Cultural turnover among Galápagos sperm whales

Funding: Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland pooling initiative, which is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (#HR09011) and contributing institutions.While populations may wax and wane, it is rare for an entire population to be replaced by a completely different set of individuals. We document the large-scale relocation of cultural groups of sperm whale off the Galápagos Islands, in which two sympatric vocal clans were entirely replaced by two different ones. Between 1985 and 1999, whales from two clans (called Regular and Plus-One) defined by cultural dialects in coda vocalizations were repeatedly photo-identified off Galápagos. Their occurrence in the area declined through the 1990s; by 2000, none remained. We reassessed Galápagos sperm whales in 2013–2014, identifying 463 new females. However, re-sighting rates were low, with no matches with the Galápagos 1985–1999 population, suggesting an eastward shift to coastal areas. Their vocal repertoires matched those of two other clans (called Short and Four-Plus) found across the Pacific but previously rare or absent around Galápagos. The mechanisms behind this cultural turnover may include large-scale environmental regime shifts favouring clan-specific foraging strategies, and a response to heavy whaling in the region involving redistribution of surviving whales into high-quality habitats. The fall and rise of sperm whale cultures off Galápagos reflect the structuring of the Pacific population into large, enduring clans with dynamic ranges. Long-lasting clan membership illustrates how culture can be bound up in the structure and dynamics of animal populations and so how tracking cultural traits can reveal large-scale population shifts.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Miositis clostridial en caballo pura sangre español remitido a la clínica de equinos de la corporación universitaria lasallista en Caldas-Antioquia: Reporte de caso

La miositis clostridial es una patología de distribución mundial que afecta diferentes tipos de especies incluyendo los caballos y el hombre. El agente causal de esta enfermedad hace parte del género Clostridium spp, que genera necrosis de diferentes capas tisulares incluyendo el músculo y tejido adyacente a la zona afectada. Se describe el caso de un equino pura sangre español de 8 años de edad, la anamnesis reporta que posterior a la administración intravenosa de fenilbutazona como terapia analgésica por una alteración musculoesquelética, el paciente presentó signos clínicos compatibles con miositis clostridial con afección de otros sistemas corporales y evolución desfavorable desencadenando la muerte del paciente..

Modelagem da dinâmica populacional e social de Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea: Delphinidae)

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Florianópolis, 2011Sistemas complexos têm fascinado cientistas com sua auto-organização e propriedades emergentes. Este é um estudo em longo prazo de dois aspectos de um sistema biológico auto-organizado: a dinâmica populacional e social de Sotalia guianensis, um delfinídeo endêmico do oeste do Atlântico. A população de boto-cinza do Banco dos Abrolhos, costa leste do Brasil, oferece-se como uma boa oportunidade para modelagem de tais dinâmicas, através do tempo e espaço. Isso porque (1) o monitoramento sistemático estende-se por mais de oito anos (2002-2009), tornando evidentes mudanças demográficas de uma população aberta; e (2) porque a área de estudo abrange um hábitat altamente heterogêneo, em um gradiente de águas estuarinas internas a recifes de coral distantes da costa, o que torna a estratificação do uso do hábitat uma hipótese plausível. Em suma, este estudo tem um objetivo duplo: abordar como a população muda ao longo do tempo, fornecendo uma série de estimativas de parâmetros demográficos; e como estas mudanças afetam a estrutura social, do nível individual aos padrões da rede de interações da população. Primeiramente, o experimento de longo-prazo de marcação-recaptura (Cormack-Jolly-Seber e Desenho Robusto de Pollock) revelou uma população pequena, composta por indivíduos residentes e que temporariamente deixam ou passam pela área de estudo. Taxas de sobrevivência foram altas e constantes, o que é esperado para animais cuja expectativa de vida é muito maior que a duração do estudo. Estimativas de abundância flutuaram, possivelmente devido ao balanço entrada-saída de indivíduos, mas nenhuma tendência foi detectada. O esforço de amostragem atual apresentou alta probabilidade de detecção de declínios abruptos, uma situação mais confortável que a muitas outras populações de cetáceos. Embora ainda não sensível a variações sutis, o monitoramento poderá identificá-las com esforço adicional plausível (mais três anos). Estas mudanças populacionais encontraram-se refletidas no padrão de interações sociais. A partir da sugestão de um modelo conceitual de topologia de redes sociais de delfinídeos, uma abordagem espaço-temporal testou a estrutura da rede social de S. guianensis. Esta foi organizada em subconjuntos de indivíduos densamente conectados. O uso do espaço não pode ser atribuído à emergência destes três módulos. Por outro lado, o turnover de indivíduos na população foi o fator determinante da separação temporal das interações sociais em módulos. Dentro da escala temporal do turnover, a população seguiu uma dinâmica de fissão-fusão, caracterizada pela maioria das interações casuais e poucas associações preferidas. Os principais produtos do trabalho são como seguem: (1) Foi atestado um corpo analítico robusto, baseado em modelos de população aberta e fechada, para estimativa de diversos parâmetros demográficos baseado em dados de foto-identificação; (2) Fica salientado que fatores não-sociais podem afetar consideravelmente redes sociais não-humanas, portanto, devem ser levadas em consideração para um retrato fidedigno de sociedades com dinâmica de fissão-fusão. Tais resultados se baseam no tempo como maior fator de causa de mudança e auto-organização deste sistema complexo. Os mesmos podem inspirar pesquisa adicional, que terá implicações tanto aplicadas quanto teóricas. No primeiro caso, as análises demográficas podem ser aplicadas às demais populações de S. guianensis, para permitir comparação padronizada futura. Tal esforço conjunto permitirá uma definição adequada do status da espécie e, portanto, aperfeiçoamento dos esforços de conservação. Por fim, o modelo conceitual de redes sociais pode gerar novas hipóteses testáveis. Reconhecer os determinantes da topologia das redes sociais é um importante passo na identificação dos mecanismos atuando nos sistemas sociais. Este esforço contribui, em última instância, para abordar como características ambientais e biológicas têm interagido, moldando as diversas estruturas e dinâmicas sociais encontradas em Delphinidae.Complex systems have fascinated researchers for their self-organization and emergent properties. Here, we present a long-term study of two aspects of a biological self-organizing system: the population and social dynamics of Sotalia guianensis, an endemic delphinid of western Atlantic. The population of Guiana dolphins in the Abrolhos Bank, eastern Brazil, offers a fine opportunity for modeling such dynamics through the time and space. This is because (1) the systematic monitoring spanned for eight years (2002-2009) making demographic changes of an open population evident; and (2) the studied area encompassed a highly heterogenic habitat, in a gradient from protected inner river to offshore coral reefs, which makes a stratification of the habitat use a plausible hypothesis. In summary, this study has a twofold aim: to address how the population changes, providing a set of demographic parameter estimates, and how such changes affect the social structure, from pairwise association level to the whole population network patterns. Firstly, the long-term mark-recapture experiment (Cormack-Jolly-Seber and Pollock's Robust Design) revealed a small population, comprised of resident dolphins and individuals that temporarily leave or pass through the study area. Survival rates were high and constant, expected for animals whose life spans extend the study duration. Abundance estimates fluctuated, possibly due to balance of additions and deletions, but were no trend was detected. The current monitoring effort had high probability of detect abrupt population declines, which is a better situation than that for many other monitored cetacean stocks. Although not sensitive yet to subtle declines, the monitoring would identify such trends with feasible additional effort (additional three years). These population changes were found reflected in the patterns of social interaction. A conceptual framework for social network topology of delphinids was suggested, and had predictions tested by combining spatial, temporal and demographic approaches. The social network of Guiana dolphins was structured into a modular architecture as predicted, and the individuals' space use overlap could not be assigned as a major force driven such topology. However, the turnover of individuals in the population has temporally split the associations into the three network modules. Within the turnover temporal scale, the population followed a fission-fusion dynamics, as characterized by most fluid acquaintances and few preferred associations. Therefore, the principal outcomes of this study are as follows: (1) a robust baseline, based on open and closed population modeling, for estimating several demographic parameters was further attested to photo identification data; (2) It was highlighted that non-social factors can greatly affect non-human association networks, and should be accounted for an apposite portrayal of societies with different degrees of fission-fusion dynamics. Such results pointed the time as one of the major factors affecting the self-organization of our studied complex system. They also might inspire further research, which has both applied and theoretical implications. On the former, the suggested demographic analytical guideline may be applied to other S. guianensis populations to allow further comparisons. Such synergistic efforts will allow a reliable definition of conservation status of this species, and optimize conservation efforts. Finally, the theoretical framework of social networks may encourage new working hypothesis. Recognizing determinants of network topology is an important step towards the identification of mechanisms driving social systems. This effort, ultimately, contributes to address how environmental and biological characteristics have interacted and shaped the diversified social structure and dynamics of Delphinidae

La Persona Jurídica como Beneficiario de Derechos Fundamentales y Protección Constitucional en La Justicia Hondureña

Fundamental rights emerge as a result of the social fight of the citizens of a State seeking an effective improvement of the human conditions in which they live. Therefore, constitutional rights arise from the creation of formal Constitutions, since their historical and democratic construction through the experience from constituent processes in the US and in France allowed for the recognition and establishment of a minimum catalogue of rights that operate as a mechanism of guarantees for each individual, establishing at the same time limitations over the public or private exercise of power.  In that regard, this article aims to determine whether or not legal entities in Honduras are beneficiaries of fundamental rights, for which purpose an analysis has been considered to determine the origin, nature and purpose of fundamental rights, along with an assessment of the constitutional doctrine of the theory of attribution of entitlement to such rights, in order to observe our own constitutional and legal reality in view of the principles and purposes of our founding text, debating about the existing antinomies in the antagonistic relationship in the sphere of entitlement to fundamental rights between individuals and legal entities.Los derechos fundamentales surgen como resultado de la pugna social de los ciudadanos de un Estado por aspirar a un mejoramiento efectivo de las condiciones humanas en las que viven. De esta manera, los derechos constitucionales surgen con la creación de las mismas Constituciones formales, pues su construcción histórica y democrática a través de la experiencia de los procesos constituyentes en EEUU y Francia, permitieron el reconocimiento y establecimiento de un catálogo mínimo de derechos que sirven como mecanismo de garantía al individuo y que establece límites al ejercicio del poder, sean estos públicos o privados. En ese sentido, el presente artículo tiene por objeto determinar si la persona jurídica es beneficiaria o no de derechos fundamentales en Honduras, para lo cual se ha tomado en consideración realizar un análisis sobre el origen, naturaleza y fin de los derechos fundamentales, examinando a su vez la doctrina constitucional sobre la teoría de atribución de titularidad de estos derechos, para así observar la realidad jurídico – constitucional hondureña a la luz de los principios y fines del texto fundacional, debatiendo sobre las antinomias presentes en la relación antagónica de titularidad de derechos fundamentales entre la persona natural y jurídica

La Acción de Amparo en Honduras, Visión hacía una Protección Judicial Efectiva

The following article begins by making an analysis, description, and explanation of the evolution of the normative of one of our judicial protection’s mechanisms, and to know the action of protection. This has the objective of identifying judicial obstacles that have presented throughout the long historical development of our constitutional protection’s mechanisms, and to name the reasons why constitutional justice has become limited in its transition towards various laws that have regulated the judgement of protection.Furthermore, the international standards set by the Inter – American Court of the Human Rights in matter of judicial protection are described, with the purpose of individualizing the normative – judicial problems that are present in the current legislation of protection that determine human dignity in the light of the pro homine and maximizing integrity of the Inter - American system of protection of the human rights. All the things mentioned above is to bring upon a real perspective of the need of upgrading our regulatory normative of this constitutional guarantee and offer an effective judicial guardianship for the defense of human rights and fundamental rights of the citizens.El presente artículo principia realizando un análisis, descripción y explicación de la evolución normativa de uno de nuestros mecanismos de protección judicial, a saber, la acción de amparo, ello con el objetivo de identificar los obstáculos jurídicos que se han presentado a lo largo del desarrollo histórico de nuestro mecanismo de protección constitucional, para así precisar los motivos por los cuales la justicia constitucional se ha visto limitada en la transición de las diversas leyes que han regulado el juicio de Amparo.Asimismo, se describen los estándares internacionales fijados por la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos en materia de protección judicial, ello con el propósito de individualizar problemas jurídico – normativos presentes en la legislación vigente de amparo que condicionan la dignidad humana a la luz del  principio pro homine de protección a los derechos humanos, todo lo anterior para brindar una perspectiva real de la necesidad de modernizar nuestra normativa reguladora de esta garantía constitucional y ofrecer una tutela judicial efectiva para la defensa de los derechos humanos y derechos fundamentales de los ciudadanos

Radiographers supporting radiologists in the interpretation of screening mammography: a viable strategy to meet the shortage in the number of radiologists.

BackgroundAn alternative approach to the traditional model of radiologists interpreting screening mammography is necessary due to the shortage of radiologists to interpret screening mammograms in many countries.MethodsWe evaluated the performance of 15 Mexican radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, in the interpretation of screening mammography after a 6 months training period in a screening setting. Fifteen radiographers received 6 months standardized training with radiologists in the interpretation of screening mammography using the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) system. A challenging test set of 110 cases developed by the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium was used to evaluate their performance. We estimated sensitivity, specificity, false positive rates, likelihood ratio of a positive test (LR+) and the area under the subject-specific Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for diagnostic accuracy. A mathematical model simulating the consequences in costs and performance of two hypothetical scenarios compared to the status quo in which a radiologist reads all screening mammograms was also performed.ResultsRadiographer's sensitivity was comparable to the sensitivity scores achieved by U.S. radiologists who took the test but their false-positive rate was higher. Median sensitivity was 73.3 % (Interquartile range, IQR: 46.7-86.7 %) and the median false positive rate was 49.5 % (IQR: 34.7-57.9 %). The median LR+ was 1.4 (IQR: 1.3-1.7 %) and the median AUC was 0.6 (IQR: 0.6-0.7). A scenario in which a radiographer reads all mammograms first, and a radiologist reads only those that were difficult for the radiographer, was more cost-effective than a scenario in which either the radiographer or radiologist reads all mammograms.ConclusionsGiven the comparable sensitivity achieved by Mexican radiographers and U.S. radiologists on a test set, screening mammography interpretation by radiographers appears to be a possible adjunct to radiologists in countries with shortages of radiologists. Further studies are required to assess the effectiveness of different training programs in order to obtain acceptable screening accuracy, as well as the best approaches for the use of non-physician readers to interpret screening mammography

Deep learning with self-supervision and uncertainty regularization to count fish in underwater images

Effective conservation actions require effective population monitoring. However, accurately counting animals in the wild to inform conservation decision-making is difficult. Monitoring populations through image sampling has made data collection cheaper, wide-reaching and less intrusive but created a need to process and analyse this data efficiently. Counting animals from such data is challenging, particularly when densely packed in noisy images. Attempting this manually is slow and expensive, while traditional computer vision methods are limited in their generalisability. Deep learning is the state-of-the-art method for many computer vision tasks, but it has yet to be properly explored to count animals. To this end, we employ deep learning, with a density-based regression approach, to count fish in low-resolution sonar images. We introduce a large dataset of sonar videos, deployed to record wild Lebranche mullet schools (Mugil liza), with a subset of 500 labelled images. We utilise abundant unlabelled data in a self-supervised task to improve the supervised counting task. For the first time in this context, by introducing uncertainty quantification, we improve model training and provide an accompanying measure of prediction uncertainty for more informed biological decision-making. Finally, we demonstrate the generalisability of our proposed counting framework through testing it on a recent benchmark dataset of high-resolution annotated underwater images from varying habitats (DeepFish). From experiments on both contrasting datasets, we demonstrate our network outperforms the few other deep learning models implemented for solving this task. By providing an open-source framework along with training data, our study puts forth an efficient deep learning template for crowd counting aquatic animals thereby contributing effective methods to assess natural populations from the ever-increasing visual data

Diseño y propuesta de un programa de mantenimiento preventivo para la gestión del activo máquina embolsadora Razim

71 p.This project is focused directly on the machine managing bagger Razin, developing a preventive maintenance program to improve the performance of this machine and extend its life. A number of maintenance activities with which it is intended to implement the maintenance program in its entirety is proposed, schedules of these activities were raised, maintenance processes were analyzed and selected the most suitable to achieve its implementation, a detailed study was conducted this machine to understand its functioning and components, thus achieving identify and implement maintenance tasks necessary to ensure that the machine to operate correctly and safely. According to the information collected and an analysis of the reality of the maintenance performed on the machine embolzadora Razim; Recommendations are made for appropriate management of equipment maintenance and infrastructure are there in the company, The result of proper and adequate implementation of a preventive maintenance system, based on terms of quality, safety, environmental conservation is reflected in the lower cost of maintenance.Este proyecto está enfocado directamente en gestionar la máquina embolsadora Razin, desarrollando un programa de mantenimiento preventivo para mejorar el rendimiento de esta máquina y extender su vida útil. Se plantea una serie de actividades de mantenimiento con las cuales se pretende ejecutar el programa de mantenimiento en su totalidad, se plantearon programaciones de estas actividades, se analizaron procesos de mantenimiento y se seleccionaron los más idóneos para lograr su implementación, se realizó un minucioso estudio a esta máquina para conocer su funcionamiento y componentes, logrando con esto identificar e implementar tareas de mantenimiento necesarias para garantizar con esto que la máquina funcione de una manera correcta y segura. De acuerdo a la información recopilada y la realización de un análisis de la realidad del mantenimiento realizado en la máquina embolzadora Razim; Se realizan recomendaciones para una adecuada gestión del mantenimiento de equipos e infraestructura con los que cuenta la compañía, El resultado de una correcta y adecuada implementación de un sistema de mantenimiento preventivo, basado en términos de calidad, seguridad, conservación del medio ambiente, está reflejada en la disminución del costo del mantenimiento