Human-generated noise pollution now permeates natural habitats worldwide, presenting evolutionarily novel acoustic conditions unprecedented to most landscapes. These acoustics not only harm humans, ...but threaten wildlife, and especially birds, via changes to species densities, foraging behavior, reproductive success, and predator-prey interactions. Explanations for negative effects of noise on birds include disruption of acoustic communication through energetic masking, potentially forcing species that rely upon acoustic communication to abandon otherwise suitable areas. However, this hypothesis has not been adequately tested because confounding stimuli often co-vary with noise and are difficult to separate from noise exposure.
Using a natural experiment that controls for confounding stimuli, we evaluate whether species vocal features or urban-tolerance classifications explain their responses to noise measured through habitat use. Two data sets representing nesting and abundance responses reveal that noise filters bird communities nonrandomly. Signal duration and urban tolerance failed to explain species-specific responses, but birds with low-frequency signals that are more susceptible to masking from noise avoided noisy areas and birds with higher frequency vocalizations remained. Signal frequency was also negatively correlated with body mass, suggesting that larger birds may be more sensitive to noise due to the link between body size and vocal frequency.
Our findings suggest that acoustic masking by noise may be a strong selective force shaping the ecology of birds worldwide. Larger birds with lower frequency signals may be excluded from noisy areas, whereas smaller species persist via transmission of higher frequency signals. We discuss our findings as they relate to interspecific relationships among body size, vocal amplitude and frequency and suggest that they are immediately relevant to the global problem of increases in noise by providing critical insight as to which species traits influence tolerance of these novel acoustics.
The current classification of patients with New York Heart Association Class IV symptoms does not offer adequate description to allow optimal selection of patients for the current options of medical ...and pacing therapies, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support.
Seven clinical profiles and an arrhythmia modifier were developed and implemented into the first year of data collection for the Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS). The INTERMACS Coordinators' Council provided ongoing feedback regarding the characterization of patients receiving implantable devices.
The definition of 7 clinical profiles revealed that 80% of current devices are being used in the 2 profiles with the highest levels of clinical compromise. The INTERMACS Coordinators' Council helped to identify gaps in the characterization of hospitalized patients on temporary assist devices and of homebound patients with resting symptoms, which has led to revised definitions of Profile 3 and 4 and the addition of 2 new modifiers, for temporary circulatory support devices in the hospital, and for frequent rehospitalization of patients at home.
Patients considered for mechanical circulatory support can now be classified using the 7 profiles plus 3 modifiers developed through INTERMACS. Further understanding these profiles and their impact on outcome should help to better select patients and therapies in the advanced stages of disease.
Here, we introduce Traffic Ear, an acoustic sensor pack that determines the engine noise of each passing vehicle without interrupting traffic flow. The device consists of an array of microphones ...combined with a computer vision camera. The class and speed of passing vehicles were estimated using sound wave analysis, image processing, and machine learning algorithms. We compared the traffic composition estimated with the Traffic Ear sensor with that recorded using an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera and found a high level of agreement between the two approaches for determining the vehicle type and fuel, with uncertainties of 1-4%. We also developed a new bottom-up assessment approach that used the noise analysis provided by the Traffic Ear sensor along with the extensively detailed urban mobility maps that were produced using the geospatial and temporal mapping of urban mobility (GeoSTMUM) approach. It was applied to vehicles travelling on roads in the West Midlands region of the UK. The results showed that the reduction in traffic engine noise over the whole of the study road was over 8% during rush hours, while the weekday-weekend effect had a deterioration effect of almost half. Traffic noise factors (dB/m) on a per-vehicle basis were almost always higher on motorways compared the other roads studied.
Telematics data, primarily collected from on-board vehicle devices (OBDs), has been utilised in this study to generate a thorough understanding of driving behaviour. The urban case study area is the ...large metropolitan region of the West Midlands, UK, but the approach is generalizable and translatable to other global urban regions. The new approach of GeoSpatial and Temporal Mapping of Urban Mobility (GeoSTMUM) is used to convert telematics data into driving metrics, including the relative time the vehicle fleet spends idling, cruising, accelerating, and decelerating. The telematics data is also used to parameterize driving volatility and aggressiveness, which are key factors within road safety, which is a global issue. Two approaches to defining aggressive driving are applied and assessed, they are vehicle jerk (the second derivative of vehicle speed), and the profile of speed versus acceleration/deceleration. The telematics-based approach has a very high spatial resolution (15-150 m) and temporal resolution (2 h), which can be used to develop more accurate driving cycles. The approach allows for the determination of road segments with the highest potential for aggressive driving and highlights where additional safety measures could beneficially be adopted. Results highlight the strong correlation between vehicle road occupancy and aggressive driving.
Durable left ventricular assist device therapy is an increasingly accepted surgical therapy for advanced heart failure refractory to guideline-directed medical therapy. Right heart failure is a known ...and frequent complication after durable left ventricular assist device implantation and remains an important clinical challenge. Medical management of right heart failure after left ventricular assist device therapy focuses on improving right ventricular contractility and optimizing right ventricular preload and afterload. Mechanical circulatory support options include surgical and percutaneous devices options as well as the total artificial heart or heart transplantation. Early institution of therapy is necessary to reduce the morbidity and mortality.
Humans have drastically changed much of the world's acoustic background with anthropogenic sounds that are markedly different in pitch and amplitude than sounds in most natural habitats
1–4. This ...novel acoustic background may be detrimental for many species, particularly birds
1. We evaluated conservation concerns that noise limits bird distributions and reduces nesting success via a natural experiment to isolate the effects of noise from confounding stimuli and to control for the effect of noise on observer detection biases
5. We show that noise alone reduces nesting species richness and leads to different avian communities. Contrary to expectations, noise indirectly facilitates reproductive success of individuals nesting in noisy areas as a result of the disruption of predator-prey interactions. The higher reproductive success for birds within noisy habitats may be a previously unrecognized factor contributing to the success of urban-adapted species and the loss of birds less tolerant of noise. Additionally, our findings suggest that noise can have cascading consequences for communities through altered species interactions. Given that noise pollution is becoming ubiquitous throughout much of the world, knowledge of species-specific responses to noise and the cumulative effects of these novel acoustics may be crucial to understanding and managing human-altered landscapes.
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