Diets of mammalian herbivores in Australian arid shrublands: seasonal effects on overlap between red kangaroos, sheep and rabbits and on dietary niche breadths and electivities

A software tool was developed to determine what is accomplished as the result of truck weight enforcement efforts. Traditionally applied measures (e.g., numbers of trucks weighed and citations issued) have simply provided indications of enforcement effort. These previously applied measures failed to provide results in terms of real enforcement objectives, such as deterring overweight trucks and minimizing pavement wear and tear. Consequently the need exists to develop and validate truck weight enforcement measures of effectiveness (MOE). MOEs were developed via a series of analytical procedures. They were subsequently validated in a comprehensive four-state field evaluation. Matched (weigh-in-motion) (WIM) data sets, collected under controlled baseline and enforcement conditions, were analyzed to determine the sensitivity of candidate MOEs to actual enforcement activity. Data collection conditions were controlled in order to avoid contamination from hour-of-day, day-of-week, and seasonal effects. The following MOEs, were validated on the basis of their demonstrated sensitivity to truck weight enforcement objectives and the presence of enforcement activity: (1) severity of overweight violations, (2) proportion of overweight trucks, (3) average equivalent single-axle load (ESAL), (4) excess ESALs, and (5) bridge formula violations. These measures are sensitive to legal load-limit compliance objectives of truck weight enforcement procedures as well as the potential for overweight trucks to produce pavement deterioration. The software User Guide that statistically compares calculated MOEs between observed enforcement conditions is described in this paper. The User Guide also allows users to conduct an automated pavement design life analysis estimating, the theoretical pavement-life effect resulting from the observed enforcement activity.

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Regional and Seasonal Effects on Contributions by US Households: An Analysis of the 2004 Consumer Expenditure Survey

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.916100 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

Diane Hite ◽

Jeanne K. Lindsey

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Effects ◽

Consumer Expenditure ◽

Consumer Expenditure Survey ◽

Expenditure Survey

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The Seasonal End of Human Coronavirus Hospital Admissions with Implications for SARS-CoV-2 (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.21223 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alan T Evangelista

Keyword(s):

Hospital Admissions ◽

Disease Incidence ◽

Influenza Viruses ◽

Seasonal Effects ◽

Human Coronavirus ◽

Enveloped Virus ◽

Multiplex Pcr Assay ◽

Contact Transmission ◽

Human Coronaviruses

UNSTRUCTURED The seasonality of influenza viruses and endemic human coronaviruses was tracked over an 8-year period to assess key epidemiologic reduction points in disease incidence for an urban area in the northeast United States. Patients admitted to a pediatric hospital with worsening respiratory symptoms were tested using a multiplex PCR assay from nasopharyngeal swabs. The additive seasonal effects of outdoor temperatures and indoor relative humidity (RH) were evaluated. The 8-year average peak activity of human coronaviruses occurred in the first week of January, when droplet and contact transmission was enabled by the low indoor RH of 20-30%. Previous studies have shown that an increase in RH to 50% has been associated with markedly reduced viability and transmission of influenza virus and animal coronaviruses. As disease incidence was reduced by 50% in early March, to 75% in early April, to greater than 99% at the end of April, a relationship was observed from colder temperatures in January with a low indoor RH to a gradual increase in outdoor temperatures in April with an indoor RH of 45-50%. As a lipid-bound, enveloped virus with similar size characteristics to endemic human coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 should be subject to the same dynamics of reduced viability and transmission with increased humidity. In addition to the major role of social distancing, the transition from lower to higher indoor RH with increasing outdoor temperatures could have an additive effect on the decrease in SARS-CoV-2 cases in May. Over the 8-year period of this study, human coronavirus activity was either zero or >99% reduction in the months of June through September, and the implication would be that SARS-Cov-2 may follow a similar pattern. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.15.20103416

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Have Niche, Will Travel. New Means of Linking Diet and Ecomorphology Reveals Niche Conservatism in Freshwater Cottoid Fishes

Integrative Organismal Biology ◽

10.1093/iob/obz023 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

T J Buser ◽

D L Finnegan ◽

A P Summers ◽

M A Kolmann

Keyword(s):

Niche Conservatism ◽

Freshwater Species ◽

Evolutionary Transitions ◽

Adaptive Diversification ◽

Functional Aspects ◽

Ecological Evolution ◽

Jaw Apparatus ◽

Cottoid Fishes ◽

Freshwater Habitats ◽

Dietary Niche

Synopsis Evolutionary transitions between habitats have been catalysts for some of the most stunning examples of adaptive diversification, with novel niches and new resources providing ecological opportunity for such radiations. In aquatic animals, transitions from saltwater to freshwater habitats are rare, but occur often enough that in the Neotropics for example, marine-derived fishes contribute noticeably to regional ichthyofaunal diversity. Here, we investigate how morphology has evolved in a group of temperate fishes that contain a marine to freshwater transition: the sculpins (Percomorpha; Cottoidea). We devised a novel method for classifying dietary niche and relating functional aspects of prey to their predators. Coupled with functional measurements of the jaw apparatus in cottoids, we explored whether freshwater sculpins have fundamentally changed their niche after invading freshwater (niche lability) or if they retain a niche similar to their marine cousins (niche conservatism). Freshwater sculpins exhibit both phylogeographical and ecological signals of phylogenetic niche conservatism, meaning that regardless of habitat, sculpins fill similar niche roles in either saltwater or freshwater. Rather than competition guiding niche conservatism in freshwater cottoids, we argue that strong intrinsic constraints on morphological and ecological evolution are at play, contra to other studies of diversification in marine-derived freshwater fishes. However, several intertidal and subtidal sculpins as well as several pelagic freshwater species from Lake Baikal show remarkable departures from the typical sculpin bauplan. Our method of prey categorization provides an explicit, quantitative means of classifying dietary niche for macroevolutionary studies, rather than relying on somewhat arbitrary means used in previous literature.

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Fire modelling in Tasmanian buttongrass moorlands. III. Dead fuel moisture

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf01025 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 241 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Jon B. Marsden-Smedley ◽

Wendy R. Catchpole

Keyword(s):

Prediction Model ◽

Regression Model ◽

Fire Management ◽

Prediction Models ◽

Dew Point ◽

Seasonal Effects ◽

Experimental Program ◽

Fuel Moisture ◽

Fire Behaviour ◽

Fire Modelling

An experimental program was carried out in Tasmanian buttongrass moorlands to develop fire behaviour prediction models for improving fire management. This paper describes the results of the fuel moisture modelling section of this project. A range of previously developed fuel moisture prediction models are examined and three empirical dead fuel moisture prediction models are developed. McArthur’s grassland fuel moisture model gave equally good predictions as a linear regression model using humidity and dew-point temperature. The regression model was preferred as a prediction model as it is inherently more robust. A prediction model based on hazard sticks was found to have strong seasonal effects which need further investigation before hazard sticks can be used operationally.

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Exploratory Analysis of Pedestrian Road Trauma in Finland

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13126715 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 6715

Author(s):

Steve O’Hern ◽

Roni Utriainen ◽

Hanne Tiikkaja ◽

Markus Pöllänen ◽

Niina Sihvola

Keyword(s):

Cluster Analysis ◽

Motor Vehicle ◽

Seasonal Effects ◽

Unique Element ◽

Driver Behaviour ◽

Crash Data ◽

Safety Issues ◽

Key Issues ◽

Development Goals ◽

Pedestrian Crashes

In Finland, all fatal on-road and off-road motor vehicle crashes are subject to an in-depth investigation coordinated by the Finnish Crash Data Institute (OTI). This study presents an exploratory and two-step cluster analysis of fatal pedestrian crashes between 2010 and 2019 that were subject to in-depth investigations. In total, 281 investigations occurred across Finland between 2010 and 2019. The highest number of cases were recorded in the Uusimaa region, including Helsinki, representing 26.4% of cases. Females (48.0%) were involved in fewer cases than males; however, older females represented the most commonly injured demographic. A unique element to the patterns of injury in this study is the seasonal effects, with the highest proportion of crashes investigated in winter and autumn. Cluster analysis identified four unique clusters. Clusters were characterised by crashes involving older pedestrians crossing in low-speed environments, crashes in higher speed environments away from pedestrian crossings, crashes on private roads or in parking facilities, and crashes involving intoxicated pedestrians. The most common recommendations from the investigation teams to improve safety were signalisation and infrastructure upgrades of pedestrian crossings, improvements to street lighting, advanced driver assistance (ADAS) technologies, and increased emphasis on driver behaviour and training. The findings highlight road safety issues that need to be addressed to reduce pedestrian trauma in Finland, including provision of safer crossing facilities for elderly pedestrians, improvements to parking and shared facilities, and addressing issues of intoxicated pedestrians. Efforts to remedy these key issues will further Finland’s progression towards meeting Vision Zero targets while creating a safer and sustainable urban environment in line with the United Nations sustainable development goals.

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The effects of seasons and weather on sleep patterns measured through longitudinal multimodal sensing

npj Digital Medicine ◽

10.1038/s41746-021-00435-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Stephen M. Mattingly ◽

Ted Grover ◽

Gonzalo J. Martinez ◽

Talayeh Aledavood ◽

Pablo Robles-Granda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sleep Duration ◽

Seasonal Effects ◽

Sleep Patterns ◽

Sleep Habits ◽

Sleep Behavior ◽

Weather Effects ◽

Wake Time ◽

Multimodal Sensing ◽

Four Seasons ◽

Local Weather

AbstractPrevious studies of seasonal effects on sleep have yielded unclear results, likely due to methodological differences and limitations in data size and/or quality. We measured the sleep habits of 216 individuals across the U.S. over four seasons for slightly over a year using objective, continuous, and unobtrusive measures of sleep and local weather. In addition, we controlled for demographics and trait-like constructs previously identified to correlate with sleep behavior. We investigated seasonal and weather effects of sleep duration, bedtime, and wake time. We found several small but statistically significant effects of seasonal and weather effects on sleep patterns. We observe the strongest seasonal effects for wake time and sleep duration, especially during the spring season: wake times are earlier, and sleep duration decreases (compared to the reference season winter). Sleep duration also modestly decreases when day lengths get longer (between the winter and summer solstice). Bedtimes and wake times tend to be slightly later as outdoor temperature increases.

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Contrasting capabilities of two ungulate species to cope with extremes of aridity

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-83732-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Melinda Boyers ◽

Francesca Parrini ◽

Norman Owen-Smith ◽

Barend F. N. Erasmus ◽

Robyn S. Hetem

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

High Water ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Body Temperatures ◽

Wet Season ◽

Trade Off ◽

Ambient Temperatures ◽

Mammalian Herbivores ◽

Dry Seasons ◽

Connochaetes Taurinus

AbstractSouthern Africa is expected to experience increased frequency and intensity of droughts through climate change, which will adversely affect mammalian herbivores. Using bio-loggers, we tested the expectation that wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), a grazer with high water-dependence, would be more sensitive to drought conditions than the arid-adapted gemsbok (Oryx gazella gazella). The study, conducted in the Kalahari, encompassed two hot-dry seasons with similar ambient temperatures but differing rainfall patterns during the preceding wet season. In the drier year both ungulates selected similar cooler microclimates, but wildebeest travelled larger distances than gemsbok, presumably in search of water. Body temperatures in both species reached lower daily minimums and higher daily maximums in the drier season but daily fluctuations were wider in wildebeest than in gemsbok. Lower daily minimum body temperatures displayed by wildebeest suggest that wildebeest were under greater nutritional stress than gemsbok. Moving large distances when water is scarce may have compromised the energy balance of the water dependent wildebeest, a trade-off likely to be exacerbated with future climate change.

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