Associating Seasonal Range Characteristics With Survival of Female White-Tailed Deer

ABSTRACT Delineating populations is critical for understanding population dynamics and managing habitats. Our objective was to delineate subpopulations of migratory female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the central Black Hills, South Dakota and Wyoming, USA, on summer and winter ranges. We used fuzzy classification to assign radiocollared deer to subpopulations based on spatial location, characterized subpopulations by trapping sites, and explored relationships among survival of subpopulations and habitat variables. In winter, Kaplan-Meier estimates for subpopulations indicated 2 groups: high (S = 0.991 ± 0.005 [x̄ ± SE]) and low (S = 0.968 ± 0.007) weekly survivorship. Survivorship increased with basal area per hectare of trees, average diameter at breast height of trees, percent cover of slash, and total point-center quarter distance of trees. Cover of grass and forbs were less for the high survivorship than the lower survivorship group. In summer, deer were spaced apart with mixed associations among subpopulations. Habitat manipulations that promote or maintain large trees (i.e., basal area = 14.8 m²/ha and average dbh of trees = 8.3 cm) would seem to improve adult survival of deer in winter.     

Decision analysis approach to risk/benefit evaluation in the ethical review of controlled human infection studies

Risks and benefit evaluation for controlled human infection studies, where healthy volunteers are deliberately exposed to infectious agents to evaluate vaccine efficacy, should be explicit, systematic, thorough, and non-arbitrary. Decision analysis promotes these qualities using four steps: (1) determining explicit criteria and measures for evaluation, (2) identifying alternatives to the study, (3) defining the models used to estimate the measures for each alternative, and (4) running the models to produce the estimates and compare the alternatives. In this paper, we describe how decision analysis might be applied by funders and regulators, as well as by others contemplating the use of novel controlled human infection studies for vaccine development and evaluation.     

Understanding and Application of Learning Theory in UK-based Equestrians

Learning in equines occurs through a predictable chain of stimulus–response–consequence processing. Whether the behavior persists will depend on the nature and timing of the consequence, whether it punishes or reinforces the response behavior. Knowledge and application of learning theory in UK-based equestrians was assessed by an online survey which probed three aspects of knowledge and understanding. Fifty-eight UK individuals (91% female) took part in the study and had an average of 12.4 years’ equestrian experience. Almost one-third (31%) described themselves as professional equestrians. A questionnaire was used to assess participants’ ability to identify and describe terminology associated with learning theory; self-report on their own knowledge and training methodology; and to express how they would respond in different training situations. Human-focused educational strategies were tested to assess their effectiveness and suitability for increasing understanding of learning theory. Professional equestrians expressed higher levels of subjective knowledge than amateurs (t₍₂₇₎ = –2.752, p = 0.018), with a moderate positive correlation between subjective knowledge and observer-scored knowledge (r = 0.443, p < 0.001). Professionals scored higher than amateurs on all questions asked, however a deficit of knowledge was observed across the board; in particular, in defining positive punishment (professional 38.8%, amateur 12.5% successful) and negative reinforcement (professional 33%, amateur 12.5% successful). Application of both an educational video and a leaflet increased respondents’ ability to correctly define terminology (Video t₍₈₎ = –4.07, p = 0.004: Leaflet t₍₁₂₎ = –5.02, p < 0.001). Improving understanding and application of learning theory in amateurs and professionals alike has the potential to improve equine welfare and training outcomes for both leisure and performance horses through reducing wastage attributed to behavioral problems or poor training.     

高寒生态脆弱区农户的气候变化适应策略评价——以甘南高原为例

气候变化加剧了高寒生态脆弱区农户的生计脆弱性,为应对气候变化,农户已采取了各种响应措施,当前急需评估农户所采取适应策略的效果,以便选择更有效的适应策略。以甘南高原为研究区,基于入户调查数据分析了农户所采取适应策略的特征,采用模糊综合评价法分析现行适应策略的效果,并利用多准则决策模型确定了最优的气候变化适应策略。结果显示:(1)甘南高原农户多采取组合型策略应对气候变化,尤以调整+扩张型策略为主;(2)甘南高原农户所采取气候变化适应策略的效果较好,效益指数为3.43。其中,农区农户的适应策略效果最好、半农半牧区次之、纯牧区最差;(3)甘南高原不同区域农户筛选的最优策略存在差异。其中,纯牧区和半农半牧区农户筛选的最优策略为调整农牧业结构,而农区农户为完善农牧业基础设施。最后,提出了提高农户适应策略效果的对策建议及未来研究中需进一步关注的问题。     

系统理论指导下辩证思维模式与抗休克决策

休克是由于有效循环血量不足引发的微循环障碍而表现一系列症候群,作为一种系统性疾病,病因十分复杂多样,诊疗过程中的临床决策应全面而富有针对性,并充分考虑到救治措施的协调一致和互相配合。系统论主张整体大于部分之和强调的就是措施之间的整体化效果,充分考虑到患者个体间差异,辩证分析不同类型休克、不同个体间不同表现,在系统理论指导下的富有针对性措施间协调一致的决策模式才是较为完整的休克救治临床决策模式。     

On the Application of Fuzzy Decision Theory in Chemotherapy

1IntreductionTheliteratUreonmulti-Criteriondecisionmaking(MCDM)problemshas~tremendouslyintherecentpast.TwomajorareashaveevolvedwhiChbothconcentrateondecisionmakingwithseveralcriteria:multiobjectivedecisionmaking(MODM)andmulti-attributedecisionmaking(MADM).TheformerconcentratesoncontinuousdecisionspaceandthelatterfocusesonproblemswithdiscreteSPace.FuzzysettheoryhascontributedtoMODMproblemsaswellastheMADMProblems.ThegeneralMODMproblemcanbedeft.edLllasfollows:Twostagescangenerallybe…     

Global patterns of diversity among the specialist birds of riverine landscapes

1. Despite the growing view that biodiversity provides a unifying theme in river ecology, global perspectives on richness in riverine landscapes are limited. As a result, there is little theory or quantitative data on features that might have influenced global patterns in riverine richness, nor are there clear indications of which riverine landscapes are important to conservation at the global scale. As conspicuous elements of the vertebrate fauna of riverine landscapes, we mapped the global distributions of all of the world's specialist riverine birds and assessed their richness in relation to latitude, altitude, primary productivity and geomorphological complexity (surface configuration). 2. Specialist riverine birds, typical of high‐energy riverine landscapes and dependent wholly or partly on production from river ecosystems, occur in 16 families. They are represented by an estimated 60 species divided equally between the passerines and non‐passerines. Major radiation has occurred among different families on different continents, indicating that birds have evolved several times into the niches provided by riverine landscapes. 3. Continental richness varies from four species in Europe to 28 in Asia, with richness on the latter continent disproportionately larger than would be expected from a random distribution with respect to land area. Richness is greatest in mountainous regions at latitudes of 20–40°N in the riverine landscapes of the Himalayan mountains, where 13 species overlap in range. 4. Family, genus and species richness in specialist riverine birds all increase significantly with productivity and surface configuration (i.e. relief). However, family richness was the best single predictor of the numbers of species or genera. In keeping with the effect of surface configuration, river‐bird richness peaks globally at 1300–1400 m altitude, and most species occur typically on small, fast rivers where they feed predominantly on invertebrates. Increased lengths of such streams in areas of high relief and rainfall might have been responsible for species–area effects. 5. We propose the hypothesis that the diversity in channel forms and habitats in riverine landscapes, in addition to high temperature and primary productivity, have been prerequisites to the development of global patterns in the richness of specialist riverine organisms. We advocate tests of this hypothesis in other taxonomic groups. We draw attention, however, to the challenges of categorically defining riverine organisms in such tests because (i) rivers grade into many other habitat types across several different ecotones and (ii) `terrestrialisation' processes in riverine landscapes means that they offer habitat for organisms whose evolutionary origins are not exclusively riverine.     

Use of time in a decision‐making process by a parasitoid

1. Time perception is seldom studied in invertebrates, with the limited experimental evidence being insufficient to provide a comprehensive pattern of the capacity of invertebrates to measure time and use it in decision‐making processes. 2. In this study, it was hypothesized that insect parasitoids have evolved the capacity to measure time precisely and to use it to optimize foraging decisions related to host exploitation. To examine time perception in females of the gregarious egg parasitoid Trichogramma euproctidis, the present study used their ability to adjust their investment (number of eggs laid) in a host to the initial transit duration (interval between the first contact with the host and the following contact with the substrate). Females utilize this method to assess host egg size, as a large egg necessarily requires more time to evaluate than a small host. In this study, the initial transit duration for a given sized egg was artificially extended by suspending it. 3. For similar sized hosts, female T. euproctidis significantly increased both oviposition duration and progeny allocation following a longer initial transit duration. 4. These results demonstrate the intrinsic capacity of this parasitoid to measure time and to adjust their progeny investment accordingly. This is believed to be one of the few demonstrations of a retrospective measure of time in an invertebrate.