevalence of 57.7%). All 29 round hyporeflectivities showed constantly a hyperreflective border and a backscattering on structural OCT, and appeared as hypofluorescent in late phase ICGA and as dark foci with non detectable flow in the choroidal segmentation of OCT-A. Interestingly, the GA area was greater in eyes with compared to eyes without round hyporeflectivities (9.30±5.74 and 5.57±4.48mm2, respectively; p = 0.01). Our results suggest that most round hyporeflectivities beneath GA may represent non-perfused or hypo-perfused choroidal vessels with non-detectable flow.

Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY07 by State and County

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...