Browsing by Subject "adaptation"

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    A Policy Analysis to Reduce Climate Risk in Chicago’s Most Vulnerable Communities
    (2015-04-22) Gallagher, Eileen
    This master’s project compares policy options that will most effectively reduce climate risk, specifically flooding, in Chicago’s most vulnerable communities. Chicago is expected to receive heavier and more frequent precipitation due to climate change, increasing upwards to 20 to 30 percent more by the end of the century (Hayhoe, et al, 2010). Unfortunately, over the past several decades, the City’s century-old combined sewer system has failed to protect communities from flooding (Hayhoe, et al, 2010). The City’s sewer system carries sewage and stormwater in the same underground pipe, and it often exceeds its threshold of 2.5 inches of rainfall per day (USGCRP, 2009). Beyond that, the untreated waste and stormwater overflow into the Chicago River and Lake Michigan – the City’s source of drinking water – or onto city streets and into basements (City of Chicago, n.d.b). The City has been investing in infrastructure to combat the increasing frequency of flooding. In 1972, the City unveiled the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) to reduce flooding, but several challenges have delayed phases of execution, and it is not expected to be completed until 2029. Until a more sophisticated sewer system is constructed, green and other gray infrastructure can mitigate flooding risks by capturing stormwater. Recognizing this, City of Chicago established the Green Stormwater Infrastructure Strategy in 2014 and plans to release a Citywide Stormwater Management Plan in 2015. The Strategy designates $50 million to fund green stormwater infrastructure projects over five years for existing and planned capital improvement projects, but these projects are not specifically assigned to communities that are the most vulnerable. Although flooding is pervasive throughout Chicago, the most vulnerable populations are most at risk. Vulnerability is described as “the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected… including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt” (IPCC, 2014). Experts increasingly recognize that adapting to climate change, and repairing or rebuilding homes and neighborhoods after extreme weather events, will place an additional stress on vulnerable communities. Vulnerability can be measured by the Hardship Index, a collection of six socioeconomic indictors, assessing poverty, crowded housing, unemployment, level of education, age (or dependency), and per capita income (City of Chicago, 2014). In 2014, the City of Chicago evaluated its 77 communities using the Hardship Index, finding that there is an unequal distribution of hardship among different racial and ethnic demographics within the City. This inequitable divide suggests that communities that are majority minority are the most vulnerable, and therefore will likely struggle the most to adapt to climate change. But to date, existing policies do not adequately protect vulnerable communities from climate change. To remedy these challenges, the City of Chicago must institute a sound policy that aims to reduce its climate risk, protect its economy and ensure environmental justice of its most vulnerable communities. Leveraging existing city plans, state initiatives, U.S. presidential executive orders or federal regulations, this project outlines and analyzes three policy options to address the problem in Chicago: 1. Affirmative Action for Vulnerable Communities would encourage the City to “engage in good faith efforts” (UVA EOP, 2012) to proactively assign climate adaptation projects under the Green Stormwater Infrastructure Strategy and Citywide Stormwater Management Plan for vulnerable communities, improving conditions for populations that have historically been discriminated against. 2. Community-based Adaptation for Environmental Justice would localize federal and state environmental justice acts to mandate financing for vulnerable communities, which are often underrepresented in policymaking, to identify the adaptation project of their choosing, thereby strengthening their capacity to adapt to climate change. 3. Discounted Premiums for the Poor expands the existing subsidies offered by the National Flood Insurance Program to cover not only homeowners located in high-risk flood zones but also homeowners under the federal poverty line. The optimal policy should not exacerbate hardship but rather reduce communities’ vulnerability to flooding. Therefore, the three policy options in addition to the status quo are measured against the following goals: 1. Effectiveness: The frequency and volume of flooding should decline, measured by whether the number of flood insurance claims will decrease in the most vulnerable communities as identified by the Hardship Index. 2. Equity: Stakeholders are not unfairly burdened, measured by (1) whether insurance companies will face surmounting financial pressure due to an increasing number of claims and (2) whether neighboring communities will receive excess stormwater runoff as a result of the policy. 3. Political feasibility: Stakeholders support or minimally oppose the policy, measured by (1) whether homeowners in vulnerable communities will tolerate temporary disturbances to install stormwater infrastructure and (2) whether the municipal government will accept budgetary changes. 4. Efficiency: Costs to vulnerable communities are minimized, measured by whether costs exceed the moderate amount of flood insurance premiums. After careful analysis of the three policy alternatives measured against the four aforementioned goals, the City should implement Affirmative Action for Vulnerable Communities to address its climate and socioeconomic challenges. By selecting vulnerable communities as recipients of the committed $50 million for green stormwater infrastructure, the City can curtail flooding in vulnerable communities without additional costs to homeowners. And with improved stormwater management infrastructure, the number of flood insurance claims and runoff into neighboring communities will decrease. There are several other actions the City should take to achieve and maintain political feasibility under this policy. A community-specific needs assessment and a cost-benefit analysis will help to prioritize which stormwater management projects to execute in which of the vulnerable communities. And collaborative stakeholder engagement from municipal departments, nonprofits and community residents is critical to successfully execute the policy. Finally, the City must continue to monitor for climate risk and vulnerability as well as evaluate the policy’s progress. The municipal government should take an adaptive management approach to administrating the policy, which can connect continuous learning with policy implementation and guide administrators to adjust management processes for maximum impact (Williams et al, 2009). Properly managing and ultimately enhancing vulnerable communities’ ability to adapt to a changing climate is critical for the City’s economic, environmental and human wellbeing.
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    Convergent evolution in lemur environmental niches
    (Journal of Biogeography, 2020-04-01) Herrera, JP
    Aim: To test the hypothesis that adaptive convergent evolution of climate niches occurred in multiple independent lemur lineages. Location: Madagascar. Taxon: Lemurs. Methods: I collected climate and altitude data from WorldClim and summarized the niches of almost all living lemurs (83 species) into phylogenetically controlled principal components. To test for convergent evolution, I searched for multiple, similar climate optima using multi-peak Ornstein–Uhlenbeck models (surface, l1-ou, bayou). I compared the observed level of climate convergence to that simulated under neutral and single-optimum models. To test if behavioural or morphological traits were related to climate niches, I used phylogenetic regressions with activity pattern, diet, and body size. Results: From an ancestral niche with high rainfall and low seasonality, four lemur lineages independently converged on climate niche optima characterized by high temperatures and low rainfall, supporting adaptive evolution in southwest deciduous and arid habitats. The observed level of convergence was more frequent than expected under Brownian motion and single-optimum simulations, which illustrates that the results are likely not a result of stochastic evolution over long time periods. Nocturnal and cathemeral activity patterns were common among lineages in the arid climate niche. Conclusion: Lemur climate niche evolution demonstrated that convergence explains the distribution of four independent clades in hot, arid environments of southwest Madagascar. The timing of these convergent shifts coincided with the origination of modern arid-adapted plant genera, some of which are important lemur food sources. These communities have high endemicity and are especially threatened by habitat loss. Arid environments are arenas in which convergent evolution is predicted to occur frequently.
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    Hepatic Responses of Juvenile Fundulus heteroclitus from Pollution-adapted and Nonadapted Populations Exposed to Elizabeth River Sediment Extract.
    (Toxicol Pathol, 2016-07) Riley, Amanda K; Chernick, Melissa; Brown, Daniel R; Hinton, David E; Di Giulio, Richard T
    Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) inhabiting the Atlantic Wood Industries region of the Elizabeth River, Virginia, have passed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) resistance to their offspring as evidenced by early life stage testing of developmental toxicity after exposure to specific PAHs. Our study focused on environmentally relevant PAH mixtures in the form of Elizabeth River sediment extract (ERSE). Juvenile (5 month) F1 progeny of pollution-adapted Atlantic Wood (AW) parents and of reference site (King's Creek [KC]) parents were exposed as embryos to ERSE. Liver alterations, including nonneoplastic lesions and microvesicular vacuolation, were observed in both populations. ERSE-exposed KC fish developed significantly more alterations than unexposed KC fish. Interestingly, unexposed AW killifish developed significantly more alterations than unexposed KC individuals, suggesting that AW juveniles are not fully protected from liver disease; rapid growth of juvenile fish may also be an accelerating factor for tumorigenesis. Because recent reports show hepatic tumor formation in adult AW fish, the differing responses from the 2 populations provided a way to determine whether embryo toxicity protection extends to juveniles. Future investigations will analyze older life stages of killifish to determine differences in responses related to chronic disease.
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    Living with long-term consequences: Experience of follow-up care and support needs among Asian long-term colorectal cancer survivors.
    (Psycho-oncology, 2020-10) Yoon, Sungwon; Chua, Teck Beng; Tan, Iain Beehuat; Matchar, David; Ong, Marcus Eng Hock; Tan, Emile

    Objectives

    This study aimed to provide an in-depth exploration of follow-up care experiences and supportive care needs in long-term colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors within multiethnic Asian communities.

    Methods

    Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted on a purposive sample of 30 long-term CRC survivors who had completed all treatment without recurrence ranging 2 to 17 years in Singapore. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted following grounded theory approach.

    Results

    Four themes represented the experience of the Asian long-term CRC survivors: (a) living with long-term consequences, (b) dealing with unceasing adaptation demands, (c) navigating a healthcare journey with limited direction, (d) regaining mastery through adversity. CRC and its treatment had profound physical impacts on some long-term survivors and these effected their psychological well-being. A sense of abandonment and vulnerability following the cessation of a 5-year follow-up care was repeatedly expressed. Participants defined recovery from CRC as not merely surviving but also having high physical function and full independence. They often sought less conventional remedies and medicine based on cultural beliefs rather than current evidence. Participants noted pervasive social stigma associated with CRC that impeded their inclusion in the workforce.

    Conclusions

    Asian long-term CRC survivors experienced multiple challenges and needs relating to the care experience, information provision and workforce stigmatization, and several of which were unique to the Asian context. Future work will need to consider the implementation of culturally tailored cancer survivorship care plans that incorporate the specific needs of Asian CRC survivors.
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    Olfactory Receptor Subgenomes Linked with Broad Ecological Adaptations in Sauropsida.
    (Mol Biol Evol, 2015-11) Khan, Imran; Yang, Zhikai; Maldonado, Emanuel; Li, Cai; Zhang, Guojie; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Jarvis, Erich D; O'Brien, Stephen J; Johnson, Warren E; Antunes, Agostinho
    Olfactory receptors (ORs) govern a prime sensory function. Extant birds have distinct olfactory abilities, but the molecular mechanisms underlining diversification and specialization remain mostly unknown. We explored OR diversity in 48 phylogenetic and ecologically diverse birds and 2 reptiles (alligator and green sea turtle). OR subgenomes showed species- and lineage-specific variation related with ecological requirements. Overall 1,953 OR genes were identified in reptiles and 16,503 in birds. The two reptiles had larger OR gene repertoires (989 and 964 genes, respectively) than birds (182-688 genes). Overall, birds had more pseudogenes (7,855) than intact genes (1,944). The alligator had significantly more functional genes than sea turtle, likely because of distinct foraging habits. We found rapid species-specific expansion and positive selection in OR14 (detects hydrophobic compounds) in birds and in OR51 and OR52 (detect hydrophilic compounds) in sea turtle, suggestive of terrestrial and aquatic adaptations, respectively. Ecological partitioning among birds of prey, water birds, land birds, and vocal learners showed that diverse ecological factors determined olfactory ability and influenced corresponding olfactory-receptor subgenome. OR5/8/9 was expanded in predatory birds and alligator, suggesting adaptive specialization for carnivory. OR families 2/13, 51, and 52 were correlated with aquatic adaptations (water birds), OR families 6 and 10 were more pronounced in vocal-learning birds, whereas most specialized land birds had an expanded OR family 14. Olfactory bulb ratio (OBR) and OR gene repertoire were correlated. Birds that forage for prey (carnivores/piscivores) had relatively complex OBR and OR gene repertoires compared with modern birds, including passerines, perhaps due to highly developed cognitive capacities facilitating foraging innovations.
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    The effect of differences in methodology among some recent applications of shearing quotients.
    (Am J Phys Anthropol, 2015-01) Boyer, Doug M; Winchester, Julia; Kay, Richard F
    A shearing quotient (SQ) is a way of quantitatively representing the Phase I shearing edges on a molar tooth. Ordinary or phylogenetic least squares regression is fit to data on log molar length (independent variable) and log sum of measured shearing crests (dependent variable). The derived linear equation is used to generate an 'expected' shearing crest length from molar length of included individuals or taxa. Following conversion of all variables to real space, the expected value is subtracted from the observed value for each individual or taxon. The result is then divided by the expected value and multiplied by 100. SQs have long been the metric of choice for assessing dietary adaptations in fossil primates. Not all studies using SQ have used the same tooth position or crests, nor have all computed regression equations using the same approach. Here we focus on re-analyzing the data of one recent study to investigate the magnitude of effects of variation in 1) shearing crest inclusion, and 2) details of the regression setup. We assess the significance of these effects by the degree to which they improve or degrade the association between computed SQs and diet categories. Though altering regression parameters for SQ calculation has a visible effect on plots, numerous iterations of statistical analyses vary surprisingly little in the success of the resulting variables for assigning taxa to dietary preference. This is promising for the comparability of patterns (if not casewise values) in SQ between studies. We suggest that differences in apparent dietary fidelity of recent studies are attributable principally to tooth position examined.
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    Viewpoint Adaptation for Person Detection
    Wang, P; Collins, L; Morton, K; Torrione, P
    An object detector performs suboptimally when applied to image data taken from a viewpoint different from the one with which it was trained. In this paper, we present a viewpoint adaptation algo- rithm that allows a trained single-view person detector to be adapted to a new, distinct viewpoint. We first illustrate how a feature space trans- formation can be inferred from a known homography between the source and target viewpoints. Second, we show that a variety of trained clas- sifiers can be modified to behave as if that transformation were applied to each testing instance. The proposed algorithm is evaluated on a new synthetic multi-view dataset as well as images from the PETS 2007 and CAVIAR datasets, yielding substantial performance improvements when adapting single-view person detectors to new viewpoints while increas- ing the detector frame rate. This work has the potential to improve person detection performance for cameras at non-standard viewpoints while simplifying data collection and feature extraction