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In Tucumán, environmental scientists and authorities have long considered river pollution caused by the sugar industry to be a priority issue for research and management. However, little is known about how local communities perceive and relate to this issue and these environments. To obtain a more comprehensive understanding, we conducted 401 surveys in four localities to investigate the social perceptions of rivers affected by the sugar industry, utilizing the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to structure this sociocultural assessment. There was a broad recognition of rivers’ importance by 87% of respondents, but 44% reported that they do not visit them, reflecting a disconnect with these environments. Additionally, the community conceives rivers in “good condition” (state) based mostly on aesthetic aspects of the water, rather than health or ecosystem considerations. Overall, rivers were perceived negatively; problems (drivers, pressures) were perceived more than contributions (impacts). Although most (56%) respondents identified sugar industry pollution as “very important,” it ranked third, after other environmental and social pressures. Contributions of rivers that impact people’s well-being were valued lower, and only construction materials, water for animals, recreational spaces, and food were considered “somewhat important.” The majority (> 65%) did not identify rivers as important for energy generation or drinking water. Finally, 42% of the community was unaware of existing environmental public policies aimed at addressing river degradation. These social perceptions of Tucumán’s rivers and their management reveal both similarities and differences between expert-driven, ecological knowledge and society’s relationships with these rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The combination of sequential intravesical gemcitabine and docetaxel (Gem/Doce) chemotherapy has been considered a feasible option for BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) treatment in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), gaining popularity during BCG shortage period. We seek to determine the efficacy of the treatment by comparing Gem/Doce induction alone vs induction with maintenance, and to evaluate the treatment outcomes of two different dosage protocols. Methods: A bi-center retrospective analysis of consecutive patients treated with Gem/Doce for NMIBC between 2018 and 2023 was performed. Baseline characteristics, risk group stratification (AUA 2020 guidelines), pathological, and surveillance reports were collected. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was performed to detect Recurrence-free survival (RFS). Results: Overall, 83 patients (68 males, 15 females) with a median age of 73 (IQR 66–79), and a median follow-up time of 18 months (IQR 9–25), were included. Forty-one had an intermediate-risk disease (49%) and 42 had a high-risk disease (51%). Thirty-seven patients (45%) had a recurrence; 19 (23%) had a high-grade recurrence. RFS of Gem/Doce induction-only vs induction + maintenance was at 6 months 88% vs 100%, at 12 months 71% vs 97%, at 18 months 57% vs 91%, and at 24 months 31% vs 87%, respectively (log-rank, p < 0.0001). Patients who received 2 g Gemcitabine with Docetaxel had better RFS for all-grade recurrences (log-rank, p = 0.017). However, no difference was found for high-grade recurrences. Conclusion: Gem/Doce induction with maintenance resulted in significantly better RFS than induction-only. Combining 2 g gemcitabine with docetaxel resulted in better RFS for all-grade but not for high-grade recurrences. Further prospective trials are necessary to validate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of Review: Management of urotrauma is a crucial part of a urologist's knowledge and training. We therefore sought to understand the state of urotrauma education in the United States. Recent Findings: Using themes of "Urotrauma" and "Education," we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis by searching for studies in MEDLINE, all Cochrane libraries, EMBASE, BIOSIS, Scopus, and Web of Science through May 2023. The primary outcome was the pooled rate of urology trainee and program director attitudes toward urotrauma education. Secondary outcomes involved a descriptive summary of existing urotrauma curricula and an assessment of factors affecting urotrauma exposure. Of 12,230 unique records, 11 studies met the final eligibility criteria, and we included 2 in the meta-analysis. The majority of trainees and program directors reported having level 1 trauma center rotations (range 88–89%) and considered urotrauma exposure as an important aspect of residency education (83%, 95% CI 76–88%). Despite possible increases in trainee exposure to Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons (GURS) faculty over the preceding decade, nearly a third of trainees and program directors currently felt there remained inadequate exposure to urotrauma during training (32%, 95% CI 19–46%). Factors affecting urotrauma education include the limited exposure to GURS-trained faculty and clinical factors such as case infrequency and non-operative trauma management. Summary: Urology resident exposure to urotrauma is inadequate in many training programs, underscoring the potential value of developing a standardized curriculum to improve urotrauma education for trainees. Further investigation is needed to characterize this issue and to understand how it impacts trainee practice readiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being1,2, addressing the global biodiversity crisis3 still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever4. Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)5 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals6, predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature7. Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change8, pandemic emergence9 and socio-environmental injustices10. On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions7,11. Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures.Following a wide-ranging review of studies, reports and policies about nature’s multiple values, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation of nature, address barriers to uptake in decision-making, and make transformative changes towards more just and sustainable futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western environmental thought and practice historically separated humans and nature. This dichotomy led to an ecological bias in environmental research and management, but increasingly issues like biological invasions are being re-conceived as socio-ecological problems. Here, we studied how terrestrial and freshwater vertebrate species assemblages in Tierra del Fuego (TDF) have been co-constructed between humans and nature. The social imaginary concept was used to integrate shared discourses (e.g., species preferences, nature ideals, broader social values) and practices (e.g., species introductions, environmental management) via institutions (e.g., informal norms, laws, governmental entities, organizations). To analyze how socio-historical processes interact with biological invasions, we used TDF as a case study linked to broader geographic scales in Patagonia, Argentina, Chile and beyond. We found three predominant social imaginaries characterizing human–nature relationships that led to 20 species being introduced and subsequent efforts to remove or control seven of these: Colonization (ca. 1850–1930), Development (ca. 1930–1980) and Conservation (ca. 1980–present). Each imaginary materialized via formal and informal institutions operating from local to international scales. Specifically, we uncovered 10 discourse categories that related to human interventions of TDF's species assemblage, ranging from racism and nationalism (Colonization and Development, respectively) to wilderness and uniqueness (Conservation). These ideas affected actions to introduce (eight and 10 species during Colonization and Development, respectively) or remove species (one and seven in Development and Conservation, respectively). An integrated socio-ecological understanding of biological invasions identified not only social preferences and values, but also underlying social processes that can help resolve the complex and underappreciated interactions between society and biological invasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being remote, polar and sub-polar regions are increasingly threatened by global ecological change. For instance, South America's sub-Antarctic forest ecoregion is considered one of the world's last wilderness areas and a global reference site for pre-Industrial Revolution nutrient cycles. Nonetheless, the North American beaver (Castor canadensis) was introduced to Tierra del Fuego in 1946 and, as an invasive ecosystem engineer, has transformed the ecology of regional watersheds. Beavers' engineering activities transform forested streams (FS) into beaver ponds (BP), where there is greater light and primary production (allochthonous organic matter) and, consequently, increased basal resource quality. To investigate this, we analyzed algal, diatom, fungal and bacterial fatty acid (FA) biomarkers in three basal resource categories (biofilm, very fine benthic organic matter, coarse benthic organic matter) and benthic consumers from four functional feeding groups (FFG). The amphipod Hyalella spp. was chosen as an indicator species due to its abundance and biomass in both habitats. Hyalella spp. had higher proportions of algal and bacterial FA in BP than FS. In FS, Hyalella spp. (gatherer) and Gigantodax spp. (filterer, Diptera) had greater contributions of higher quality FA (higher in polyunsaturated FA), while Rheochorema magallanicum (predator, Trichoptera) and Meridialaris spp. (scraper, Ephemeroptera) showed lower quality monounsaturated and saturated FA. All FFGs showed evidence of microbial FA and had higher levels of autochthonous FA biomarkers than their food resources. Scrapers had the greatest proportion of autochthonous FA. These data provide new insights into the utilization of basal resources by stream consumers in sub-Antarctic streams and how beavers modify these ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural practices constitute both the greatest cause of biodiversity loss and the greatest opportunity for conservation1,2, given the shrinking scope of protected areas in many regions. Recent studies have documented the high levels of biodiversity—across many taxa and biomes—that agricultural landscapes can support over the short term1,3,4. However, little is known about the long-term effects of alternative agricultural practices on ecological communities4,5 Here we document changes in bird communities in intensive-agriculture, diversified-agriculture and natural-forest habitats in 4 regions of Costa Rica over a period of 18 years. Long-term directional shifts in bird communities were evident in intensive- and diversified-agricultural habitats, but were strongest in intensive-agricultural habitats, where the number of endemic and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List species fell over time. All major guilds, including those involved in pest control, pollination and seed dispersal, were affected. Bird communities in intensive-agricultural habitats proved more susceptible to changes in climate, with hotter and drier periods associated with greater changes in community composition in these settings. These findings demonstrate that diversified agriculture can help to alleviate the long-term loss of biodiversity outside natural protected areas1. Variation in vegetation and climate affects the long-term changes in bird communities in intensive-agriculture habitats, but not in diversified-agriculture or natural-forest habitats, by changing the local colonization and extinction rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academics and policy-makers recognize that humans and nature should be studied and managed as integrated social-ecological systems. Recently, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) approved the Summary for Policy-makers of the Regional and Subregional Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Americas, concluding the environment should be mainstreamed across development sectors. Beyond its mandate to generate understanding of nature and human well-being from diverse knowledge sources, IPBES is also tasked with advancing science-policy tools to aide information uptake into decisions. Based on the Americas Assessment's 3-year, continental-scale experience, we developed three strategies to guide decisions regarding nature's contributions to people (NCP) for achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Specifically, we prioritized contributions, recognized nature's plural values, and grouped diverse human-nature relationships to orient attention towards important NCP-SDG linkages, expand the suite of environment-development criteria considered, and create bundles to facilitate the incorporation of complexity into decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To provide a summary of the Third International Consultation on Bladder Cancer recommendations for the management of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).Methods: A detailed review of the literature was performed focusing on original articles for the management of NMIBC. An international committee assessed and graded the articles based on the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine system. The entire spectrum of NMIBC was covered such as prognostic factors of recurrence and progression, risk stratification, staging, management of positive urine cytology with negative white light cystoscopy, indications of bladder and prostatic urethral biopsies, management of Ta low grade (LG) and high risk tumors (Ta high grade [HG], T1, carcinoma in situ [CIS]), impact of BCG strain and host on outcomes, management of complications of intravesical therapy, role of alternative therapies, indications for early cystectomy, surveillance strategies, and new treatments. The working group provides several recommendations on the management of NMIBC.Results: Recommendations were summarized with regard to staging; management of primary and recurrent LG Ta and high risk disease, positive urine cytology with negative white light cystoscopy and prostatic urethral involvement; indications for timely cystectomy; and surveillance strategies.Conclusion: NMIBC remains a common and challenging malignancy to manage. Accurate staging, grading, and risk stratification are critical determinants of the management and outcomes of these patients. Current tools for risk stratification are limited but informative, and should be used in clinical practice when determining diagnosis, surveillance, and treatment of NMIBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical forest functional diversity, which is a measure of the diversity of organismal interactions with the environment, is poorly understood despite its importance for linking evolutionary biology to ecosystem biogeochemistry. Functional diversity is reflected in functional traits such as the concentrations of different compounds in leaves or the density of leaf mass, which are related to plant activities such as plant defence, nutrient cycling, or growth. In the Amazonian lowlands, river movement and microtopography control nutrient mobility, which may influence functional trait distributions. Here we use airborne laser-guided imaging spectroscopy to develop maps of 16 forest canopy traits, throughout four large landscapes that harbour three common forest community types on the Madre de Dios and Tambopata rivers in southwestern Amazonia. Our maps, which are based on quantitative chemometric analysis of forest canopies with visible-to-near infrared (400-2,500 nm) spectroscopy, reveal substantial variation in canopy traits and their distributions within and among forested landscapes. Forest canopy trait distributions are arranged in a nested pattern, with location along rivers controlling trait variation between different landscapes, and microtopography controlling trait variation within landscapes. We suggest that processes of nutrient deposition and depletion drive increasing phosphorus limitation, and a corresponding increase in plant defence, in an eastward direction from the base of the Andes into the Amazon Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North American beavers ( Castor canadensis) were introduced to Tierra del Fuego Island in 1946 for their fur, and have since spread across the archipelago and onto the South American mainland. We assessed the impact of invasive beavers on streams of these forested watersheds by quantifying the trophic basis of production (TBP) and consumptive organic matter flows of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages. TBP was determined in two streams: clear- and black-water. Stable isotopes were used across four streams to further elucidate food web structure and dominant pathways. TBP and stable isotopes showed that terrestrially derived organic matter (amorphous detritus, leaves, and wood) supported a majority of secondary production in the benthic food webs at all sites (forested reaches, beaver ponds, and sections downstream of ponds with foraged riparian zones). The magnitude of these flows was enhanced in beaver-modified sites compared with forested habitats (4.0–5.3× increase g AFDM m−2 year−1 in pond habitats, 1.1–2.1× increase in downstream habitats). Diatoms were the only autochthonous resource identified in macroinvertebrate guts, but their contribution to secondary production was small. Consumptive flows mirrored trends in TBP (i.e., dominance of terrestrial sources and greater magnitude in beaver ponds). Collector–gatherer consumption of amorphous detrital material dominated food web flows in all habitats, but was higher in beaver ponds relative to other habitats. Food web structure was simplified in beaver ponds; only two of the five possible functional groups contributed >1% of total organic matter flow in ponds (collector–gatherers and predators). Consumptive flows to predators increased in ponds, and stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon (δ15N and δ13C) corroborated a relatively greater importance of predators (greater trophic distance), as well as less diversity of basal resources (less variation in δ13C) in ponds. Our findings indicate that invasive beaver’s engineering activities resulted in greater flows of terrestrial organic matter subsidies to in-stream food webs, which had a relatively greater change in the clear-water than in the black-water stream. Owing to the fact that these streams were naturally dependent on allochthonous resources for a majority of production and material flows, changes wrought by beavers to streams in forested environments are probably less than in watersheds with inherently greater dependence on autochthonous production such as the adjacent steppe biome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insect community studies related to forest management focus principally on timber-quality stands, and often omit the remainder of the landscape. This study aimed mainly to compare insect communities of primary timber-quality forests ( Nothofagus pumilio) with associated non-timber-quality stands (wetland, edge, riparian and N. antarctica forests), and secondarily to characterize these insect assemblages throughout the growing season and at different vertical strata to evaluate the importance of each habitat type for insect conservation. A total of 18,800 individuals belonging to 231 RTUs (recognizable taxonomic units) were identified, of which Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera were the dominant orders. Lepidoptera RTUs were mostly generalists, while the other main orders were most frequently found in timber-quality forests and included many RTUs with specific environmental requirements. Timber-quality stands had higher richness and abundance than associated non-timber-quality forests and possessed more exclusive species (18%), while 39% of RTUs were shared between all sites. The spatial heterogeneity of timber-quality stands generated different niches and favored insect diversity, which would not have been maintained by protecting non-timber-quality stands alone. Consequently, the proper management of subantarctic Nothofagus forests must include the conservation of timber-quality stands, as protection of non-timber-quality areas alone will not be sufficient for insect conservation at the landscape scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species invasions are of global significance, but predicting their impacts can be difficult. Introduced ecosystem engineers, however, provide an opportunity to test the underlying mechanisms that may be common to all invasive engineers and link relationships between changes in diversity and ecosystem function, thereby providing explanatory power for observed ecological patterns. Here we test specific predictions for an invasive ecosystem engineer by quantifying the impacts of habitat and resource modifications caused by North American beavers ( Castor canadensis) on aquatic macroinvertebrate community structure and stream ecosystem function in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, Chile. We compared responses to beavers in three habitat types: (1) forested (unimpacted) stream reaches, (2) beaver ponds, and (3) sites immediately downstream of beaver dams in four streams. We found that beaver engineering in ponds created taxonomically simplified, but more productive, benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages. Specifically, macroinvertebrate richness, diversity and number of functional feeding groups were reduced by half, while abundance, biomass and secondary production increased three- to fivefold in beaver ponds compared to forested sites. Reaches downstream of beaver ponds were very similar to natural forested sections. Beaver invasion effects on both community and ecosystem parameters occurred predominantly via increased retention of fine particulate organic matter, which was associated with reduced macroinvertebrate richness and diversity (via homogenization of benthic microhabitat) and increased macroinvertebrate biomass and production (via greater food availability). Beaver modifications to macroinvertebrate community structure were largely confined to ponds, but increased benthic production in beaver-modified habitats adds to energy retention and flow for the entire stream ecosystem. Furthermore, the effects of beavers on taxa richness (negative) and measures of macroinvertebrate biomass (positive) were inversely related. Thus, while a generally positive relationship between diversity and ecosystem function has been found in a variety of systems, this work shows how they can be decoupled by responding to alterative mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pristine wilderness is a scarce global resource, but exotic species are so common that they constitute a principal component of worldwide ecological change. The relationship between these two topics, invasion and remoteness, was the impetus behind five years of fieldwork aimed at identifying the assemblage and range of exotic vertebrates in Cape Horn, Chile, identified as one of the world's most pristine wilderness areas. While the archipelago has extremely low human population density and vast tracts of undisturbed land, we discovered that several terrestrial vertebrate groups were dominated by exotic species. Native birds were diverse (approx. 154 spp), and only 1.3% (or two spp.) were introduced. In contrast, exotic terrestrial mammals (12 spp.) and freshwater fish (three spp.) outnumbered their native counterparts, constituting 55% and 75% of the assemblages. Using GIS, we found that not all areas were impacted equally, largely due to intensity of human occupation. Human settled islands (Navarino and Tierra del Fuego) hosted the greatest number of exotics, but humans alone did not explain observed patterns. Remote islands also had introduced species. North American beavers (Castor canadensis), American minks (Mustela vison) and feral domestic dogs and cats were particularly widespread, and their range in isolated parts of the study area raised important ecological and management questions. In conclusion, the Cape Horn Archipelago retained areas free of exotic vertebrates, particularly parts of the Cape Horn and Alberto D'Agostini National Parks, but at many sites introduced species were overwhelming native biota and altering these previously remote natural ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that increased dependence on impact factors to evaluate scientific merit is having negative social and environmental effects in Latin America and focus on strengthening regional and national journals for research.