Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling Method Research Articles

Dados florísticos para apoiar a conservação nas cangas amazônicas

Abstract Canga is an environment of great natural and economic value because it harbours a considerable number of endemic species on a substrate that is rich in iron ore. In the Amazon, this open vegetation type grows on top of isolated outcrops in a dense forest matrix found in the Carajás region, in southeastern Pará. Of these outcrops, the Parque Nacional dos Campos Ferruginosos (PNCF) is the only area of Amazonian canga with a strict protection status. Therefore, industrial activity in the region needs to implement mitigation actions to ensure species and habitat conservation. The objective of this study is to complement and review the floristic list of this recently created protected area, enabling us to compare the floristic similarity between it and other 14 Amazonian canga outcrops found outside the conservation units of full protection in the region. This data provides a basis to understand the floristic and phylogenetic complementarity of those patches to support conservation action. For this, six field trips were carried out in the Serra da Bocaina and two in the Serra do Tarzan, respectively, in order to increase the sampling efforts in PNCF and to obtain a more comprehensive plant list. Floristic composition was investigated using multivariate analyses (non-metric multidimensional scaling and unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) and phylogenetic structure across studied areas. We added 159 species to the floristic list of the PNCF and the results of the analyses showed that all 16 areas (n.b. PNCF comprises two of these sites) have an overall floristic similarity of 42%, with the least similar areas at 35% and the most similar at 50%. The different micro-habitats found in each study site highlight the high beta diversity of the Amazonian canga sites, making each area unique. Therefore, even if the Parque Nacional dos Campos Ferruginosos does not harbour all the species found in the other Amazonian canga sites, it is strategic for the conservation of the vegetation on ferruginous outcrops in the Amazon, protecting its biodiversity, different habitats, and associated ecosystem services.

Seasonal Variation Characteristics and the Factors Affecting Plankton Community Structure in the Yitong River, China

To explore how environmental factors affected the plankton structure in the Yitong River, we surveyed the water environmental factors and plankton population in different seasons. The results showed high total nitrogen concentrations in Yitong River throughout the year, while the total phosphorus, water temperature (WT), and chemical oxygen demand in summer were significantly higher than those in other seasons (p < 0.05), and the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and TN/TP ratio were significantly lower (p < 0.01) than those in other seasons. There was no significant seasonal change in other environmental factors. Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta, and Bacillariophyta were the main phytoplankton phylum, while Protozoa and Rotifera were the main zooplankton phylum. The abundance and biomass of zooplankton and phytoplankton in the summer were higher than those in other seasons. Non-Metric Multidimensional scaling methods demonstrated obvious seasonal variation of phytoplankton in summer compared to spring and winter, while the seasonal variation of the zooplankton community was not obvious. The results of the redundancy analysis showed that WT, DO and nitrate nitrogen were the main environmental factors affecting phytoplankton abundance. In contrast to environmental factors, phytoplankton was the main factor driving the seasonal variation of the zooplankton community structure. Cyanophyta were positively correlated with the changes in the plankton community.

Development of Kapiten Coffe as a Media to Branding an Agropolitan City: Case Study in Pasuruan, Indonesia

The concept of commercialization is a strategic step in introducing Kapiten coffee products to be the flagship of Pasuruan Regency and brands with measurable coffee quality. This commercialization involves three important actors; government, academics and entrepreneurs (triple helix) so that the captain's coffee succeeded in bringing Pasuruan Regency. This study uses a non-metric Multidimensional Scaling method with ranking data processing. The method used is that data is obtained through preference ranking, where the steps are as follows: making a questionnaire, ranking various brands based on existing attributes, then mapping the attributes. Data on this research take from some of coffe brand in East Java Province using case study. In addition, this study also uses the Critical Path Method which is used to measure the duration of the work. This method will greatly help project managers in analyzing, planning and scheduling projects more efficiently. The results of this study indicate that Kapiten coffee is superior in terms of taste, soft texture to attractive packaging, which is an important strategy to introduce Kapiten coffee products into the free market; both domestically and internationally. As for the captain's coffee, it takes 51 days to be widely marketed. Kapiten coffee has advantages and tastes, textures and packaging that are distinctive from other coffees. So this is a special attraction for consumers.

Host species and habitats shape the bacterial community of gut microbiota of three non-human primates: Siamangs, white-handed gibbons, and Bornean orangutans.

The gut microbiome is essential for a host to digest food, maintain health, and adapt to environments. Bacterial communities of gut microbiota are influenced by diverse factors including host physiology and the environment. Many non-human primates (NHPs), which are physiologically close to humans, are in danger of extinction. In this study, the community structure of the gut microbiota in three NHPs: siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus, Ss), Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus, Pp), and white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar, Hl)—housed at the largest Zoo in Taiwan were analyzed. Pp and Ss were housed in the Asian tropical rainforest area, while Hl was housed in two separate areas, the Asian tropical rainforest area and the conservation area. Bacterial community diversity of Ss, indicated by the Shannon index, was significantly higher compared with that of Hl and Pp, while the richness (Chao 1) and observed operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were similar across the three species of NHPs. Host species was the dominant factor shaping the gut microbial community structure. Beta-diversity analysis including non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) suggested gut bacterial communities of Hl housed in the conservation area were closely related to each other, while the bacterial communities of Hl in the rainforest area were dispersedly positioned. Further analysis revealed significantly higher abundances of Lactobacillus fermentum, L. murinus, and an unclassified species of Lactobacillus, and a lower abundance of Escherichia-Shigella in Hl from the conservation area relative to the rainforest area. The ratio of Lactobacillus to Escherichia-Shigella was 489.35 and 0.013 in Hl inhabiting the conservation and rainforest areas, respectively. High abundances of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and a high ratio of Lactobacillus to Escherichia-Shigella were also observed in one siamang with notable longevity of 53 years. Data from the study reveal that host species acted as the fundamental driving factor in modulating the community structure of gut microbiota, but that habitats also acted as key determinants within species. The presence and high abundance of probiotics, such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, provide potential indicators for future diet and habitat optimization for NHPs, especially in zoological settings.

Metagenomics to characterize sediment microbial biodiversity associated with fishing exposure within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

Microbes in marine sediments constitute a large percentage of the global marine ecosystem and function to maintain a healthy food web. In continental shelf habitats such as the Gulf of Maine (GoM), relatively little is known of the microbial community abundance, biodiversity, and natural product potential. This report is the first to provide a time-series assessment (2017–2020) of the sediment microbial structure in areas open and closed to fishing within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS). A whole metagenome sequencing (WMS) approach was used to characterize the sediment microbial community. Taxonomic abundance was calculated across seven geographic sites with 14 individual sediment samples collected during the summer and fall seasons. Bioinformatics analyses identified more than 5900 different species across multiple years. Non-metric multidimensional scaling methods and generalized linear models demonstrated that species richness was inversely associated with fishing exposure levels and varied by year. Additionally, the discovery of 12 unique biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) collected across sites confirmed the potential for medically relevant natural product discovery in the SBNMS. This study provides a practical assessment of how fishing exposure and temporal trends may affect microbial community structure in a coastal marine sanctuary.

Development of Kapiten Coffee as A Media to Branding an Agropolitan City: Case Study in Pasuruan, Indonesia

The concept of commercialization is a strategic step in introducing Kapiten coffee products to be the flagship of Pasuruan Regency and brands with measurable coffee quality. This commercialization involves three important actors; government, academics and entrepreneurs (triple helix) so that the captain's coffee succeeded in bringing Pasuruan Regency as an area as the best coffee-producing area. This study uses a non-metric Multidimensional Scaling method with ranking data processing which is the respondent's assessment of the comparison of Kopi Kapiten with other coffee brands. In addition, this study also uses the Critical Path Method which is used to measure the duration of the work. The results of this study indicate that Kapiten coffee is superior in terms of taste, soft texture to attractive packaging, which is an important strategy to introduce Kapiten coffee products into the free market; both domestically and internationally. As for the captain's coffee, it takes 51 days to be widely marketed, starting from; physical analysis of coffee beans, roasting coffee beans, grinding coffee, mixing, waste treatment, primary packaging, secondary packaging, product pricing, determining market prices, making marketing strategies and creating digital marketing media.

Traditional knowledge of edible plants used as flavoring for fish-grilling in Southeast Guizhou, China

BackgroundThe local Dong people in Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, China, with rich biocultural diversity, have developed the traditional rice-duckweed-fish-duck agroecosystem (RDFDA) to support biodiversity conservation and to meet food and cultural needs. However, there is still not much research on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in this area. In particular, there is a lack of traditional knowledge of edible plants used by the Dong people as flavoring to grill fish (Cyprinus carpio) collected from RDFDA, which is extremely valuable in their traditional culture. The study focused on documenting plant species used in grilling fish and analyzing the status of its TEK.MethodsTwenty-one sampling points of three Dong minority villages in Qiandongnan were selected for the research. The local TEK associated with plant resources for fish-grilling was recorded through free listing and semi-structured interviews. Fidelity level (FL) and ethnoecological importance value (EIV) indicators were designed to determine the socioeconomic influence of TEK. The non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) method was used to evaluate the differentiation of edible plant species distribution in dissimilar accessibility types.ResultsA total of 430 people were interviewed about grilled fish, of whom 75% were men and 85% were farmers. Thirty-four edible plants were documented for fish-grilling in three Dong villages. They belong to 16 plant families, such as Apiaceae, and Asteraceae. The life forms included herbaceous (76%), shrubs (18%) and trees (6%). Leaves are the most commonly used part of for grilling fish, followed by aerial parts, and whole plants. Among these edible plants, Allium hookeri, A. macrostemon and Houttuynia cordata with the highest fidelity level (100%) were cited as edible plants for grilling fish by all informants. The NMDS showed different accessibility types of collection sites, with different importance values. Paddy rice field edge (2.03) has the highest value, followed by forest-farming ecotone (1.74), streamsides (1.71) and woodland (0.48).ConclusionThe purpose of this study was to investigate the traditional knowledge of edible plant materials used by the Dong people for grilling fish. The results demonstrate the strong connection between local people, the bio-environment and agroecosystem services. The survey and comparative analysis revealed that plant species with high FL values may be potential sources of natural flavors.

Morphological selectivity of the Permian-Triassic ammonoid mass extinction

Abstract Ammonoids suffered a diversity bottleneck during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME) and experienced a rapid diversification in the Early Triassic. However, the kinds of ammonoids that were more likely to survive the PTME and that fueled subsequent diversification are still poorly known. We compiled a comprehensive morphological data set and used the nonmetric multidimensional scaling method to reveal the impact of the PTME on the morphological selectivity of ammonoids. Our results show that postextinction taxa occupied a quite different morphospace when compared with the pre-extinction assemblages. The survivors were mainly smooth and weakly ornamented forms, while the late Permian species were dominated by coarsely ornamented forms. Contrary to previously recognized nonselective patterns, these results suggest a morphological selectivity of the Permian-Triassic crisis. Newcomers in the Griesbachian were mainly compressed and smooth forms. This morphological shift from the coarsely ornamented ammonoids dominating the Changhsingian to the smooth ammonoids dominating the Griesbachian possibly suggests an ecological turnover of ammonoids during the PTME.

Phenomic characterization of Crotalaria germplasm for crop improvement

BackgroundDiversification of global food systems through exploration of traditional varieties and wild edible plant species is a focal mitigation strategy for food security worldwide. The present study determined the phenomic diversity of locally available, affordable and climate-resilient cultivated and wild Crotalaria species for breeding purposes.MethodsSeed samples were collected from different administrative counties in Kenya spanning different climatic zones. Other seeds were provided by the Genetic Resources Research Institute of Kenya. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used for agro-morphological evaluation of the 83 accessions used in this study. Data on quantitative and qualitative traits was collected. Cluster analysis on R and R-studio was used to generate a dendrogram by the Euclidian genetic distance and dissimilarity indices while the non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) method was used to determine the spatial interrelationship between the accessions. The Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to determine the relationships between qualitative and quantitative traits while the principal component analysis was used to discriminate the accessions.ResultsThree edible species (C. brevidens Benth., C. ochroleuca G.Don, C. trichotoma Bojer.) were found to be cultivated by Kenyan farmers and a significant variation (p < 0.0001) for all parameters under study was recorded. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering grouped the accessions into 8 major clusters. The NMDS ordination formed 15 and 6 groups based on counties and regions respectively.ConclusionsThis study forms the basis for exploring novel breeding strategies among cultivated species, between wild and cultivated Crotalaria species as well as determining molecular markers linked to phenomic traits.

The Barts Explanatory Model Inventory for Dementia: An item reduction approach based on responses from South Asian communities.

Cultural differences in how the symptoms, causes, consequences, and treatments of dementia are understood and interpreted by South Asian people are a commonly expressed reason for late- or nonuse of mental health and care services. However, systematic collection of information on South Asian perceptions of dementia is hindered by a lack of appropriate instrumentation. To produce a shortened version of the Barts Explanatory Model Inventory for Dementia (BEMI-D) schedule. A two stage item reduction approach was employed first using multidimensional scaling categorizing items as core, intermediate, or outlier. Then, item review was undertaken using three criteria: literature importance, clinical face validity, and sub-group prevalence. The analysis followed a nonmetric multidimensional scaling method based on a two-way proximity matrix. The original BEMI-D had 197 items allocated to four checklists: symptoms, causes, consequences, and treatments. The two stage item reduction approach resulted in the removal of 75 items. These reductions were achieved across all four checklists in relatively equal proportions. There was no evidence of substantive content loss in the revised schedule. The reduced version of the schedule comprises 122 items. A condensed version of the BEMI-D is more efficient as an assessment schedule that captures the culturally diverse perceptions of memory problems for South Asians offering a balanced trade-off between feasibility of use and content validity.

Cognitive analysis and choice of an enterprise’s strategic goals

One of the most crucial and vulnerable stages of strategic management is the cognitive stage associated with the transformation of the strategic vision and of the enterprise’s mission into its strategic goals. At this stage, management is faced with the problem of developing a coordinated collective opinion on the content of the goals being formed and with the problem of objective assessment of their effectiveness. The difficulties here are due to the phenomenological features of the stage, such as the informal nature of the transformation procedure, the multi-criteria nature of goals, numerous uncertainties and risks exacerbated by the increased variability of business environments, cognitive barriers caused by linguistic discrepancies and differences in the professional experience of strategy developers. Such features of the stage ultimately lead to ambiguous decisions regarding the content of goals and ambiguous assessments of their effectiveness. In these circumstances, traditional support tools (numerous versions of expert methods, brainstorming, Norton and Kaplan's BSC, SMART technology, etc.) face serious limitations. This paper proposes a cognitive technology for forming a coordinated set of the enterprise’s business goals that to a large extent takes into account the features of the given stage. The technology is a single procedure integrating the capabilities of traditional support tools and expanding the creative potential of support based on psychosemantic models and nonmetric multidimensional scaling methods. The results of a real study conducted at a number of enterprises show that cognitive technologies open up new prospects for goal analysis. They can serve as a useful complement to existing support tools and contribute to the design of more effective and realistic business strategies.

Biogenic Accumulation of Chemical Elements by Plants of Genus Poaceae Barnhart and Genus Artemisia L. in the Dry Steppe and Semidesert Zones of the South of the Russian Plain

The steppe and semidesert landscapes of the Republic of Kalmykia and Rostov oblast (a total of 12) in various ecological and geochemical conditions (precipitation, temperature, soil salinization, position in meso and macro relief, etc.) have been studied. Samples of vegetation and soil have been taken at the selected sites, and the contents of P2O5, MgO, Al2O3, K2O, CaO, TiO2, MnO, Fe2O3, S, Sr, Ba, Zn, and Ni are measured by the X-ray fluorescent method. Organic carbon (Corg), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), pH, and granulometric composition are additionally determined in soil. To estimate the absorption and biogenic accumulation of chemical elements by vegetation, the coefficient of biological uptake (CBU) is calculated. To interpret and visualize the data, the nonmetric multidimensional scaling method is used. It is revealed that when environmental conditions vary the content of chemical elements in the studied plants decreases as following: Sa > Al > Fe > K > S > P > Mg > Ti > Mn > Sr > Ba > Zn > Ni. The highest contents of Al, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ti, Ba, Zn, and Sr are shown for plants of the genus Poaceae Barnhart, and the highest contents of Ca, K, P, and S are shown for plants of the genus Artemisia L. According to the cumulative characteristics, concentrations of the studied elements in vegetation are significantly different from each other in aboveground parts of cereals, aboveground and underground parts of wormwoods, and underground parts of cereals. For the studied plant species, the coefficient of biological uptake of chemical elements >1 was revealed for S(1.1–12.7), Zn(0.2–6.5), K(0.1–3.9), Ca(0.1–3.5), Sr(0.1–3.0), and P(0.2–1.3).

Seasonal patterns of pollen and the use of pollen as a chronometer in the north‐western Loess Plateau of China

AbstractThe use of high‐resolution and highly precise age models is essential for quantitative environmental reconstructions. To assess the reliability of pollen as a chronometer in laminated lake sediments, pollen traps and lake cores, statistical methods were used to study seasonal pollen signals. The results showed that (a) the pollen assemblages from air traps and lake/reservoir surface sediment traps in the north‐western Loess Plateau of China displayed distinct seasonal patterns, which were confirmed by nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS); and (b) The pollen assemblages of the dark and light layers in the Zhenhu Lake cores allowed detection of the seasonality of sediment deposition based on the results of the pollen traps. The NMDS method also showed statistically significant differences between the pollen assemblages of the dark and light layers. Furthermore, instrumental monitoring data and characteristic time markers of historical events (1958 and 2011) were used to cross‐check the chronologies obtained by the pollen assemblages, and the results strengthened the credibility and reliability of pollen as a chronometer.

Responses of freshwater algal cell density to hydrochemical variables in an urban aquatic ecosystem, northern China.

In this paper, the algal cell density of cyanobacteria, green algae, and diatoms and their responses to the hydrochemical factors were analyzed to reveal the structural characteristics of water quality in an urban river. A total of nine sampling sites from upstream to downstream was explored in our study. At each site, the density of algae was identified every week during the wet season (June-October) from 2012 to 2017, and in situ detection was used for the relative 11 hydrochemical variables. The temporal and spatial characteristics of 14 variables were analyzed using a heatmap coupled with the cluster analysis method. The trend of each parameter was analyzed using the smoothing method with locally weighted regression. The nonmetric multidimensional scaling method was employed to detect the temporal and spatial similarities among algae along hydrochemical gradients. The responses of algal density to hydrochemical variables were analyzed using a redundancy analysis. The results showed that the water temperature (Wtemp), pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), cyanobacteria, and diatoms exhibited significant declining trends, and significant increasing trends were shown in the permanganate index, chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, and total phosphorus; the cyanobacteria exhibited certain differences with green algae and diatoms in summer and the downstream areas of the river. The temporal-spatial homogeneity of algal to hydrochemical variables showed the key influencing factors of Wtemp for cyanobacteria density, chlorophyll for green algae density, DO, and pH for diatoms. The results presented here are valuable for deepening our understanding of river ecosystem evaluations and effective environmental management, as well as an important reference for the sustainable development of aquatic biological resources.

Temporal variation in zooplankton and phytoplankton community species composition and the affecting factors in Lake Taihu—a large freshwater lake in China

Monitoring diverse components of aquatic ecosystems is vital for elucidation of diversity dynamics and processes, which alter freshwater ecosystems, but such studies are seldom conducted. Phytoplankton and zooplankton are integral components which play indispensable parts in the structure and ecological service function of water bodies. However, few studies were made on how zooplankton and phytoplankton community may respond simultaneously to change of circumstance and their mutual relationship. Therefore, we researched synchronously the phytoplankton communities as well as zooplankton communities based on monthly monitoring data from September 2011 to August 2012 in heavily polluted areas and researched their responses to variation in environmental parameters and their mutual relationship. As indicated by Time-lag analysis (TLA), the long-term dynamics of phytoplankton and zooplankton were undergoing directional variations, what's more, there exists significant seasonal variations of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities as indicated by Non-Metric Multidimensional scaling (NMDS) methods. Also, Redundancy Analysis (RDA) demonstrated that environmental indicators together accounted for 25.6% and 50.1% variance of phytoplankton and zooplankton, respectively, indicating that environmental variations affected significantly on the temporal dynamics of phytoplankton as well as zooplankton communities. What's more, variance partioning suggested that the major environmental factors influencing variation structures of zooplankton communities were water temperature, concentration of nitrogen, revealing the dominating driving mechanism which shaped the communities of zooplankton. It was also found that there was significant synchronization between zooplankton biomass and phytoplankton biomass (expressed as Chl-a concentration), which suggested that zooplankton respond to changes in dynamic structure of phytoplankton community and can initiate a decrease in phytoplankton biomass through grazing in a few months.

Machine-Learning Enabled New Insights into the Coil-to-Globule Transition of Thermosensitive Polymers Using a Coarse-Grained Model

We present a computational framework that integrates coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and a data-driven machine-learning (ML) method to gain insights into the conformations of polymers in solutions. We employ this framework to study conformational transition of a model thermosensitive polymer, poly( N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM). Here, we have developed the first of its kind, a temperature-independent CG model of PNIPAM that can accurately predict its experimental lower critical solution temperature (LCST) while retaining the tacticity in the presence of an explicit water model. The CG model was extensively validated by performing CG MD simulations with different initial conformations, varying the radius of gyration of chain, the chain length, and the angle between the adjacent monomers of the initial configuration of PNIPAM (total simulation time = 90 μs). Moreover, for the first time, we utilize the nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) method, a data-driven ML approach, to gain further insights into the mechanisms and pathways of this coil-to-globule transition by analyzing CG MD simulation trajectories. NMDS analysis provides entirely new insights and shows multiple metastable states of PNIPAM during its coil-to-globule transition above the LCST.

Pelagic zonation of water quality and phytoplankton in the Great Lakes

Analysis of aquatic ecosystem data collected from large water bodies must consider spatial variations. A suite of pelagic survey stations exists for the Laurentian Great Lakes, but little is known about their redundancy. We present a strategy to delineate the lakes into zones based on water quality and phytoplankton biovolume. Water samples were collected from 72 sites in two seasons (spring and summer) from 2007 to 2010 in all five lakes. Integrated samples were analyzed for phytoplankton biovolume and nine water quality parameters. We conducted cluster analysis, principal components analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling methods for water quality and phytoplankton taxon-specific biovolume for the Great Lakes basin and for each lake separately. There were significant lake-to-lake differences, and based on lake-specific analyses, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Erie were each divided into three zones; Lake Huron and Lake Ontario were each grouped into two zones. The zones identified by water quality and phytoplankton provide an understanding of spatial distributions for evaluating monitoring data.

Sponges and cnidarians (Hydrozoa and Anthozoa) from Oro Verde reef; benthic coverage and faunal affinity with the reef systems of Veracruz, Mexico.

Sampling was conducted in twelve geographical points of the Oro Verde reef during the June-August 2015 period, in-order-to record species of sponges, hydrocorals and anthozoans, and to estimate the coverage of algae, sponges, corals, sea fans and abiotic components (e.g., sand and pavement) using 50 m long photo transects. We explored the northern, southern, central, eastern and western section of the reef. Analysis of non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was performed to explain similarities of the sampling units based on the information obtained. In addition, the composition of sponges and coral reefs from Oro Verde reef was compared with the other reef systems of Veracruz to determine affinities using the NMDS method. The similarity test ANOSIMwas used to explain significant differences among dissimilar groups. A total of 35 species of Phylum Porifera and 29 species of Phylum Cnidaria were recorded. The most common species in the reef were the sponges Callyspongia armigera, Niphates erecta, and Amphimedon compressa, and the corals Montastraea cavernosa, Porites astreoides, Siderastrea siderea, Colpophyllia natans. Filamentous and frondose algae were the most abundant in coverage (49.4 ± 7.7% and 20 ± 9.7%, respectively), compared to reef corals that showed low coverage (9.5 ± 6.1%), which consisted mainly of M. cavernosa, C. natans and S. siderea. The faunal richness and the benthic coverage are distributed in a homogeneous way in the reef as sampling sites revealed similarities in these community attributes. The composition of sponges from Oro Verde reef presented higher affinity with the adjacent reefs and with the submerged reefs of southern of Veracruz. However, Oro Verde reef is more similar with neighboring reefs in species richness of corals. Discrepancies with the other reefs are attributed to the lack of complete inventories (e. g., Tuxpan) and / or by presenting species with limited distribution.

Eliciting end-user expectations to guide the implementation process of a new electronic health record: A case study using concept mapping

ObjectiveTo evaluate the usability of concept mapping to elicit the expectations of healthcare professionals regarding the implementation of a new electronic health record (EHR). These expectations need to be taken into account during the implementation process to maximize the chance of success of the EHR. SettingTwo university hospitals in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in the preparation phase of jointly implementing a new EHR. During this study the hospitals had different methods of documenting patient information (legacy EHR vs. paper-based records). MethodConcept mapping was used to determine and classify the expectations of healthcare professionals regarding the implementation of a new EHR. A multidisciplinary group of 46 healthcare professionals from both university hospitals participated in this study. Expectations were elicited in focus groups, their relevance and feasibility were assessed through a web-questionnaire. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling and clustering methods were used to identify clusters of expectations. ResultsWe found nine clusters of expectations, each covering an important topic to enable the healthcare professionals to work properly with the new EHR once implemented: usability, data use and reuse, facility conditions, data registration, support, training, internal communication, patients, and collaboration. Average importance and feasibility of each of the clusters was high. ConclusionConcept mapping is an effective method to find topics that, according to healthcare professionals, are important to consider during the implementation of a new EHR. The method helps to combine the input of a large group of stakeholders at limited efforts.

No phenotypic signature of acoustic competition in songs of a tropical cricket assemblage

Efficient acoustic communication in multispecies assemblages is challenging due to the presence of heterospecific signals. Masking interference and signal confusion of similarly structured signals can impose fitness costs and, thus, drive evolutionary processes that shape acoustic signals to reduce their overlap in signal space. Although the partitioning of signal space has been frequently studied in frog and bird communities, this topic has received much less attention with reference to insects that communicate acoustically. In this study, we examined the role of acoustic competition in a tropical cricket community and tested the following hypotheses: 1) cosignaling species are expected to exhibit more dissimilar calling songs as compared with species that are spatially and/or temporally separated and 2) species signaling with similar song frequencies, who are thereby subject to energetic masking, are more likely to differ in the temporal domain of their calling songs. Using non-metric multidimensional scaling and pairwise comparison methods to measure acoustic dissimilarity, we found no evidence for either hypothesis: the acoustic signals of species pairs that cosignaled or used similar calling frequencies did not significantly differ from those of species that were spatially/temporally segregated or had large song frequency differences. In conclusion, for the acoustically communicating cricket community investigated, no supportive evidence for the partitioning hypothesis and the widespread belief that acoustic competition has led to divergent selection pressures on signal structure to avoid masking interference was found. Instead, we argue that selection pressures on sensory/neuronal mechanisms seem to more strongly drive reliable communication.