Volume 1 • January 2017
Perspectives
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Contemporary conservation problems are typically positioned at the interface of complex ecological and human systems. Traditional approaches aiming to compartmentalize a phenomenon within the confines of a single discipline and failing to engage non-science partners are outmoded and cannot identify solutions that have traction in the social, economic, and political arenas in which conservation actions must operate. As a result, conservation science teams must adopt multiple disciplinary approaches that bridge not only academic disciplines but also the political and social realms and engage relevant partners. Five reasons are presented that outline why conservation problems demand multiple disciplinary approaches in order to move forward because: (i) socio-ecological systems are complex, (ii) multiple perspectives are better than one, (iii) the results of research must influence practice, (iv) the heterogeneity of scale necessitates it, and (v) conservation involves compromise. Presenting reasons that support multiple disciplinarity demands a review of the barriers that impede this process, as we are far from attaining a model or framework that is applicable in all contexts. Two challenges that impede multiple disciplinarity are discussed, in addition to pragmatic solutions that conservation scientists and practitioners can adopt in their work. Overall, conservation researchers and practitioners are encouraged to explore the multiple disciplinary dimensions of their respective realms to more effectively solve problems in biodiversity and sustainability.
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Human well-being depends on the health of ecosystems, but can human well-being also be an indicator of ecosystem health, and perhaps even sustainability? Research shows that ecosystem health and human well-being are often mutually reinforcing, whether in the direction of wellness and sustainability or poverty and degradation. However, while well-being is increasingly recognized as an important consideration when managing ecosystems, human needs and activities are often still thought of only in terms of their negative impacts on ecosystems. In this essay, we explore the proposition that there can be a mutually constitutive relationship between people’s well-being and the health of ecosystems, and discuss what such a relationship would mean for expanding the use of human well-being indicators in ecosystem-based management. Specifically, we discuss two areas of theory: ecosocial theory from social epidemiology and the marginalization–degradation thesis in political ecology; collectively, these provide a justification, in certain circumstances at least, for thinking of well-being as not just an add-on in natural resource management but as an indicator of ecosystem health and a prerequisite of social-ecological sustainability. We conclude with a discussion of future research needs to further explore how human well-being and ecosystem health interact.
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We have applied a Bauhaus design lens to inform a visual conceptual framework for a rational mental health care system. We believe that Canada’s healthcare system can often be fragmented and does not always allow for service delivery to easily meet patient care needs. Within our proposed framework, the form of services provided follows patient- and healthcare-centred needs. The framework is also informed by the ethics and values of social responsibility, population health, and principles of quality of care. We review evidence for this framework (based on need, acuity, risk, service intensity, and provider level) and describe patient care pathways from intake/triage to three patient-centred tiers of care: (1) primary care (low needs), (2) acute ambulatory transitional care (moderate needs), and (3) acute hospital and complex care (high needs). Within each tier, various models of care are organized from low to high service intensity as informed by reports from the British Columbia Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. We hope that our model may help to better conceptualize and organize our mental health care system and help providers clarify roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities to improve quality of care.
Articles
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This paper presents the characteristic behavior of direct vector control of two induction motors with sensorless speed feedback having the same rating parameters, paralleled combination, and supplied from a single current-controlled pulse-width-modulated voltage-source inverter drive. Natural observer design technique is known for its simple construction, which estimates the speed and rotor fluxes. Load torque is estimated by load torque adaptation and the average rotor flux was maintained constant by rotor flux feedback control. The technique’s convergence rate is very fast and is robust to noise and parameter uncertainty. The gain matrix is absent in the natural observer. The rotor speed is estimated from the load torque, stator current, and rotor flux. Under symmetrical load conditions, the difference in speed between two induction motors is reduced by considering the motor parameters as average and difference. Rotor flux is maintained constant by the rotor flux control scheme with feedback, and the estimation of rotor angle is carried out by the direct vector control technique. Both balanced and unbalanced load conditions are investigated for the proposed AC motor drive system. Experimental results presented in this paper show good agreement with the theoretical formulations.
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We examined the diet of Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) chicks at three midcoast Maine, USA, colonies during the years 2005–2014 and found that the puffins at each island have a distinct diet that has changed in recent years. White hake (Urophycis tenuis) is by far the most frequently delivered prey at each island. Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is the second most frequently delivered food, but has declined in recent years on two islands. In contrast, butterfish (Poronotus triacanthus), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), and redfish (Sebastes spp.) have increased in the puffin diet on all islands. Chick condition declined significantly from 1993 to 2009. We demonstrate that puffin chicks with greater body weight experience a higher chance of postfledging survival as compared to chicks with lower body weight. The years 2012–2013 were a period of extreme sea surface warming, in which puffin hatching success and productivity sharply declined. This study provides new insight into changes in marine communities, examining changes in chick diet. We discuss our findings in relation to warming sea surface temperatures, recent climate-related decline in puffin productivity in the Gulf of Maine, and the impact of commercial fisheries on forage fish.
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Persistence of absorbable sutures in fishes in waters below 10 °C affects surgical decisions including approach, closure strategy, and suture selection. We hypothesized that the rate of suture hydrolysis would vary directly with water temperature. Two absorbable monofilament 3-0 suture materials used in fish surgery, poliglecaprone (Monocryl™) and polyglyconate (Maxon™), were evaluated. The maximum tensile load (strength) was measured for suture loops (n = 6) maintained in filtered city water for 2, 4, 6, or 8 weeks at 4, 25, or 37 °C. For Maxon™ at 4 or 25 °C, tensile strength did not decrease over time. However, for Monocryl™ at 4 °C, 2-, 4-, and 8-week loops were stronger than baseline loops. At 25 °C, tensile strength of the suture material declined after 2 weeks. Also, at 37 °C, the optimal design temperature for both suture materials, the strength of Maxon™ decreased at 6 and 8 weeks. Two 4-week loops of Monocryl™ disintegrated when handled, and after 6 and 8 weeks, all were untestable. This study confirms that absorbable sutures lose strength more slowly at ambient temperatures lower than the optimal design temperature (e.g., human body temperature) and will likely be retained longer in fishes living in waters below 25 °C.
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The behavioural response of animals to predation risk commonly depends on the behaviour of potential predators. Here, we report an experiment investigating effects of predator model (a life-like wooden trout model) distance and movement on the behaviour of three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus L. in a standardized experimental setting. When the predator model was immobile, the behaviour of the sticklebacks could, in general, not be clearly distinguished from a no-predator control treatment. When moving the predator 41 cm towards the stickleback, clear anti-predator behaviours were observed. However, behavioural expression depended on the distance to the predator. At the two farthest distances (approaching from 129 to 88 cm and from 170 to 129 cm), the sticklebacks approached the predator and spent little time freezing. At the two closest distances (approaching from 88 to 47 cm and from 47 to 6 cm), the sticklebacks increased the distance to the predator model and froze their movements. These results suggest that the closest-distance groups showed avoidance behaviour, whereas the farthest-distance groups instead appeared to start inspecting the potential predator. This provides evidence for conditional anti-predator behaviour and highlights the importance of considering distance to, and movement of predator models when interpreting data from standardized behavioural trials.
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An age-structured life-cycle model of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) for the Stillaguamish River in Puget Sound, Washington, USA, was employed to estimate the number of age-1 steelhead parr that could have produced the estimated adult return of 69 000 in 1895. We then divided the estimated parr numbers by the estimated area of steelhead rearing habitat in the Stillaguamish River basin in 1895 and under current conditions to estimate density of rearing steelhead then and now. Scaled to estimates of total wetted area of tributary and mainstem shallow shoreline habitat, our historic estimates averaged 0.39–0.49 parr·m−2, and ranged from 0.24 to 0.7 parr·m−2. These values are significantly greater than current densities in the Stillaguamish (mainstem average: 0.15 parr·m−2, tributaries: 0.07 parr·m−2), but well within the range of recent estimates of steelhead parr rearing densities in high-quality habitats. Our results indicate that modest improvement in the capacity of mainstem and tributary rearing habitat in Puget Sound rivers will yield large recovery benefits if realized in a large proportion of the area of river basins currently accessible to steelhead.
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Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) were tested for counting Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) redds as a more accurate, safer alternative to manned helicopter flights. Counting redds from the helicopter was less expensive and time consuming, but of the total redds counted at selected sites with a UAS, an average (± SD) of only 77% ± 14% was counted from the helicopter. A river-wide census of redds was not possible with a UAS because the study area was too large for the single field crew to survey. Simulation analyses were used to compare stratified random sampling (STRS) and sampling proportional to size (PPS) for estimating annual total redd counts from data collected with a UAS. The STRS estimates were more accurate and precise, whereas the PPS estimates, though biased, had 95% CIs that included the observed redd count more frequently. We strongly recommend that researchers conduct simulation analyses to evaluate alternative survey sampling methods if they are considering replacing census counts made from manned aircraft with counts estimated from data collected with a UAS. We conclude that UAS application reduces the risk inherent to manned aircraft flights, but the reduction in risk can come at the cost of estimates of population parameters that can sometimes be inaccurate and lack 95% CI coverage.
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Total Zn concentrations and Zn isotope ratios were measured, using multicollector inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-mass spectrometry (MS), in three species of aquatic insects collected from a stream in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Total Zn levels averaged 193 ± 88 μg/g dry weight (dw) in water striders (Heteroptera: Gerridae, Aquarius remigis) and were significantly higher than the concentrations measured in stonefly nymphs (Plecoptera: Perlidae, Acroneuria abnormis) and caddisfly larvae (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae, Pycnopsyche guttifer), i.e., 136 ± 34 μg/g dw and 125 ± 26 μg/g dw, respectively. Average delta values for 66Zn/64Zn in the water striders were approximately 0.7‰ lighter (−1.2‰ ± 1.0‰) and were significantly different than those measured for stoneflies (−0.45‰ ± 0.62‰) and caddisflies (−0.51‰ ± 0.54‰). Nitrogen isotope ratios were significantly different (P < 0.05) among the three species suggesting differences in trophic positioning. Similar to the Zn isotope ratios, δ 13C values for the water striders (−28.61‰ ± 0.98‰) were significantly different than those of the stoneflies and caddisflies, i.e., −30.75‰ ± 1.33‰ and −30.68‰ ± 1.01‰, respectively. The data suggest that the differences observed in Zn ratios relate to food source for these insects. Similar to their carbon sources, Zn in water striders appears to be primarily of terrestrial origin, and of aquatic origin for the other two species.
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The cardiovagal baroreflex is an important physiological reflex that is commonly taught in health-related university physiology courses. This reflex is responsible for the rapid maintenance of blood pressure through dynamic changes in heart rate (HR) and vascular resistance. The use of lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) and lower-body positive pressure (LBPP) can manipulate these stretch sensitive baroreceptors. High performance and relatively inexpensive homemade LBNP and LBPP chambers can be easily constructed providing a valuable tool for both research and teaching purposes. There has been previous documentation of how to build a LBNP chamber; however, the information available usually lacks appropriate construction details, and there is currently no literature on how to build a chamber that can accommodate both LBNP and LBPP. In addition, a recently developed novel LBNP/LBPP chamber positioned on a 360° tilt-table provided the unique utility of superimposing both LBNP/LBPP and body position as independent or combined stressors to alter central blood volume. The primary purposes of this manuscript are to (1) provide step-by-step instructions on how to build a tilt-table LBNP/LBPP chamber, and (2) demonstrate the effectiveness of a tilt-table LBNP/LBPP chamber to facilitate undergraduate and graduate learning in the laboratory by effectively demonstrating the cardiovagal baroreflex.
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Hydrogen absorption by palladium (Pd) in Pd/MCM-41 was studied at 298.2 ± 0.1 K and between 0.5 and 1.0 atm 
. Mass percent Pd loadings of 0.81%, 1.10%, 1.16%, and 2.30% of total Pd/MCM-41 were used. Absorption was measured in gas-tight stainless steel cells equipped with computer-logged pressure transducers. The average maximum hydrogen absorption for all samples was 0.85 ± 0.18 H/Pd. An apparent trend of increasing hydrogen absorption as the mass percent loading of Pd increased was determined to be non-significant. Similar experiments using Pd black showed a lower absorption of 0.79 ± 0.09 H/Pd.
Notes
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A novel Brachyspira emerged in 2009 and has since become a production-limiting pathogen of pigs in North America. The name “Brachyspira hampsonii” has been proposed for this novel taxon. “Brachyspira hampsonii” is divided into two phylogenetically distinct clades based on the sequence of the NADH-oxidase (nox) gene, although the clinical disease associated with clades I and II is indistinguishable and phenotypic characteristics that discriminate the clades have not been determined. The objectives of the current study were to enhance the description of the provisional species “B. hampsonii” with biochemical profiles and morphometric data from isolates affecting Canadian swine and to investigate potentially diagnostically informative characteristics for this emerging pathogen. Biochemical profiles of isolates from different commercial swine barns in Western Canada showed that biochemical profiles were insufficient to distinguish “B. hampsonii” clades I and II from each other or from other pathogenic Brachyspira. Hippurate hydrolysis, previously reported as uniformly negative in “B. hampsonii,” was variable among Canadian isolates. Spirochete dimensions and flagella numbers for “B. hampsonii” overlapped with other Brachyspira species. Taken together, these results indicate that nox gene sequencing remains a preferred method for identification and discrimination of “B. hampsonii” from other pig-associated Brachyspira spp.
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We report the development of an improved method for the extraction and amplification of leaf miner DNA recovered from empty mines. Our method is simple, easy to use, and foregoes the time-consuming task of scraping out mines required by previous methods. We collected leaves with 1- and 2-day-old vacated mines, cut out and then ground the mined portions, and amplified the mtDNA COI barcode sequence using universal insect primers. We obtained high-quality sequences for 31% of our empty mines: 20% yielded sequences associated with a leaf miner species; and an additional 11% yielded sequences associated with whiteflies, mites, or fungi. Our improved method will facilitate ecological studies determining herbivore community dynamics and agricultural studies for pest monitoring and identification.
Science Applications Forum
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While greater research on threatened species alone cannot ensure their protection, understanding taxonomic bias may be helpful to address knowledge gaps in order to identify research directions and inform policy. Using data for over 10 000 animal species listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we investigated taxonomic and geographic biodiversity conservation research trends worldwide. We found extreme bias in conservation research effort on threatened vertebrates compared with lesser-studied invertebrates in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats at a global scale. Based on an analysis of common threats affecting vertebrates and invertebrates, we suggest a path forward for narrowing the research gap between threatened vertebrates and invertebrates.
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For science communication to be effective, scientists must understand which sources of information their target audiences most frequently use and trust. We surveyed academic and non-academic scientists, natural resource managers, policymakers, students, and the general public about how they access, trust, and communicate scientific information. We found trust and use of information sources was related to participant age and group identity, but all groups had high levels of use and trust of personal experience and colleagues. Academic journals were the most trusted source by all groups, and social media the least trusted by most groups. The level of communication between target groups was not always bilateral, with the public generally perceiving their interaction with all other groups as low. These results provide remarkable insight into the flow of scientific information. We present these findings in the context of facilitating information flow between scientists and other stakeholders of scientific information.
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In setting up a data access policy to share controlled access data from the McGill Epigenomics Mapping Centre (EMC), an International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) partner project, we encountered ethical and legal challenges that are likely to be relevant to other researchers sharing data, especially from Canadian projects. We discuss our solutions to the following data-sharing challenges, based on comparative legal and policy analysis: (1) providing access to data to a growing number of researchers; (2) maintaining Canadian privacy standards while sharing controlled access data internationally; (3) freedom of information requests; and (4) providing more incentives for researchers to share pre-publication data.
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This paper starts a two-part series on graduate advising that integrates concepts from adult learning, leadership, and psychology into a conceptual framework for graduate advising. A companion paper provides guidance on how to communicate effectively in graduate advising. Here, we present concepts and tools that enable advisors and graduate students to collaborate effectively and share the responsibility for the student’s learning. We specifically discuss (1) how to promote learning about learning to help students make sense of their experience and identify their supervision needs; (2) how to clarify roles and address conflicts of interest between different roles; and (3) how to establish an effective, learning-centered working relationship. By making the advising process explicit, using the concepts and worksheets presented here, advisors will contribute to the training of the next generation of graduate advisors.
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This paper completes a two-part series on graduate advising that integrates concepts from adult learning, leadership, and psychology into a conceptual framework for graduate advising. The companion paper discussed how to establish a learning-centered working relationship where advisor and graduate student collaborate in different roles to develop the student’s competence and confidence in all aspects of becoming a scientist. To put these ideas into practice, an advisor and a student need to communicate effectively. Here, we focus on the dynamics of day-to-day interactions and discuss (1) how to provide feedback that builds students’ competence and confidence, (2) how to choose the way we communicate and avoid a mismatch between verbal and nonverbal communication, and (3) how to prevent and resolve conflict. Miscommunication may happen out of a lack of understanding of the psychological aspects of human interactions. Therefore, we draw on concepts from Educational Transactional Analysis to provide advisors and students with an understanding of the psychological aspects of graduate advising as a basis for effective communication. Case studies illustrate the relevance of the concepts presented, and four worksheets (Supplementary Material) support their practical implementation.
Communications
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This short communication focuses on exploiting the inherent advantages of discrete wavelet transformation (DWT) as a diagnostic tool for post-processing and for identifying the faults that occur in the standard high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission network. In particular, a set of investigations are developed and examined for single-line-to-ground fault on the generation and on the load side converter, and DC-link fault. For this purpose, a standard 12-pulse line-commutated converter (LCC)-HVDC transmission network along with the DWT algorithm is numerically modeled in the MATLAB/PLECS simulation software. Furthermore, in this paper, a set of designed faulty conditions are predicted using the output of DWT and the results of numerical simulation are presented. Results are in good agreement with expectations to prove that DWT is an effective tool for fault diagnostics.
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Deadly outbreaks and illnesses due to Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) occur worldwide; however, the cultivation methods required for adequate monitoring and traceback investigations are inefficient at best. Detection of STEC relies heavily on enrichment; yet no standard media or protocols exist. Furthermore, whether enrichment may bias detection of multiple STEC serogroups from complex samples is unknown. Thus, 14 STEC strains of serogroups O157 and the top six non-O157s (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145) were enriched in pairs for 6–78 h in broth and evaluated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Here we show that a conventional 6-h enrichment protocol did not result in intra-species culture bias for the isolates tested. However, subsequent enrichments often produced biased cultures, with differences in the qPCR gene copy number ≥2 log10 apparent in 12%, 38%, and 52% of competitions after 30, 54, and 78 h of consecutive enrichments, respectively. Some strains were able to prevail and (or) out-compete the opponent strain in 100% of competitions. Our results suggest that culture bias should be considered and (or) evaluated further due to the potential implications during routine pathogen screening and outbreak investigations.
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January 2024
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