The effective analysis of Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) data has the potential to determine spatial and temporal variations in ecosystem health and species presence if automated detection and ...classification algorithms are capable of discrimination between marine species and the presence of anthropogenic and environmental noise. Extracting more than a single sound source or call type will enrich our understanding of the interaction between biological, anthropogenic and geophonic soundscape components in the marine environment. Advances in extracting ecologically valuable cues from the marine environment, embedded within the soundscape, are limited by the time required for manual analyses and the accuracy of existing algorithms when applied to large PAM datasets. In this work, a deep learning model is trained for multi-class marine sound source detection using cloud computing to explore its utility for extracting sound sources for use in marine mammal conservation and ecosystem monitoring. A training set is developed comprising existing datasets amalgamated across geographic, temporal and spatial scales, collected across a range of acoustic platforms. Transfer learning is used to fine-tune an open-source state-of-the-art ‘small-scale’ convolutional neural network (CNN) to detect odontocete tonal and broadband call types and vessel noise (from 0 to 48 kHz). The developed CNN architecture uses a custom image input to exploit the differences in temporal and frequency characteristics between each sound source. Each sound source is identified with high accuracy across various test conditions, including variable signal-to-noise-ratio. We evaluate the effect of ambient noise on detector performance, outlining the importance of understanding the variability of the regional soundscape for which it will be deployed. Our work provides a computationally low-cost, efficient framework for mining big marine acoustic data, for information on temporal scales relevant to the management of marine protected areas and the conservation of vulnerable species.
Imaging of the sea floor offshore from Hartland Point (north Devon, U.K.), using high resolution multibeam bathymetry, reveals a strike-slip fault network. This consists of NE-trending left-lateral ...faults and NW-trending right-lateral faults that cut folded and steeply dipping strata (~60°). Faults were accurately mapped using the multibeam imagery, and lateral separations of marker beds measured along fault traces. These data are used to examine the spatial arrangement, fault displacement, and strain distribution within the network at different displacement cut-offs.
At high displacement cut-offs, the fault network is dominated by a few long isolated right-lateral fault segments that bound fault blocks, but at lower displacement cut-offs shorter left-lateral and right-lateral fault segments make up fault tips and infill fault blocks. The majority (70%) of fault trace-length is taken up by small fault segments that have <10m displacement whereas 84% of strain is localized onto large fault segments with >10m displacement. The topology and relative connectivity of the network is analysed in terms of a system of fault branches between tips (I-nodes) or intersections (X or Y-nodes), the relative proportions of which reflect the connectivity of the network. Although the kinematic behaviour of the fault network is controlled by large fault segments, connectivity is very dependent on the small fault segments.
A comparison with a similar, nearby, strike-slip fault network at Westward Ho! (north Devon) shows many similarities and indicates that fault networks are better connected with increasing strain and that the network becomes better connected when strain is localized within damage zones rather than on individual faults.
► High resolution multibeam bathymetry is used to map a strike-slip fault network. ► Strain is localized onto faults with ≥10m displacement. ► Connectivity is very dependent on faults with <10m displacement. ► The fault networks are better connected with increases in strain. ► Fault networks with strain localized to damage zones are better connected.
Assessing and reporting the quality of care provided are increasingly important in palliative care, but we currently lack practical, efficient approaches for collection and reporting.
In response, ...the Global Palliative Care Quality Alliance ("Alliance") sought to create a Quality Data Collection Tool for Palliative Care (QDACT-PC).
We collaboratively and iteratively developed QDACT-PC, an electronic, point-of-care quality monitoring system for palliative care that supports prospective quality assessment and reporting in any clinical setting. QDACT-PC is the web-based data collection and reporting interface. Quality measures selected to be used in QDACT-PC were derived from a systematic review summarizing all published palliative care quality measure sets; Alliance clinical providers prioritized measures to be included in QDACT-PC to ensure maximal clinical relevance. Data elements and variables required to ascertain conformance to all selected quality measures were included in the QDACT-PC data dictionary. Whenever possible, variables collected in QDACT-PC align with validated surveys and/or nationally recognized common data elements. QDACT-PC data elements and software programmed business rules inform real-time assessments of conformance to selected quality measures. Data are deposited into a centralized registry for future analyses.
QDACT-PC can be used to report on >80% of all published palliative care quality measures and 100% of high-priority measure.
Electronic methods for collecting point-of-care quality monitoring data can be developed using collaborative partnerships between community and academic palliative care providers. Feasibility testing and creation of feedback reports are ongoing.
Information routinely collected during a palliative care consultation request may help predict the level of complexity of that patient encounter.
We examined whether patient and consultation ...characteristics, as captured in consultation requests, are associated with the number of unmet palliative care needs that emerge during consultation, as an indicator of complexity.
We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of palliative care consultations.
We analyzed quality-of-care data from specialty palliative care consultations contained in the Quality Data Collection Tool of the Global Palliative Care Quality Alliance from 2012 to 2017.
Using 13 point-of-care assessments of quality of life, symptoms, advance care planning, and prognosis, we created a complexity score ranging from 0 (not complex) to 13 (highest complexity). Using multivariable linear regression, we examined the relationships of consultation setting and patient characteristics with complexity score.
Patients in our cohort (
= 3121) had an average complexity score of 6.7 (standard deviation = 3.7). Female gender, nonwhite race, and neurological (e.g., dementia) and noncancer primary diagnosis were associated with increased complexity score. The hospital intensive care unit, compared with the general floor, was associated with higher complexity scores. In contrast, outpatient and residence, compared with the general floor, were associated with lower complexity scores.
Patient, disease, and care setting factors known at the time of specialty palliative care consultation request are associated with level of complexity, and they may inform teams about the right service provisions, including time and expertise, required to meet patient needs.
A system of NE trending left-lateral faults and NW-trending right-lateral faults at Westward Ho! (north Devon, U.K.) cut steeply dipping (∼60°) strata. Faults were accurately mapped in the field and ...from aerial photography, and lateral separations of marker beds measured along the fault traces. These data are used to examine the displacements within the network of interacting faults and to calculate variations in the density and relative proportions of the fault sets. The displacements are also used in a tensor analysis of the strain and, together with block rotations, used to restore the deformation. The results show a range of heterogeneity within the fault network, both in terms of the fault patterns and strain. Some sub areas show a dominance of one fault set, with regularly spaced larger displacements, separating relatively weakly deformed blocks with smaller antithetic faults. Within these areas up to 20° rotation of the faults and bedding produces a domino style deformation that accommodates up to ∼15% extension. The domino regions are separated by areas of conjugate faulting, in which both sets of faults are equally developed and have similar displacement ranges. Conjugate areas have little or no rotation of the bedding and generally lower strains than domino regions.
► Two sets of strike-slip faults have Y- and X- intersections and form a network. ► The strike-slip network consists of conjugate, antithetic and synthetic systems. ► Conjugate faulting has two fault sets, little or no rotation of fault blocks. ► Domino faulting is characterised by rotation on a dominant fault set. ► Domino faulting accommodates higher strains than conjugate faulting.
SUMMARY
The young (< 5 Ma) Corinth Rift is an ideal natural laboratory to investigate rift deformation mechanisms by comparing extension rates determined by various methods spanning different depth ...and time ranges. Corinth Rift geodetic extension rates averaged over 5–100 yr have been interpreted to increase from ∼5 mm yr–1 or less in the east to >10–15 mm yr–1 in the west. We quantify total upper‐crust and whole‐crust extension on three profiles across the Corinth Rift. Whole‐crust extension is greater across the central rift (∼11–21 km) than across the western part of the rift (∼5–13 km). This correlates with the overall rift morphology, which shows maximum basement subsidence, sediment accumulation, rift width and greatest summed Late Quaternary fault displacements in the central basin, but contrasts with the pattern of geodetic extension rates which are greater to the west of the central basin. The E–W increase in strain rates interpreted from geodetic data cannot have persisted over rift history to produce the observed rift morphology. We suggest the discrepancy between short‐term and long‐term extension patterns is related to shifts in the loci of maximum extension due to fault growth and linkage during Corinth Rift history, and is likely a characteristic of rift development in general. Total upper‐crust and whole‐crust extension estimates in the western rift, where extension estimates are best constrained, are within error. We propose that uniform pure‐shear extension is a viable extension mechanism in the western rift and crustal extension estimates do not require the existence of a major active N–S dipping detachment fault.
Magmatic continental rifts show evidence that discrete rift segments experience episodic intrusive and eruptive events, more commonly termed rifting episodes. However, whether multiple rifting ...episodes across adjacent rift segments are clustered in time is not well understood. To address this issue, we conduct new radiocarbon dating that constrains the timing of the most recent rifting episode at the Boset magmatic segment of the northern Ethiopian rift, and combine this with historical dating of similar rifting events in the adjacent magmatic segments. New radiocarbon dates of multiple charcoal samples from the base of the most recent fissural lava at the Boset Volcanic Complex indicate that it likely occurred between 1812 and 1919 CE. These dates are similar to those from historical accounts of fissural eruption from the neighbouring Kone (∼1810 CE), and Fantale (∼1770 to 1808 CE) magmatic segments. We conduct new analysis of major and trace element compositions from these historical fissural lavas, as well as from a fresh-looking lava flow from Beru cone near to Kone volcano. The results of the geochemistry from these flows of all three magmatic segments show compositions that vary in the basalt and trachybasalt fields, with sufficient variation to rule out them having erupted from a single dike intrusion episode. This, combined with the scatter in dates from the radiocarbon analysis and historical accounts, along with the location of each eruption in a discrete and spatially offset magmatic segment, favours an interpretation of each magmatic segment experiencing separate rifting episodes but with these being clustered in time. Mechanisms to explain the clustering of rifting episodes are more speculative but could include stress transfer from dike intrusion and deep crustal hydraulic connection in the plumbing system of multiple segments.
Abstract Background Measuring quality of care delivery is essential to palliative care program growth and sustainability. We formed the Carolinas Consortium for Palliative Care and collected a ...quality data registry to monitor our practice and inform quality improvement efforts. Measures We analyzed all palliative care consultations in patients with cancer in our quality registry from March 2008 through October 2011 using 18 palliative care quality measures. Descriptive metric adherence was calculated after analyzing the relevant population for measurement. Intervention We used a paper-based, prospective method to monitor adherence for quality measures in a community-based palliative care consortium. Outcomes We demonstrate that measures evaluating process assessment (range 63%–100%), as opposed to interventions (range 3%–17%), are better documented. Conclusions/Lessons Learned Analyzing data on quality is feasible and valuable in community-based palliative care. Overall, processes to collect data on quality using nontechnology methods may underestimate true adherence to quality measures.
Continental rifting is a fundamental component of plate tectonics. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of magmatic activity in accommodating extension during late‐stage rifting, yet the ...mechanisms by which crustal thinning occurs are less clear. The Red Sea rift in Northern Afar presents an opportunity to study the final stages of continental rifting as these active processes are exposed subaerially. Between February 2011 and February 2013 two seismic networks were installed in Ethiopia and Eritrea. We locate 4,951 earthquakes, classify them by frequency content, and calculate 31 focal mechanisms. Results show that seismicity is focused at the rift axis and the western marginal graben. Rift axis seismicity accounts for ∼64% of the seismic moment release and exhibits a swarm‐like behavior. In contrast, seismicity at the marginal graben is characterized by high‐frequency earthquakes that occur at a constant rate. Results suggest that the rift axis remains the primary locus of seismicity. Low‐frequency earthquakes, indicative of magmatic activity, highlight the presence of a magma complex ∼12 km beneath Alu‐Dalafilla at the rift axis. Seismicity at the marginal graben predominantly occurs on westward dipping, antithetic faults. Focal mechanisms show that this seismicity is accommodating E‐W extension. We suggest that the seismic activity at the marginal graben is either caused by upper crustal faulting accommodating enhanced crustal thinning beneath Northern Afar or as a result of flexural faulting between the rift and plateau. This seismicity is occurring in conjunction with magmatic extension at the rift axis, which accommodates the majority of long‐term extension.
Key Points
Seismicity in Northern Afar is focused at the rift axis and western rift margin
Low‐frequency seismicity at the rift axis shows evidence for an ∼12 km deep magma complex
Seismicity at the western rift margin is caused by faulting associated with enhanced crustal thinning or crustal flexure
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