Policy impacts of ecosystem services knowledge Posner, Stephen M.; McKenzie, Emily; Ricketts, Taylor H.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
02/2016, Letnik:
113, Številka:
7
Journal Article
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Research about ecosystem services (ES) often aims to generate knowledge that influences policies and institutions for conservation and human development. However, we have limited understanding of how ...decision-makers use ES knowledge or what factors facilitate use. Here we address this gap and report on, to our knowledge, the first quantitative analysis of the factors and conditions that explain the policy impact of ES knowledge. We analyze a global sample of cases where similar ES knowledge was generated and applied to decision-making. We first test whether attributes of ES knowledge themselves predict different measures of impact on decisions. We find that legitimacy of knowledge is more often associated with impact than either the credibility or salience of the knowledge. We also examine whether predictor variables related to the science-to-policy process and the contextual conditions of a case are significant in predicting impact. Our findings indicate that, although many factors are important, attributes of the knowledge and aspects of the science-to-policy process that enhance legitimacy best explain the impact of ES science on decision-making. Our results are consistent with both theory and previous qualitative assessments in suggesting that the attributes and perceptions of scientific knowledge and process within which knowledge is coproduced are important determinants of whether that knowledge leads to action.
UK Biobank is a major prospective epidemiological study, including multimodal brain imaging, genetics and ongoing health outcomes. Previously, we published genome-wide associations of 3,144 brain ...imaging-derived phenotypes, with a discovery sample of 8,428 individuals. Here we present a new open resource of genome-wide association study summary statistics, using the 2020 data release, almost tripling the discovery sample size. We now include the X chromosome and new classes of imaging-derived phenotypes (subcortical volumes and tissue contrast). Previously, we found 148 replicated clusters of associations between genetic variants and imaging phenotypes; in this study, we found 692, including 12 on the X chromosome. We describe some of the newly found associations, focusing on the X chromosome and autosomal associations involving the new classes of imaging-derived phenotypes. Our novel associations implicate, for example, pathways involved in the rare X-linked STAR (syndactyly, telecanthus and anogenital and renal malformations) syndrome, Alzheimer's disease and mitochondrial disorders.
We present a detailed stellar population analysis of 11 bright (H < 26.6) galaxies at z=9−11 (three spectroscopically confirmed) to constrain the chemical enrichment and growth of stellar mass of ...early galaxies. We use the flexible Bayesian spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code Prospector with a range of star-formation histories (SFHs), a flexible dust attenuation law and a self-consistent modeling of emission lines. This approach allows us to assess how different priors affect our results, and how well we can break degeneracies between dust attenuation, stellar ages, metallicity and emission lines using data which probe only the rest-frame ultraviolet to optical wavelengths. We measure a median observed ultraviolet spectral slope β= −1.87+0.35−0.43 for relatively massive star-forming galaxies (9<log(M?/M)<10), consistent with no change from z=4 to z=9−10 at these stellar masses, implying rapid enrichment. Our SED-fitting results are consistent with a star-forming main sequence with sub-linear slope (0.7±0.2) and specific star-formation rates of 3−10 Gyr−1. However, the stellar ages and SFHs are less well constrained. Using different SFH priors, we cannot distinguish between median mass-weighted ages of ∼50−150 Myr, which corresponds to 50% formation redshifts of z50∼10−12 atz∼9 and is of the order of the dynamical timescales of these systems. Importantly, the models with different SFH priors are able to fit the data equally well. We conclude that the current observational data cannot tightly constrain the mass-buildup timescales of these z=9−11 galaxies, with our results consistent with SFHs implying both a shallow and steep increase of the cosmic SFR density with time at z >10
Stroke is the world's second leading cause of mortality, with a high incidence of severe morbidity in surviving victims. There are currently relatively few treatment options available to minimize ...tissue death following a stroke. As such, there is a pressing need to explore, at a molecular, cellular, tissue, and whole body level, the mechanisms leading to damage and death of CNS tissue following an ischemic brain event. This review explores the etiology and pathogenesis of ischemic stroke, and provides a general model of such. The pathophysiology of cerebral ischemic injury is explained, and experimental animal models of global and focal ischemic stroke, and in vitro cellular stroke models, are described in detail along with experimental strategies to analyze the injuries. In particular, the technical aspects of these stroke models are assessed and critically evaluated, along with detailed descriptions of the current best-practice murine models of ischemic stroke. Finally, we review preclinical studies using different strategies in experimental models, followed by an evaluation of results of recent, and failed attempts of neuroprotection in human clinical trials. We also explore new and emerging approaches for the prevention and treatment of stroke. In this regard, we note that single-target drug therapies for stroke therapy, have thus far universally failed in clinical trials. The need to investigate new targets for stroke treatments, which have pleiotropic therapeutic effects in the brain, is explored as an alternate strategy, and some such possible targets are elaborated. Developing therapeutic treatments for ischemic stroke is an intrinsically difficult endeavour. The heterogeneity of the causes, the anatomical complexity of the brain, and the practicalities of the victim receiving both timely and effective treatment, conspire against developing effective drug therapies. This should in no way be a disincentive to research, but instead, a clarion call to intensify efforts to ameliorate suffering and death from this common health catastrophe. This review aims to summarize both the present experimental and clinical state-of-the art, and to guide future research directions.
Abstract
We present the data release and data reduction process for the Epoch 1 NIRCam observations for the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS). These data consist of NIRCam imaging ...in six broadband filters (F115W, F150W, F200W, F277W, F356W and F444W) and one medium-band filter (F410M) over four pointings, obtained in parallel with primary CEERS MIRI observations. We reduced the NIRCam imaging with the JWST Calibration Pipeline, with custom modifications and reduction steps designed to address additional features and challenges with the data. Here we provide a detailed description of each step in our reduction and a discussion of future expected improvements. Our reduction process includes corrections for known prelaunch issues such as 1/
f
noise, as well as in-flight issues including snowballs, wisps, and astrometric alignment. Many of our custom reduction processes were first developed with prelaunch simulated NIRCam imaging over the full 10 CEERS NIRCam pointings. We present a description of the creation and reduction of this simulated data set in the Appendix. We provide mosaics of the real images in a public release, as well as our reduction scripts with detailed explanations to allow users to reproduce our final data products. These represent one of the first official public data sets released from the Directors Discretionary Early Release Science (DD-ERS) program.
The original Human Connectome Project yielded a rich data set on structural and functional connectivity in a large sample of healthy young adults using improved methods of data acquisition, analysis, ...and sharing. More recent efforts are extending this approach to include infants, children, older adults, and brain disorders. This paper introduces and describes the Human Connectome Project in Aging (HCP-A), which is currently recruiting 1200 + healthy adults aged 36 to 100+, with a subset of 600 + participants returning for longitudinal assessment. Four acquisition sites using matched Siemens Prisma 3T MRI scanners with centralized quality control and data analysis are enrolling participants. Data are acquired across multimodal imaging and behavioral domains with a focus on factors known to be altered in advanced aging. MRI acquisitions include structural (whole brain and high resolution hippocampal) plus multiband resting state functional (rfMRI), task fMRI (tfMRI), diffusion MRI (dMRI), and arterial spin labeling (ASL). Behavioral characterization includes cognitive (such as processing speed and episodic memory), psychiatric, metabolic, and socioeconomic measures as well as assessment of systemic health (with a focus on menopause via hormonal assays). This dataset will provide a unique resource for examining how brain organization and connectivity changes across typical aging, and how these differences relate to key characteristics of aging including alterations in hormonal status and declining memory and general cognition. A primary goal of the HCP-A is to make these data freely available to the scientific community, supported by the Connectome Coordination Facility (CCF) platform for data quality assurance, preprocessing and basic analysis, and shared via the NIMH Data Archive (NDA). Here we provide the rationale for our study design and sufficient details of the resource for scientists to plan future analyses of these data. A companion paper describes the related Human Connectome Project in Development (HCP-D, Somerville et al., 2018), and the image acquisition protocol common to both studies (Harms et al., 2018).
•The Lifespan Human Connectome Project-Aging (HCP-A) project is collecting multimodal MRI and behavioral data from 1200 + participants aged 36–100+.•MRI includes structural, resting state fMRI, task fMRI, diffusion, and arterial spin labeled imaging.•Bio-behavioral assessments include cognitive, psychiatric, metabolic, socioeconomic, and systemic health characterization.•600 + participants will receive a longitudinal follow-up at 20–24 months.•These data will become a public resource to enable in-depth studies of typical brain aging.
Although ethnic and racial identity (ERI) are central to the normative development of youth of color, there have been few efforts to bring scholars together to discuss the theoretical complexities of ...these constructs and provide a synthesis of existing work. The Ethnic and Racial Identity in the 21st Century Study Group was assembled for this purpose. This article provides an overview of the interface of ERI with developmental and contextual issues across development, with an emphasis on adolescence and young adulthood. It proposes a metaconstruct to capture experiences that reflect both individuals' ethnic background and their racialized experiences in a specific sociohistorical context. Finally, it presents milestones in the development of ERI across developmental periods.
The second edition of The Routledge Companion to Race and Ethnicity offers readers a broad overview of scholarly exploration of the ways that humans have organized themselves (and have been ...organized) according to racial and ethnic divisions. More than 80 scholars from around the world and representing multiple academic traditions contribute entries to this accessible yet sophisticated volume that addresses contemporary issues in historical context. The first half of the book challenges readers to grapple with some of the most controversial aspects of categorization, prejudice and discrimination through focused chapters ranging from the notion of Whiteness to the supposed biological rationale for racial categorization. The second half is comprised of 70 shorter entries on specialized concepts, persons and groups that are crucial to understanding these issues. Taken as a whole, this volume provides a broad, multi-disciplinary and global overview of issues that continue to provide challenges to notions of equality and justice.
Abstract
We report on the discovery of two low-luminosity, broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at
z
> 5 identified using JWST NIRSpec spectroscopy from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science ...(CEERS) survey. We detect broad H
α
emission in the spectra of both sources, with FWHM of 2060 ± 290 km s
−1
and 1800 ± 200 km s
−1
, resulting in virial black hole (BH) masses that are 1–2 dex below those of existing samples of luminous quasars at
z
> 5. The first source, CEERS 2782 at
z
= 5.242, is 2–3 dex fainter than known quasars at similar redshifts and was previously identified as a candidate low-luminosity AGN based on its morphology and rest-frame optical spectral energy distribution (SED). We measure a BH mass of
M
BH
= (1.3 ± 0.4) × 10
7
M
⊙
, confirming that this AGN is powered by the least massive BH known in the Universe at the end of cosmic reionization. The second source, CEERS 746 at
z
= 5.624, is inferred to be a heavily obscured, broad-line AGN caught in a transition phase between a dust-obscured starburst and an unobscured quasar. We estimate its BH mass to be in the range of
M
BH
≃ (0.9–4.7) × 10
7
M
⊙
, depending on the level of dust obscuration assumed. We perform SED fitting to derive host stellar masses,
M
⋆
, allowing us to place constraints on the BH–galaxy mass relationship in the lowest mass range yet probed in the early Universe. The
M
BH
/
M
⋆
ratio for CEERS 2782, in particular, is consistent with or higher than the empirical relationship seen in massive galaxies at
z
= 0. We examine the narrow emission line ratios of both sources and find that their location on the BPT and OHNO diagrams is consistent with model predictions for moderately low metallicity AGNs with
Z
/
Z
⊙
≃ 0.2–0.4. The spectroscopic identification of low-luminosity, broad-line AGNs at
z
> 5 with
M
BH
≃ 10
7
M
⊙
demonstrates the capability of JWST to push BH masses closer to the range predicted for the BH seed population and provides a unique opportunity to study the early stages of BH–galaxy assembly.
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