University of Exeter

About: University of Exeter is a education organization based out in Exeter, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 15820 authors who have published 50650 publications receiving 1793046 citations. The organization is also known as: Exeter University & University of the South West of England.

Common European birds are declining rapidly while less abundant species' numbers are rising

Abstract: Biodiversity is undergoing unprecedented global decline. Efforts to slow this rate have focused foremost on rarer species, which are at most risk of extinction. Less interest has been paid to more common species, despite their greater importance in terms of ecosystem function and service provision. How rates of decline are partitioned between common and less abundant species remains unclear. Using a 30-year data set of 144 bird species, we examined Europe-wide trends in avian abundance and biomass. Overall, avian abundance and biomass are both declining with most of this decline being attributed to more common species, while less abundant species showed an overall increase in both abundance and biomass. If overall avian declines are mainly due to reductions in a small number of common species, conservation efforts targeted at rarer species must be better matched with efforts to increase overall bird numbers, if ecological impacts of birds are to be maintained.

Accelerometer assessment of physical activity in children: an update.

Abstract: Accelerometry is frequently used to assess physical activity in children. The number of articles in this area has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. The aim of this article is to provide a contemporary overview of accelerometry research in children. Specifically, the review addresses the choice of monitor, choice of epoch, when and for how long activity should be measured, the lack of consensus over how to define a complete day of activity data, issues of compliance, methods for the calibration of activity output, and the richness of data available from accelerometry.

Quality control and conduct of genome-wide association meta-analyses

Abstract: Rigorous organization and quality control (QC) are necessary to facilitate successful genome-wide association meta-analyses (GWAMAs) of statistics aggregated across multiple genome-wide association studies. This protocol provides guidelines for (i) organizational aspects of GWAMAs, and for (ii) QC at the study file level, the meta-level across studies and the meta-analysis output level. Real-world examples highlight issues experienced and solutions developed by the GIANT Consortium that has conducted meta-analyses including data from 125 studies comprising more than 330,000 individuals. We provide a general protocol for conducting GWAMAs and carrying out QC to minimize errors and to guarantee maximum use of the data. We also include details for the use of a powerful and flexible software package called EasyQC. Precise timings will be greatly influenced by consortium size. For consortia of comparable size to the GIANT Consortium, this protocol takes a minimum of about 10 months to complete.

Optical excitation of surface plasmons: An introduction

Abstract: Beginning from low level concepts the basic understanding for the optical excitation of surface plasmons is developed. Prism coupling using the attenuated total reflection technique is discussed as well as the less traditional grating coupling technique. A brief discussion of some recent developments using twisted gratings is also presented. Finally a short summary of the potential device applications is given.