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Abstract Eccentric upper‐body exercise performed 24 h prior to high‐altitude decompression has previously been shown to aggravate venous gas emboli (VGE) load. Yet, it is unclear whether increasing the muscle mass recruited (i.e., upper vs. whole‐body) during eccentric exercise would exacerbate the decompression strain. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate whether the total muscle mass recruited during eccentric exercise influences the decompression strain. Eleven male participants were exposed to a simulated altitude of 24,000 ft for 90 min on three separate occasions. Twenty‐four hours before each exposure, participants performed one of the following protocols: (i) eccentric whole‐body exercise (ECCw; squats and arm‐cycling exercise), (ii) eccentric upper‐body exercise (ECCu; arm‐cycling), or (iii) no exercise (control). Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and isometric strength were evaluated before and after each exercise intervention. VGE load was evaluated at rest and after knee‐ and arm‐flex provocations using the 6‐graded Eftedal–Brubakk scale. Knee extensor (−20 ± 14%, P = 0.001) but not elbow flexor (−12 ± 18%, P = 0.152) isometric strength was reduced 24 h after ECCw. ECCu reduced elbow flexor isometric strength at 24 h post‐exercise (−18 ± 10%, P

Societal Impact Statement The production of hard cider is a burgeoning industry in North America. However, traditional European cider‐specific apples are largely unsuitable for production in modern systems and have not been widely adopted. Evaluation of the biochemical variability in apples can provide a better characterization of varieties for use in hard cider production. Many varieties exhibited extensive variability in biochemical traits. Varieties with high phenolics and acidity displayed greater plasticity of these traits between seasons, which supports the concept of “vintage quality” and opens new marketing opportunities. This study provides valuable insight for apple producers to integrate cider‐specific and nonspecific varieties into their production systems. Summary The North American fermented beverage market has undergone extensive growth in the fermented apple juice (hard cider) sector over the last decade. Traditional hard cider producing regions such as England, France, and Spain have historically utilized cider‐specific apples that have desirable balances between sugar, organic acid, and phenolics. However, in North America, culinary apples (lower acidity and phenolics) are predominantly used, and information distinguishing the varieties with novel use for hard cider production is lacking. In this study, we evaluated variation of four major apple biochemical traits (total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, and total phenolics) as they relate to use for hard cider production by using a meta‐analysis approach. We analyzed the variation in cider quality traits across 47 published works and more than 800 unique apple varieties, including an additional analysis of 142 varieties from cider apple germplasms in the United States. The biochemical traits of many varieties exhibited plasticity, and the characterization of a subset of varieties using two cider classification system revealed that most belonged to the “sweet” or “sharp” (acidic) categories rather than “bitter” (high phenolic content). We also compared the classification of a subset of varieties from two US germplasm resources across two seasons and found varieties that have high percent phenolics and/or malic acid experienced greater biochemical plasticity and potential classification change across vintages. Ultimately, this work provides information regarding the variability in apple biochemical traits and also suggests a unique opportunity for producers to market “vintage” quality.

Abstract Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) is an autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibodies that form immune complexes with self‐antigens, which deposit in various tissues, leading to inflammation and disease. The etiology of disease is complex and still not completely elucidated. Dysregulated inflammation is an important disease feature, and the mainstay of lupus treatment still utilizes nonspecific anti‐inflammatory drugs. Granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) is a growth, survival, and activation factor for neutrophils and a mobilizer of hematopoietic stem cells, both of which underlie inflammatory responses in lupus. To determine whether G‐CSF has a causal role in lupus, we genetically deleted G‐CSF from Lyn‐deficient mice, an experimental model of lupus nephritis. Lyn−/−G‐CSF−/− mice displayed many of the inflammatory features of Lyn‐deficient mice; however, they had reduced bone marrow and tissue neutrophils, consistent with G‐CSF's role in neutrophil development. Unexpectedly, in comparison to aged Lyn‐deficient mice, matched Lyn−/−G‐CSF− /− mice maintained neutrophil hyperactivation and exhibited exacerbated numbers of effector memory T cells, augmented autoantibody titers, and worsened lupus nephritis. In humans, serum G‐CSF levels were not elevated in patients with lupus or with active renal disease. Thus, these studies suggest that G‐CSF is not pathogenic in lupus, and therefore G‐CSF blockade is an unsuitable therapeutic avenue.

Intrinsic and extrinsic drivers shape the space use of wide‐ranging raptors. A large proportion of raptors are migrants that shift their activity ranges between summer and winter habitats, where they encounter different environmental conditions. Analysing the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic drivers on the space use in summer and winter habitats provides crucial insights into the ecology of migratory raptors. Here, we investigated the seasonal space use by 43 red kites Milvus milvus tracked by GPS‐transmitters across central and south‐western Europe over seven consecutive years. We compared space use patterns, i.e. activity range sizes and mean daily distances of the birds between summer and winter, and analysed the influence of extrinsic (landscape diversity, primary productivity) and intrinsic factors (sex). Within summer, we investigated the influence of breeding success and sex on activity range sizes. We further analysed differences in habitat availability and habitat selection between seasons. We found that space use was smaller in summers than in winters. When compared to those of males, activity ranges of female red kites were larger in summers and smaller in winters, with shorter mean daily distances in both seasons. Within summer, successfully breeding red kites had smaller activity range sizes in both sexes, but this effect was stronger in females than in males. Regardless of the season, landscape diversity was positively correlated with space use, whereas primary productivity was negatively correlated with it. The habitat use differed between seasons, with agricultural landscapes being less proportionally used in summers than in winters. Overall, we showed that both intrinsic and extrinsic drivers shaped space use in both seasons, leading to differences in space use patterns and habitat use in migratory raptors between their summer and winter habitats. Our findings underline the importance of consideration of the entire annual cycle of migratory species for conservation management.

Abstract For many elusive insect species, which are difficult to cover by standard monitoring schemes, innovative survey methods are needed to gain robust data on abundance and population trends. We suggest a monitoring of overwintering larvae for the endangered nymphalid butterfly Limenitis reducta. We tested different removal and capture‐mark‐recapture (CMR) approaches in a field study in the “Alb‐Donau” region, Germany. Classical removal and CMR studies require movement of the organisms under study, but in our approach, we replaced movement of the study organisms by random movement of multiple different surveyors. We tested the validity of the approach by comparing detection frequencies from our field data with simulated detections. Our results indicate that multi‐surveyor removal/CMR techniques are suitable for estimating abundance of overwintering L. reducta larvae. Depending on surveyor experience, the average detection probability ranged between 16% for novices and 35% for experts. The uncertainty of population estimates increased with a decrease in personnel expenditure. Estimated larval densities on a spruce clear‐cut varied between one and three individuals per 100 m2, probably related to habitat conditions. We suggest a CMR approach with three to four trained surveyors for the monitoring of L. reducta populations in the overwintering stage. Compared with previous sampling methods, our approach is a powerful tool with clear advantages: long survey period, estimates of the absolute population size accompanied by uncertainty measures, and estimates of overwinter mortality. The proposed method can be adapted and used for several different butterfly species, other insect taxa with specific immobile life stages, and some sessile organisms, for example, elusive plants, fungi, or corals.

Abstract Ground‐nesting farmland birds such as the grey partridge (Perdix perdix) have been rapidly declining due to a combination of habitat loss, food shortage, and predation. Predator activity is the least understood factor, especially its modulation by landscape composition and complexity. An important question is whether agri‐environment schemes such as flower strips are potentially useful for reducing predation risk, for example, from red fox (Vulpes vulpes). We employed 120 camera traps for two summers in an agricultural landscape in Central Germany to record predator activity (i.e., the number of predator captures) as a proxy for predation risk and used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to investigate how the surrounding landscape affects predator activity in different vegetation types (flower strips, hedges, field margins, winter cereal, and rapeseed fields). Additionally, we used 48 cameras to study the distribution of predator captures within flower strips. Vegetation type was the most important factor determining the number of predator captures and capture rates in flower strips were lower than in hedges or field margins. Red fox capture rates were the highest of all predators in every vegetation type, confirming their importance as a predator for ground‐nesting birds. The number of fox captures increased with woodland area and decreased with structural richness and distance to settlements. In flower strips, capture rates in the center were approximately 9 times lower than at the edge. We conclude that the optimal landscape for ground‐nesting farmland birds seems to be open farmland with broad extensive vegetation elements and a high structural richness. Broad flower blocks provide valuable, comparatively safe nesting habitats, and the predation risk can further be minimized by placing them away from woods and settlements. Our results suggest that adequate landscape management may reduce predation pressure.

Abstract Scientists in applied fields, including conservation biology, face increasing expectations to communicate their research across multiple audiences. As environmental issues become more complex, the need for scientists to clearly communicate with other scientists, managers, stakeholders, tribes, the public, and policy makers becomes ever critical. Despite this need, students in graduate science programs receive limited direct instruction in writing and little training in writing for audiences outside of academia or in different genres. To that end, we developed an interdisciplinary program that incorporates rhetorical theory and writing intensive pedagogy to train graduate science students to write more effectively across genres. During the pilot testing in the first year of this broader, multiyear program, we evaluated changes in the writing practices and confidence of participants as writers and scientists who completed a low‐investment, two‐workshop sequence that highlighted habitual writing, peer review, and writing for multiple audiences and multiple genres. In just six contact hours, we documented significant increases in students' reporting maintaining a more consistent writing routine and writing environment, revising multiple drafts for writing projects, and being willing to have work reviewed by peers or mentors. Upon completion of both workshops, students reported an increase in their confidence as writers. The development of comprehensive graduate writing programs can be costly and time intensive, but our evaluation demonstrates that significant gains in writing capacity and confidence as writers were made by graduate science students with even a low level of investment. We urge graduate science faculty in all Science Technology Engineering Math disciplines to consider how they might offer this two‐workshop sequence or similar low‐investment interventions that will build writing capacity and confidence as writers and scientists in graduate students.

Abstract Reduced food availability during chick raising is a major driver of farmland bird declines. For the Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis), food availability is determined by various factors (i.e., arthropod abundance/diversity, accessibility of the vegetation, distance to foraging sites). In modern farmland, it is supposed to decrease over the breeding season due to less penetrable vegetation. We explored foraging habitat selection by chick‐raising Skylarks with a focus on the seasonal dynamics of habitat use and food availability. We investigated (i) habitat selection concerning prey biomass/diversity, vegetation cover, and distance to foraging sites, (ii) the overall and seasonal habitat use, and (iii) seasonal developments of foraging parameters (e.g., the feeding frequency) as indicators of food availability. We collected data on foraging habitats and foraging parameters of chick‐raising Skylark pairs at 51 nests from a Central European population in 2018 and 2019. Prey biomass/diversity and vegetation cover were measured for all habitats around 42 of these nests. As revealed by multivariate and compositional analyses, Skylarks mainly selected foraging habitats based on the proximity to nests. The most frequent habitats within home ranges could not be ranked according to an overall importance for foraging and their use partially changed over time. The feeding frequency increased throughout the breeding season, while other foraging parameters did not show significant changes. In contrast to our expectations, our data indicated therefore an increase, not a decrease in food availability in the late breeding season. This also implies that the way in which Skylarks used habitats was constantly suitable to raise offspring. We interpret this to be a consequence of the heterogeneous farmland composition of the study area that enabled Skylarks to establish a diverse home range and to benefit from the synergetic effects of neighboring habitat types. Thus, our findings provide support for the high importance of crop diversity in Skylark conservation.

Abstract This rapid high resolution melting (HRM) assay allows distinguishing between Streptococcus suis serotype pairs 2 and 1/2 as well as 1 and 14, respectively, based on a single‐nucleotide polymorphism within capsular polysaccharide synthesis gene cluster K. This assay is easy to implement and identifies potential zoonotic serotypes.

Abstract Butternut trees dying from a canker disease were first reported in southwestern Wisconsin in 1967. Since then, the disease has caused extensive mortality of butternut throughout its North American range. The objectives of this study were to quantify changes in butternut populations and density across its range and identify habitat characteristics of sites where butternut is surviving in order to locate regions for potential butternut restoration. The natural range of butternut (Juglans cinerea L.) extends over a large region of eastern N. America encompassing New Brunswick south to North Carolina, north to Minnesota, and southwest to Missouri. Despite the species’ large range, it is typically not a common tree, comprising a relatively minor component of several different forest types. We evaluated change in butternut abundance and volume from current and historic data from 21 states in the eastern United States. We related abundance and volume at two time periods to a suite of ecological and site factors in order to characterize site conditions where butternut survived. We also assessed the current level of butternut mortality across its range. Since the 1980s, the number of butternut trees and butternut volume have decreased by 58% and 44%, respectively, across its US range. Substantial relative decreases in tree numbers and volume occurred in most ecoregion sections. Five environmental variables were found to be significant predictors of butternut presence. The potential impacts of butternut canker are particularly acute as the canker pathogen invasion pushes a rare tree species toward extinction, at least at a local scale. Based on the results presented here, large‐diameter maple/beech/birch stands in dry, upland sites in eastern Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and upstate New York appear to offer the most favorable conditions for butternut growth and survival and thus may be the best stands for planting resistant butternut trees.

BackgroundPulse pressure, the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI), and the symmetric AASI are established predictors of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. However, little is known about their relationship to cerebral autoregulation. This study evaluated whether these markers of vascular properties relate to the lower limit of cerebral autoregulation (LLA). Methods and ResultsThe LLA was determined during cardiac surgery with transcranial Doppler ultrasonography in 181 patients. All other variables were calculated from continuous intraoperative readings obtained before cardiopulmonary bypass. The LLA varied directly with the AASI (β=3.12 per 0.1 change in AASI, P0.99). Logistic regression revealed that the likelihood of LLA being >65 mm Hg increased by 50% (95% confidence interval, 11%–102%, P=0.008) for every 0.1 increase in the AASI. The AASI was able to predict a LLA above certain thresholds (area under the curve receiver operating characteristic for AASI predicting an LLA >65 mm Hg: 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.51%–0.68%, P=0.043). Incorporating additional variables improved the model's predictive ability (area under the curve for AASI predicting a LLA >65 mm Hg: 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.68–0.82, P=0.036). ConclusionsThese data indicate that the LLA is related to the mechanical properties of the vasculature as represented by the AASI. The AASI can be used to predict LLA threshold levels during cardiac surgery. It is now possible to link elevations in the LLA with an increased AASI as determined from readily accessible intraoperative variables.

Abstract Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local‐scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/our-work/biodiversity/predicts.html). We make site‐level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.