Summary
This paper presents the NOURISHING framework of food policies to promote healthy diets, and uses the framework to summarize the policy actions taken by the Bellagio meeting countries. ...NOURISHING was developed by WCRF International to formalize a comprehensive policy package that brings together the key domains of action and policy areas. It aims to provide global level recommendations for a comprehensive response, within which policymakers have the flexibility to select specific policy options suitable for their national/local contexts and target populations. It also aims to provide a framework for reporting, categorizing and monitoring policy actions taken around the world, and for systematically categorizing, updating, interpreting and communicating the evidence for policy to policymakers. In this paper we explain the structure for NOURISHING and the rationale behind it. We also use the framework to report on and categorize the policy actions implemented in the Bellagio countries.
Summary
Fine‐scale predator movements may be driven by many factors including sex, habitat and distribution of resources. There may also be individual preferences for certain movement strategies ...within a population which can be hard to quantify.
Within top predators, movements are also going to be directly related to the mode of hunting, for example sit‐and‐wait or actively searching for prey. Although there is mounting evidence that different hunting modes can cause opposing trophic cascades, there has been little focus on the modes used by top predators, especially those in the marine environment.
Adult white sharks (Carcharhodon carcharias) are well known to forage on marine mammal prey, particularly pinnipeds. Sharks primarily ambush pinnipeds on the surface, but there has been less focus on the strategies they use to encounter prey.
We applied mixed hidden Markov models to acoustic tracking data of white sharks in a coastal aggregation area in order to quantify changing movement states (area‐restricted searching (ARS) vs. patrolling) and the factors that influenced them. Individuals were re‐tracked over multiple days throughout a month to see whether state‐switching dynamics varied or if individuals preferred certain movement strategies.
Sharks were more likely to use ARS movements in the morning and during periods of chumming by ecotourism operators. Furthermore, the proportion of time individuals spent in the two different states and the state‐switching frequency, differed between the sexes and between individuals.
Predation attempts/success on pinnipeds were observed for sharks in both ARS and patrolling movement states and within all random effects groupings. Therefore, white sharks can use both a ‘sit‐and‐wait’ (ARS) and ‘active searching’ (patrolling) movements to ambush pinniped prey on the surface.
White sharks demonstrate individual preferences for fine‐scale movement patterns, which may be related to their use of different hunting modes. Marine top predators are generally assumed to use only one type of hunting mode, but we show that there may be a mix within populations. As such, individual variability should be considered when modelling behavioural effects of predators on prey species.
Lay Summary
We describe and implement an exact, flexible, and computationally efficient algorithm for joint component separation and CMB power spectrum estimation, building on a Gibbs sampling framework. Two ...essential new features are (1) conditional sampling of foreground spectral parameters and (2) joint sampling of all amplitude-type degrees of freedom (e.g., CMB, foreground pixel amplitudes, and global template amplitudes) given spectral parameters. Given a parametric model of the foreground signals, we estimate efficiently and accurately the exact joint foreground-CMB posterior distribution and, therefore, all marginal distributions such as the CMB power spectrum or foreground spectral index posteriors. The main limitation of the current implementation is the requirement of identical beam responses at all frequencies, which restricts the analysis to the lowest resolution of a given experiment. We outline a future generalization to multiresolution observations. To verify the method, we analyze simple models and compare the results to analytical predictions. We then analyze a realistic simulation with properties similar to the 3 yr WMAP data, downgraded to a common resolution of 3 degree FWHM. The results from the actual 3 yr WMAP temperature analysis are presented in a companion Letter.
South Africa is reputed to host the world's largest remaining population of white sharks, yet no studies have accurately determined a population estimate based on mark-recapture of live individuals. ...We used dorsal fin photographs (fin IDs) to identify white sharks in Gansbaai, South Africa, from January 2007-December 2011. We used the computer programme DARWIN to catalogue and match fin IDs of individuals; this is the first study to successfully use the software for white shark identification. The programme performed well despite a number of individual fins showing drastic changes in dorsal fin shape over time. Of 1682 fin IDs used, 532 unique individuals were identified. We estimated population size using the open-population POPAN parameterisation in Program MARK, which estimated the superpopulation size at 908 (95% confidence interval 808-1008). This estimated population size is considerably larger than those described at other aggregation areas of the species and is comparable to a previous South African population estimate conducted 16 years prior. Our assessment suggests the species has not made a marked recovery since being nationally protected in 1991. As such, additional international protection may prove vital for the long-term conservation of this threatened species.
The seasonal occurrence of white sharks visiting Gansbaai, South Africa was investigated from 2007 to 2011 using sightings from white shark cage diving boats. Generalized linear models were used to ...investigate the number of great white sharks sighted per trip in relation to sex, month, sea surface temperature and Multivariate El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Indices (MEI). Water conditions are more variable in summer than winter due to wind-driven cold water upwelling and thermocline displacement, culminating in colder water temperatures, and shark sightings of both sexes were higher during the autumn and winter months (March-August). MEI, an index to quantify the strength of Southern Oscillation, differed in its effect on the recorded numbers of male and female white sharks, with highly significant interannual trends. This data suggests that water temperature and climatic phenomena influence the abundance of white sharks at this coastal site. In this study, more females were seen in Gansbaai overall in warmer water/positive MEI years. Conversely, the opposite trend was observed for males. In cool water years (2010 to 2011) sightings of male sharks were significantly higher than in previous years. The influence of environmental factors on the physiology of sharks in terms of their size and sex is discussed. The findings of this study could contribute to bather safety programmes because the incorporation of environmental parameters into predictive models may help identify times and localities of higher risk to bathers and help mitigate human-white shark interactions.
ABSTRACT We propose an efficient Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm for estimating cosmological parameters from cosmic microwave background (CMB) data without the use of likelihood ...approximations. It builds on a previously developed Gibbs sampling framework that allows for exploration of the joint CMB sky signal and power spectrum posterior, , and addresses a long-standing problem of efficient parameter estimation simultaneously in regimes of high and low signal-to-noise ratio. To achieve this, our new algorithm introduces a joint Markov chain move in which both the signal map and power spectrum are synchronously modified, by rescaling the map according to the proposed power spectrum before evaluating the Metropolis-Hastings accept probability. Such a move was already introduced by Jewell et al., who used it to explore low signal-to-noise posteriors. However, they also found that the same algorithm is inefficient in the high signal-to-noise regime, since a brute-force rescaling operation does not account for phase information. This problem is mitigated in the new algorithm by subtracting the Wiener filter mean field from the proposed map prior to rescaling, leaving high signal-to-noise information invariant in the joint step, and effectively only rescaling the low signal-to-noise component. To explore the full posterior, the new joint move is then interleaved with a standard conditional Gibbs move for the sky map. We apply our new algorithm to simplified simulations for which we can evaluate the exact posterior to study both its accuracy and its performance, and find good agreement with the exact posterior; marginal means agree to 0.006 and standard deviations to better than ∼3%. The Markov chain correlation length is of the same order of magnitude as those obtained by other standard samplers in the field.
As microreactors evolve to become a more affordable and efficient worldwide energy source, the development of moderator material within the system to decrease the required mass of low-enriched ...uranium fuel is important. The use of low- instead of high-enriched uranium in small nuclear reactors stems from recent national policies associated with nonproliferation. New designs are being developed for a range of applications and nuclear space systems in particular. Using system geometries such as those described in this paper, the next step is to advance the technology readiness level of moderator material such as delta-yttrium hydride (YH
x,x
=
1.6-2.0
) so that it can be qualified for use in a microreactor system. Although characterization of unirradiated material has been documented previously, to fully understand the performance of this material, behavior in relevant irradiation environments must occur. This paper describes the fabrication of yttrium hydride samples through innovative techniques and how these samples were tested in two relevant neutron environments. These two experiments include (1) a critical experiment performed at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) to evaluate reactivity changes in a neutron-critical environment and (2) irradiation in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) to assess structural integrity/material form, thermophysical data, hydrogen permeability, and other features post irradiation. For this purpose, hundreds of samples were fabricated for the NCERC and ATR experiments and are described within this paper.
To assess the frequency, healthfulness and promotional techniques of television food advertising to children and adolescents in the Russian Federation.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to ...monitor food and beverage television advertising. For the five most popular TV channels among children and adolescents, TV broadcasts were recorded for two weekdays and two weekends (320 h) during March-May 2017. Recordings were screened for advertisements. Food advertisements were categorised by food categories and as either 'permitted' or 'not permitted' for advertising to children in accordance with World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe Nutrient Profile Model (NPM), and promotional techniques in advertisements were recorded.
Overall, 11 678 advertisements were coded. Across all channels, food and drink (19·2 %) were the most frequently advertised product type. The most common food categories advertised were beverages (except juices, milk drinks and energy drinks) (24·1 %); yoghurts and other dairy foods (15 %); and chocolate and confectionery (12·3 %). A majority (64·2 %) of food and drink products advertised should not be permitted for advertising to children according to the NPM. The most frequently used persuasive appeals in the food advertisements were low price (15·4 %), product novelty (11·8 %) and enjoyment (10·0 %).
Children and adolescents in the Russian Federation are likely exposed to a substantial number of unhealthy food advertisements. There is a need to consider policies to restrict children's exposure to unhealthy food advertising on television in the Russian Federation.
An animal's movement is influenced by a plethora of internal and external factors, leading to individual‐ and habitat‐specific movement characteristics. This plasticity is thought to allow ...individuals to exploit diverse environments efficiently. We tested whether the movement characteristics of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias differ across ontogeny and among habitats along the coast of Central California. In doing so, we elucidate how changes in internal state (physiological changes coinciding with body size) and external environments (differing seascapes and/or diel phases) shape the movement of this globally distributed predator. Twenty‐one white sharks, from small juveniles to large adults, were equipped with motion‐sensitive biologging tags at four contrasting seascapes: two islands, a headland, and an inshore cove. From multisensor biologging data, 20 metrics characterizing movement (i.e., depth use, vertical velocities, activity, turning rates, and bursting events) were derived and subjected to multivariate analyses. Movement characteristics were most different across seascapes, followed by ontogeny and diel phase. Juvenile sharks, which were only encountered at the cove, displayed the most distinct movement characteristics. Sharks at this seascape remained close to the shore traveling over smaller areas, shallower depth ranges, and with lower levels of tail beat frequencies, when corrected for size, than sub‐adult and adult sharks tagged elsewhere. Distinct tortuous daytime versus linear nighttime horizontal movements were recorded from sharks at island seascapes but not from those at the headland or inshore cove. At the offshore islands, the linear nighttime swimming patterns coincided with repeated dives to and from deeper water. The availability of prey and access to deeper water are likely drivers of the differences in movement characteristics described, with varying demographics of pinniped prey found at the subadult and adult aggregation areas and juvenile sharks being piscivorous and their habitat neither adjacent to pinniped haul out areas nor deeper water. This study demonstrates plasticity in the movements of a top predator, which adapts its routine to suit the habitat it forages within.
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