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Breeding Partners Have Dissimilar Foraging Strategies in a Long‐Lived Arctic Seabird
For long-lived species with biparental care, coordination and compatibility in the foraging behavior of breeding mates may be crucial to successfully raise offspring. While high foraging success is clearly important to reproductive success, it might be equally important that the mate has a complementary foraging strategy. We test whether breeding partners have similar or dissimilar foraging strategies in a species where both partners share breeding responsibilities and exhibit high mate fidelity (thick-billed murre; Uria lomvia). To examine whether thick-billed murres showed complementary in foraging strategies, we attached GPS accelerometers to both partners within 40 thick-billed murre chick-rearing pairs. Individuals within a breeding pair were dissimilar in their foraging trip distance and in their number of dives during foraging trips compared to randomized pairs. Breeding partners were also more similar in wing length than randomized pairs. This result could be related to individual quality as individuals select similar sized partners or select sites that lead to similar sized partners. We conclude that foraging strategy diversity could be maintained in this population either because individuals prefer partners with foraging strategies complementary to their own, or because partners diverge in foraging strategies over multiple breeding season together
Arab Canadian High School Students' Perceptions of Their Schooling Experiences: A Narrative Analysis
Due to the rise in the number of Arab students in Canadian schools, I am interested in Arab immigrant youths’ everyday lived experiences at school. Because I believe in Dewey’s (1938) argument that knowledge is constructed through experience and experience is an essential element in education, I am conducting an exploratory study to learn more about the perceptions of newcomer Arab Canadian high school students of their schooling experiences in Canadian schools. The purpose of this study is to bring an understanding of their lived experiences in an effort to potentially enhance the school-home connections and bridge a cultural gap
Adapting effective sexual assault prevention for online delivery
Adapting effective sexual assault prevention for online delivery Can an in-person intervention that decreases young women’s risk of sexual assault maintain its effectiveness when adapted for online facilitation? Our recent research set out to answer this question. Many people have searched for ways to prevent sexual violence against women and girls, but few strategies have been found to be effective. (1) Changing societal acceptance of gender-based violence takes time, and attitude change alone does not lead to decreases in rates of violence. Efforts to prevent sexual violence perpetration have had limited results, (2) though this work continues. Dr Charlene Senn and her team had a scientific breakthrough with CIHR funding, showing that empowering young women through resistance education can decrease their risk of sexual assault and intimate partner violence (IPV) by 50%. (3,4,5) The intervention was the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA; also known as Flip the Script with EAAA®), a 12-hour program delivered in small groups by two expert near-peers on university campuses. Implementation is resource- intensive for universities (e.g., training and staffing costs) even though the program itself is available at cost (SARE Centre). It is the only intervention that has demonstrated large, long- lasting reductions in sexual and IPV victimization. It has been used on campuses in five countries; however, the reach is still limited
Investigating Potential New Load Patterns on Distribution Transformers from Residential Electrification
As nations set ambitious targets to phase out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and electrify transport and household systems, it is anticipated that there will be a surge in demand for electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps (HPs), and electric water heaters (EWHs). Utility providers must assess what this shift means for the existing grid. Although generation may be sufficient, attention must turn to local distribution, particularly individual street- level transformers. As EV chargers are installed and households replace gas systems with HPs and EWHs, the grid faces rising pressure. Many consumers prefer to charge vehicles at home in the evening, placing extra demand on local infrastructure. When several residents charge EVs while using water heating and cooling systems, transformer capacity may be exceeded. This study uses data from an Ontario utility to examine new loading scenarios as EVs, HPs, and EWHs are adopted in Canadian neighbourhoods. One transformer showed a maximum hourly load increase of 706.59% at 25% uptake and 1292.22% at 50%. Sustained high loads accelerate insulation ageing and raise the risk of early failure with overloads possible when 11 EVs charge simultaneously at high speed
Representations of Safer Opioid Supply Programs in Ontario Media Sources From 2021 to 2022: A Narrative Policy Analysis
Toxic drug poisoning has claimed 53,821 lives since 2016 in Canada. After years of advocacy by people who use drugs and their supporters, the Canadian government funded a series of safer opioid supply (SOS) programs, where individuals who use unregulated opioids receive prescribed pharmaceutical opioids to minimize overdose risk. Twenty-six programs have been implemented in Canada since 2020, with media capturing varying positions on their implementation. Using the Narrative Policy Framework, we examined Ontario print and online news media from 2021 to 2022 to explore the narratives circulating about SOS during early implementation amid overlapping public health realities, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of the toxic drug supply. We searched Canadian Newstream and conducted hand searches between February 2022 and January 2023. The retrieved media coverage was screened for: (1) a focus on SOS programs; (2) a focus on the province of Ontario; and (3) publication between 2021 and 2022. Thirty-four articles (n = 33 newspaper articles and n = 1 magazine article) were included in our final analysis. We found a metanarrative of “crisis management,” which positioned the “policy problem” of rapidly increasing opioid-related overdoses as a crisis that could be curtailed, or conversely exacerbated, with SOS. We therefore identified two dominant narratives on SOS to be operating toward this metanarrative—SOS as the “right crisis management solution” and SOS as the “wrong crisis management solution.” Each was importantly underlined by assumptions about the relationship between the “policy problem,” the “policy solution,” and structural conditions. This article offers insights into media communication strategies and their implications for advocacy and policymaking on SOS and broader harm reduction efforts
The Lance: School Year 2002-2003
School Year 2002-2003 Vol. 75 (2002: July 9) 16p. Unnumbered; Head Start special issueVol. 75 (2002: July 31) 12p. Unnumbered; Summer mailoutVol. 75: no. 1 (2002: Aug. 27) 16p.Vol. 75: no. 2 (2002: Sept. 10) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 3 (2002: Sept. 17) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 4 (2002: Sept. 24) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 5 (2002: Oct. 1) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 6 (2002: Oct. 8) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 7 (2002: Oct. 15) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 8 (2002: Oct. 22) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 9 (2002: Oct. 29) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 10 (2002: Nov. 5) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 11 (2002: Nov. 12) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 12 (2002: Nov. 19) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 13 (2002: Nov. 26) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 14 (2002: Dec. 3) 28p.Vol. 75: no. 15 (2003: Jan. 7) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 16 (2003: Jan. 14) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 17 (2003: Jan. 21) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 18 (2003: Jan. 28) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 19 (2003: Feb. 4) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 20 (2003: Feb. 11) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 21 (2003: Feb. 18) 20p.Vol. 75: no. 22 (2003: Mar. 4) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 23 (2003: Mar. 11) 28p.Vol. 75: no. 24 (2003: Mar. 18) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 25 (2003: Mar. 25) 28p.Vol. 75: no. 26 (2003: Apr. 1) 24p.Vol. 75: no. 27 (2003: Apr. 8) 28p
Home-range spillover in habitats with impassable boundaries: Causes, biases and corrections using autocorrelated kernel density estimation
An animal's home-range plays a fundamental role in determining its resource use and overlap with conspecifics, competitors and predators, and is therefore a common focus of movement ecology studies. Autocorrelated kernel density estimation addresses many of the shortcomings of traditional home-range estimators when animal tracking data are autocorrelated, but other challenges in home-range estimation remain.
One such issue is known as ‘spillover bias’, in which home-range estimates do not respect impassable movement boundaries (e.g. shorelines and fences), and occurs in all forms of kernel density estimation. While several approaches to addressing spillover bias are used when estimating home ranges, these approaches introduce bias throughout the remaining home-range area, depending on the amount of spillover removed, or are otherwise inaccessible to most ecologists. Here, we introduce local corrections to home-range kernels to mitigate spillover bias in (autocorrelated) kernel density estimation in the continuous time movement model (ctmm) package, and demonstrate their performance using simulations with known home-range extents and distributions, and a real-world case study.
Simulation results showed that local corrections minimized bias in bounded home-range area estimates, and resulted in more accurate distributions when compared with commonly used post hoc corrections, particularly at small–intermediate sample sizes.
Comparison of the impacts of local vs. post hoc corrections to bounded home-ranges estimated from lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) demonstrated that local corrections constrained the redistribution of probability mass within the remaining home-range area, resulting in proportionally smaller home-range areas compared with when post hoc corrections are used
A conceptual digital twin framework for supply chain recovery and resilience
Amidst escalating global supply system risks and interruptions, the imperative for fortified supply networks is evident. Organizations striving for competitiveness and resilience must adeptly recognize, comprehend, and address disruptions. This study presents a three-phase digital supply chain twin framework, leveraging discrete event simulation and neural networks to anticipate floods—a typical natural catastrophe and disruptive event—and predict recovery indicators. This aids supply chain (SC) managers in making informed decisions. In the first phase, machine learning algorithms, including logistic regression and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), were trained on Kerala India's precipitation data to predict floods. LSTM outperforms logistic regression, achieving flood prediction with 73 % recall, 75 % accuracy, and 84 % Area Under Curve-Receiver Operating Characteristics score. In the second phase, simulations replicate value chain breakdowns. A process flow logic-driven discrete event simulation within a real-world SC network emulates operational disruptions. FlexSim is employed to model service-level failures, influencing SC model performance based on the distribution center service level. The third phase employs simulated case scenario data to train a multilayer neural perceptron network (MLPNN) for predicting production network recovery post-disruptions. The MLPNN monitors the mean squared error (MSE) and disruptive inputs throughout training and validation, revealing consistent MSE reduction over recovery periods. The number of epochs needed to achieve a minimum MSE is used as a recovery indicator to predict service restoration time. Consequently, this study introduces a conceptual digital twin framework for catastrophic operations chain breakdowns and recovery prediction. The framework's output assists SC planners in shaping robust strategies by foreseeing disruptions and facilitating recovery