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Copyright of Methods in Ecology & Evolution is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The near‐surface boundary layer can mediate the response of mountain glaciers to external climate, cooling the overlying air and promoting a density‐driven glacier wind. The fundamental processes are conceptually well understood, though the magnitudes of cooling and presence of glacier winds are poorly quantified in space and time, increasing the forcing uncertainty for melt models. We utilize a new data set of on‐glacier meteorological measurements on three neighboring glaciers in the Swiss Alps to explore their distinct response to regional climate under the extreme 2022 summer. We find that synoptic wind origins and local terrain modifications, not only glacier size, play an important role in the ability of a glacier to cool the near‐surface air. Warm air intrusions from valley or synoptically‐driven winds onto the glacier can occur between ∼19% and 64% of the time and contribute between 3% and 81% of the total sensible heat flux to the surface during warm afternoon hours, depending on the fetch of the glacier flowline and its susceptibility to boundary layer erosion. In the context of extreme summer warmth, indicative of future conditions, the boundary layer cooling (up to 6.5°C cooler than its surroundings) and resultant katabatic wind flow are highly heterogeneous between the study glaciers, highlighting the complex and likely non‐linear response of glaciers to an uncertain future. Plain Language Summary: The presence of a 0°C ice surface cools the near‐surface air and generates a unique micro‐climate that complicates a glaciers response to future warming. Using a new data series on three glaciers during an extreme summer of 2022, we explore how variable this cooling is in space and time and investigate the factors that can control it. We focus largely on the role of valley and synoptic winds that are found to affect glaciers of varying size and orientation differently, influencing the amount of heat transfer to the ice surface that glaciers receive from outside its own micro‐climate. Moreover, we find that the presence of glacier winds can act to enhance or reduce overall heat transfer to the glacier, depending on the wind strength and degree of boundary layer disruption. We highlight the complexities that are ignored in simpler melt modeling frameworks and demonstrate how, especially under extreme summer heat, indicative of future conditions, static parameters to relate glacier melt to temperature are likely to be inappropriate. Key Points: Glacier size and alignment with valley/synoptic wind gradients control the magnitude of near‐surface coolingValley/synoptic winds can occur between 19% and 64% of the time and contribute between 3% and 81% of total sensible heat to the ice surfaceLocalized cooling and turbulence in the boundary layer increase the complexity and non‐linearity of glacier response to climate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High Mountain Asia (HMA) is among the most vulnerable water towers globally and yet future projections of water availability in and from its high‐mountain catchments remain uncertain, as their hydrologic response to ongoing environmental changes is complex. Mechanistic modeling approaches incorporating cryospheric, hydrological, and vegetation processes in high spatial, temporal, and physical detail have never been applied for high‐elevation catchments of HMA. We use a land surface model at high spatial and temporal resolution (100 m and hourly) to simulate the coupled dynamics of energy, water, and vegetation for the 350 km2 Langtang catchment (Nepal). We compare our model outputs for one hydrological year against a large set of observations to gain insight into the partitioning of the water balance at the subseasonal scale and across elevation bands. During the simulated hydrological year, we find that evapotranspiration is a key component of the total water balance, as it causes about the equivalent of 20% of all the available precipitation or 154% of the water production from glacier melt in the basin to return directly to the atmosphere. The depletion of the cryospheric water budget is dominated by snow melt, but at high elevations is primarily dictated by snow and ice sublimation. Snow sublimation is the dominant vapor flux (49%) at the catchment scale, accounting for the equivalent of 11% of snowfall, 17% of snowmelt, and 75% of ice melt, respectively. We conclude that simulations should consider sublimation and other evaporative fluxes explicitly, as otherwise water balance estimates can be ill‐quantified. Plain Language Summary: The Himalayan mountains are a crucial source of water for local communities and the densely populated lowlands. Snow and glaciers are important for the water cycle in mountains, and many studies have focused on them. However, vegetation can play a central role, too. To better understand the water cycle in a high‐elevation Himalayan basin, we use a computer model that considers physical processes of snow and glaciers, soil, and vegetation in high detail. We simulate the catchment water balance and investigate the importance of single components at different elevations and in different seasons. We find that the transfer of water, in vapor form from the ground, snow and ice and the transpiration of plants are important for the water budget in the study basin, causing more water to return to the atmosphere than ice melt contributing to river runoff. Above 6,500 m above sea level, it is the transformation of snow into water vapor and below 4,000 m the transpiration from vegetation that dominate the water budget. We conclude that models simulating the water cycle in high mountain regions should consider vapor fluxes, as otherwise estimates of the water balance can be misleading. Key Points: Land surface modeling reveals high altitudinal/subseasonal variability in water balance partitioning in a glacierized Himalayan catchmentWater loss through evapotranspiration, dominated by snow sublimation, exceeds water production from glacier melt by 59% at catchment scaleDepletion of cryospheric water budget is dominated by snow melt, but at high elevations is primarily dictated by snow and ice sublimation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the current evidence for universal school‐based (USB) social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions for students in kindergarten through 12th grade available from 2008 through 2020. The sample includes 424 studies from 53 countries, reflecting 252 discrete USB SEL interventions, involving 575,361 students. Results endorsed that, compared to control conditions, students who participate in USB SEL interventions experienced significantly improved skills, attitudes, behaviors, school climate and safety, peer relationships, school functioning, and academic achievement. Significant heterogeneity in USB SEL content, intervention features, context, and implementation quality moderated student experiences and outcomes. Strengths and limitations of this evidence and implications for future USB SEL research, policy, and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Models based on ecological processes (process‐explicit models) are often used to predict ecosystem responses to environmental changes or management scenarios. However, models are imperfect and need to be validated, ideally by testing their assumptions and outputs against independent empirical data sets. Examples of validation of process‐explicit models are rare. Recently, stochastic population models have been developed to predict the likely responses (over 10–120 years) of a riverine fish (golden perch, Macquaria ambigua) to flow management in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) in eastern Australia, one of the world's most regulated river basins. Declines in golden perch (and other species) are a direct consequence of altered hydrology, and managers require information to predict how fish will respond to possible future hydrological conditions to guide substantial investments in flow management. Here, we use two independent field data sets to validate our population model. We compared model predictions to observed trends to ask: (1) How do predicted population sizes and growth rates compare with observed data? (2) Does the correlation between predicted and observed population sizes and growth rates vary among populations? (3) Does the correlation between predicted and observed population sizes and growth rates vary across observed hydrological conditions? (4) How do modeled and observed fish movement rates compare? We found reasonable correlations between fish population sizes and growth rates as predicted by the model and observed in independent data sets for several populations (Aim 1), but the strength of these correlations varied among populations (Aim 2) and hydrological conditions (Aim 3). Predicted and observed fish movement rates were strongly correlated (Aim 4). Population models are frequently used in conservation decision‐making but are rarely validated. We demonstrate that: (1) validation can identify model strengths and weaknesses; (2) observed data sets often have inherent limitations that can preclude robust validations; (3) validation is likely to be more common if appropriate observed data sets are available; and (4) validation should consider the purpose of modeling. Wider consideration of these messages would contribute to more critical examinations of models, so they can be most appropriately used in conservation decision‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studying modifiable psychosocial contributors to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) is crucial to inform approaches for ADRD prevention, especially among those with less education, lower neighborhood quality, and heightened discrimination. These three social determinants of health confer increased ADRD risk. Perceived control is an important psychosocial resource for cognitive health. Most prior work, however, focuses exclusively on global aspects of control, ignoring influences of more dynamic aspects of control over specific experiences in daily life, such as daily stressor control. Method: We used data from the Midlife in the United States study and the National Study of Daily Experiences (N = 1,651, Mage = 62.09, SE = 12.11, 56.65% Female) to address this gap and examine the roles of daily stressor control and social determinants of health in cognitive performance. Over 8 consecutive days in the second and third waves of data collection, respondents reported their perceived control over stressors they had experienced. Respondents also completed assessments of education, neighborhood quality, perceived discrimination, and a telephone‐based battery of tests measuring executive function (EF) and episodic memory (EM). We employed multilevel modeling to assess associations of daily stressor control and social determinants of health with cognitive performance. Result: EF was higher among people with more education and those with less perceived discrimination (ps<.001), but was not related to daily stressor control (p>.05). Greater daily stressor control, more education, and better neighborhood quality was related to better EM (ps<.05). A stressor control by discrimination interaction showed that greater stressor control was associated with better EM among those with comparatively less perceived discrimination (p<.01). Conclusion: Daily stressor control may serve as a psychosocial resource for cognitive health, but the strength of its relationship with cognitive performance varied by perceived discrimination. Promoting stressor control may be beneficial for cognitive health among those with comparatively less perceived discrimination, but more research is needed to clarify psychosocial resources that could buffer against the impacts of heightened discrimination on cognitive health disparities in the US. Future work should examine longitudinal relationships to clarify the predictive utility of stressor control for cognitive health and the daily mechanisms that may explain these associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of a developed boundary layer decouples a glacier's response from ambient conditions, suggesting that sensitivity to climate change is increased by glacier retreat. To test this hypothesis, we explore six years of distributed meteorological data on a small Swiss glacier in the period 2001–2022. Large glacier fragmentation has occurred since 2001 (−35% area change up to 2022) coinciding with notable frontal retreat, an observed switch from down‐glacier katabatic to up‐glacier valley winds and an increased sensitivity (ratio) of on‐glacier to off‐glacier temperature. As the glacier ceases to develop density‐driven katabatic winds, sensible heat fluxes on the glacier are increasingly determined by the conditions occurring outside the boundary layer of the glacier, sealing the glacier's demise as the climate continues to warm and experience an increased frequency of extreme summers. Plain Language Summary: Down‐glacier winds promote a unique micro‐climate, maintaining relatively lower temperatures over the surface of mountain glaciers. Using six years of meteorological data in the period 2001–2022, we observe increases in the relative changes of above‐ice air temperatures compared to temperatures outside the glacier. As the glacier ceases to develop its own micro‐climate, warmer winds generated by heated valley slopes increasingly control the amount of heat transfer to melt glacier ice. This work offers new observational evidence that suggests that, as glaciers continue to shrink and fragment, they becoming increasingly sensitive to future climate warming. Key Points: On‐glacier air temperatures have become more sensitive to ambient temperatures in a warming climateUp‐valley winds have increased >20% between 2001 and 2021, making sensible heat fluxes more dependent on conditions outside the glacierThe decay of the katabatic system due to glacier retreat indicates a nonlinear sensitivity of the glacier to continued warming [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice cliff distribution plays a major role in determining the melt of debris‐covered glaciers but its controls are largely unknown. We assembled a data set of 37,537 ice cliffs and determined their characteristics across 86 debris‐covered glaciers within High Mountain Asia (HMA). We find that 38.9% of the cliffs are stream‐influenced, 19.5% pond‐influenced and 19.7% are crevasse‐originated. Surface velocity is the main predictor of cliff distribution at both local and glacier scale, indicating its dependence on the dynamic state and hence evolution stage of debris‐covered glacier tongues. Supraglacial ponds contribute to maintaining cliffs in areas of thicker debris, but this is only possible if water accumulates at the surface. Overall, total cliff density decreases exponentially with debris thickness as soon as the debris layer reaches a thickness of over 10 cm. Plain Language Summary: Debris‐covered glaciers are common throughout the world's mountain ranges and are characterized by the presence of steep ice cliffs among the debris‐covered ice. It is well‐known that the cliffs are responsible for a large portion of the melt of these glaciers but the controls on their formation, development and distribution across glaciers remains poorly understood. Novel mapping approaches combined with high‐resolution satellite and drone products enabled us to disentangle some of these controls and to show that the ice cliffs are generally formed and maintained by the surface hydrology (ponds or streams) or by the opening of crevasses. As a result, they depend both at the local and glacier scale on the dynamic state of the glaciers as well as the evolution stage of their debris cover. This provides a pathway to better represent their contribution to glacier melt in predictive glacier models. Key Points: We derived an unprecedented data set of 37,537 ice cliffs and their characteristics across 86 debris‐covered glaciers in High Mountain AsiaWe find that 38.9% of the cliffs are stream‐influenced, 19.5% pond‐influenced and 19.7% are crevasse‐originatedIce cliff distribution can be predicted by velocity, as an indicator of the dynamics and state of evolution of debris‐covered glaciers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planned burning generates different types of pyrodiversity, however, experimental tests of how alternative spatial patterns of burning influence animal communities remain rare. Field tests are needed to understand the mechanisms through which spatial variation in planned fire affects fauna, and how fire can be applied to benefit biodiversity.We tested five hypotheses of how fire‐driven variation in habitat composition and configuration affects fauna at fine scales. Small mammal, reptile and invasive predator activity was monitored at 12 burnt and eight unburnt sites through the year following a large, planned burn in semi‐arid 'mallee' woodlands of southern Australia. We explored measures of burnt or unburnt habitat ('habitat status'); amount of unburnt vegetation ('habitat amount'); interspersion of burnt and unburnt patches ('habitat complementation'); distance to external or internal unburnt vegetation ('habitat connectivity'); and unburnt patch size and local vegetation cover ('habitat refuge'). Generalized linear models were used to test the influence of each variable on capture rates of three small mammal and 11 reptile species; activity of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes); and species richness of native animals.We found strong support for the habitat status hypothesis and moderate support for four hypotheses relating to spatial patterns of fire. Reptile assemblages varied between burnt and unburnt sites, and relationships were identified between abundance of one or more reptile species and each measure of spatial variation. Reptile species richness was higher at unburnt sites and at sites with more unburnt vegetation in the surrounding area. Sites that were less connected to unburnt vegetation had fewer reptile species. Mammals did not have clear relationships with fine‐scale fire patterns.Synthesis and applications. Application of planned fire to promote biodiversity is globally important. We show that retaining unburnt areas and well‐connected habitat refuges is important for reptile diversity. We also found that several species of small mammals and reptiles appear resilient to the fine‐scale patterns of planned fire experienced in this study, despite activity of introduced predators. The diversity of animals can remain relatively high in areas subject to planned fire, provided that internal and external habitat refuges are retained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To assess European Association of Urology (EAU) risk groups for biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer relative to prostate-specific membrane antigen-positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET) status and oncological outcomes. Patients and Methods A retrospective analysis of a study that incorporated PSMA-PET for men with BCR after radical prostatectomy (RP) was undertaken. EAU risk groups were considered relative to clinical variables, PSMA-PET findings, and deployment of salvage radiotherapy (SRT). The primary oncological outcome was event-free survival (EFS) and this was analysed relative to clinical and imaging variables. An 'event' occurred if prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level rose >0.2 ng/mL above nadir or additional therapies were introduced. Results A total of 137 patients were included, most of whom had EAU high-risk disease (76%) and/or low PSA levels (80% <0.5 ng/mL) at the time of PSMA-PET. EAU risk group was not associated with regional nodal/distant metastasis on PSMA-PET. Regional nodal/distant metastasis on PSMA PET (compared to negative/local recurrence: hazard ratio [HR] 2.2; P = 0.002) and SRT use (vs no SRT: HR 0.44; P = 0.004) were associated with EFS. EAU high-risk status was not significantly associated with worse EFS (HR 1.7, P = 0.12) compared to EAU low-risk status. Among patients who received SRT, both regional/distant metastasis on PSMA-PET (HR 3.1; P < 0.001) and EAU high-risk status (HR 2.9; P = 0.04) were independently associated with worse EFS, which was driven by patients in the EAU high-risk group with regional/distant metastases (38%; HR 3.1, P = 0.001). Conclusions In patients with post-RP BCR, PSMA-PET findings and receipt of SRT predicted EFS. In patients receiving SRT, PSMA status combined with EAU risk grouping was most predictive of EFS. These findings suggest that the EAU risk groups could be improved with the addition of PSMA-PET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by episodes of depression and mania and disrupted circadian rhythms. Lithium is an effective therapy for BD, but only 30%–40% of patients are fully responsive. Preclinical models show that lithium alters circadian rhythms. However, it is unknown if the circadian rhythm effects of lithium are essential to its therapeutic properties. Methods: In secondary analyses of a multi‐center, prospective, trial of lithium for BD, we examined the relationship between circadian rhythms and therapeutic response to lithium. Using standardized instruments, we measured morningness, diurnal changes in mood, sleep, and energy (circadian rhythm disturbances) in a cross‐sectional study of 386 BD subjects with varying lithium exposure histories. Next, we tracked symptoms of depression and mania prospectively over 12 weeks in a subset of 88 BD patients initiating treatment with lithium. Total, circadian, and affective mood symptoms were scored separately and analyzed. Results: Subjects with no prior lithium exposure had the most circadian disruption, while patients stable on lithium monotherapy had the least. Patients who were stable on lithium with another drug or unstable on lithium showed intermediate levels of disruption. Treatment with lithium for 12 weeks yielded significant reductions in total and affective depression symptoms. Lithium responders (Li‐Rs) showed improvement in circadian symptoms of depression, but non‐responders did not. There was no difference between Li‐Rs and nonresponders in affective, circadian, or total symptoms of mania. Conclusions: Exposure to lithium is associated with reduced circadian disruption. Lithium response at 12 weeks was selectively associated with the reduction of circadian depressive symptoms. We conclude that stabilization of circadian rhythms may be an important feature of lithium's therapeutic effects. Clinical Trials Registry: NCT0127253. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of dried blood spot (DBS) samples can facilitate the implementation of reflex testing by circumventing the need for centrifugation and freezing of venous blood samples. This systematic review assessed the accuracy of using DBS samples to diagnose chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. A comprehensive search was undertaken to identify articles published up to July 2020 evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of anti‐HCV, HCV‐RNA and HCV core antigen tests using DBS. Screening, data extraction, quality appraisal and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations certainty of the evidence assessment were performed independently by two reviewers. Meta‐analysis, meta‐regression and sensitivity analyses were conducted. The evidence demonstrates that laboratory‐based anti‐HCV and HCV‐RNA tests using DBS samples have high diagnostic accuracy. All comparisons were between DBS and venous samples. For the detection of anti‐HCV, sensitivity was 95% (95% CI: 92%–97%) and specificity was 99% ([95% CI: 98%–99%]; n = 25; I2 = 81%; moderate certainty). For the detection of HCV‐RNA, the sensitivity was 95% (95% CI: 93%–97%) and specificity was 97% ([95% CI: 94%–98%]; n = 20; I2 = 52%; moderate certainty). The sensitivity of HCV core antigen tests was 86% (95% CI: 79%–91%) and specificity was 98% ([95% CI: 94%–99%]; n = 5; I2 = 37%; low certainty) compared with HCV‐RNA (the gold standard for detecting chronic HCV). DBS samples could facilitate diagnosis of chronic HCV infection as the necessary sequential tests (anti‐HCV and then HCV‐RNA or HCV core antigen) can be undertaken using the same blood sample. This could reduce loss of patient follow‐up and support international efforts towards HCV elimination in both high and low prevalence settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim: Symptoms of bipolar disorder (BD) include changes in mood, activity, energy, sleep, and appetite. Since many of these processes are regulated by circadian function, circadian rhythm disturbance has been examined as a biological feature underlying BD. The International Society for Bipolar Disorders Chronobiology Task Force (CTF) was commissioned to review evidence for neurobiological and behavioral mechanisms pertinent to BD. Method: Drawing upon expertise in animal models, biomarkers, physiology, and behavior, CTF analyzed the relevant cross‐disciplinary literature to precisely frame the discussion around circadian rhythm disruption in BD, highlight key findings, and for the first time integrate findings across levels of analysis to develop an internally consistent, coherent theoretical framework. Results: Evidence from multiple sources implicates the circadian system in mood regulation, with corresponding associations with BD diagnoses and mood‐related traits reported across genetic, cellular, physiological, and behavioral domains. However, circadian disruption does not appear to be specific to BD and is present across a variety of high‐risk, prodromal, and syndromic psychiatric disorders. Substantial variability and ambiguity among the definitions, concepts and assumptions underlying the research have limited replication and the emergence of consensus findings. Conclusions: Future research in circadian rhythms and its role in BD is warranted. Well‐powered studies that carefully define associations between BD‐related and chronobiologically‐related constructs, and integrate across levels of analysis will be most illuminating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation examines the interplay between individual‐level social capital, psychological distress, and the effects of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak on a college campus. Data were collected from students at two colleges in early 2021. Hypotheses were formed based on prior research on social capital and the COVID pandemic. A structural equation model was constructed to allow the modeling of both latent and observed variables. The Kessler‐6 measures were used to create a latent psychological distress variable, which was the dependent variable. Predictor variables include whether the student experienced the outbreak, the student's race and gender, and the level of reported individual social capital (having supportive and rewarding relationships). Our findings suggest that the most robust predictor of reduced psychological distress was individual social capital, which also served as an intermediary between the outbreak and distress. Social capital mediates psychological distress in an outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The narrow therapeutic window of lithium medications necessitates frequent serum monitoring, which can be expensive and inconvenient for the patient. Compared to blood, saliva collection is easier, non‐invasive, requires less processing, and can be done without the need for trained personnel. This study investigated the utility of longitudinal salivary lithium level monitoring. Methods: We measured salivary lithium levels using ICP‐OES in n = 169 passive drool samples, collected both as single observations and longitudinally for up to 18 months, from a multi‐center cohort of n = 75 patients with bipolar disorder or other psychiatric conditions. Results: Saliva and serum lithium levels were highly correlated. Adjustment for daily lithium dose, diabetes, and smoking improved this relationship (r = 0.77). Using the adjusted intersubject equation and a patient's salivary lithium value, we observed a strong correlation between the predicted vs. observed serum lithium levels (r = 0.70). Most patients had highly stable saliva/serum ratios across multiple visits, with longitudinal variability significantly greater with age. Use of the intrasubject saliva/serum ratio from a single prior observation had similar predictive power to the use of the adjusted intersubject equation. However, the use of the mean intrasubject ratio from three prior observations could robustly predict serum lithium levels (predicted vs. observed r = 0.90). Conclusions: These findings strongly suggest that saliva could be used for lithium monitoring, and open the door for the development and implementation of a point‐of‐care salivary lithium device for use at home or the clinic. We propose that the use of saliva will dramatically improve treatment opportunities for patients with mood disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Line‐transect distance sampling is widely used to estimate population densities using distances of observed targets from transect lines to model detectability. When the target taxa are high density, the frequent measuring of distances may make the method seem impractical. We present a method that improves the efficiency of distance sampling when the target species occurs at high density. Only a proportion of targets are measured to model the detection function, and the time saved on the survey is then used to cover a longer total length of transect and accrue a larger 'count only' sample. This approach can improve the precision of the population density estimate when the cost of measuring the distance to a detected target is more than half the cost of walking to the next target.We find the optimal proportion of distances to measure that minimises the variance of the density estimate for a fixed survey budget. We quantify how much this optimised strategy increases the precision of the density estimate compared with conventional line‐transect distance sampling. We then use simulated distance sampling data to test our expressions, and illustrate circumstances under which the optimised approach would be beneficial using distance sampling data on high‐density plants.The simulations indicate that the optimised method delivers benefits in precision, but the magnitude of the benefit is lower than predicted from our expressions, which are based on an asymptotic approximation of the variance. We apply an adjustment to the predicted benefit equation to account for this difference, and show that, in all three plant case studies, the optimised approach could improve the precision gained from a distance sampling survey between 20% and 50%.This new approach could broaden the ecological contexts in which distance sampling is applied, to include estimation of densities of abundant taxa where plots are conventionally used. The method may have interesting applications for other survey types, including multispecies surveys or those using cues or signs that occur at high density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The establishment of new botanic gardens in tropical regions highlights a need for weed risk assessment tools suitable for tropical ecosystems. The relevance of plant traits for invasion into tropical rainforests has not been well studied.2. Working in and around four botanic gardens in Indonesia where 590 alien species have been planted, we estimated the effect of four plant traits, plus time since species introduction, on: (a) the naturalization probability and (b) abundance (density) of naturalized species in adjacent native tropical rainforests; and (c) the distance that naturalized alien plants have spread from the botanic gardens.3. We found that specific leaf area (SLA) strongly differentiated 23 naturalized from 78 non‐naturalized alien species (randomly selected from 577 non‐naturalized species) in our study. These trends may indicate that aliens with high SLA, which had a higher probability of naturalization, benefit from at least two factors when establishing in tropical forests: high growth rates and occupation of forest gaps. Naturalized aliens had high SLA and tended to be short. However, plant height was not significantly related to species' naturalization probability when considered alongside other traits.4. Alien species that were present in the gardens for over 30 years and those with small seeds also had higher probabilities of becoming naturalized, indicating that garden plants can invade the understorey of closed canopy tropical rainforests, especially when invading species are shade tolerant and have sufficient time to establish.5. On average, alien species that were not animal dispersed spread 78 m further into the forests and were more likely to naturalize than animal‐dispersed species. We did not detect relationships between the measured traits and estimated density of naturalized aliens in the adjacent forests.6. Synthesis: Traits were able to differentiate alien species from botanic gardens that naturalized in native forest from those that did not; this is promising for developing trait‐based risk assessment in the tropics. To limit the risk of invasion and spread into adjacent native forests, we suggest tropical botanic gardens avoid planting alien species with fast carbon capture strategies and those that are shade tolerant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) data on global lightning are used to investigate the increase of total lightning strokes at Arctic latitudes. We use the summertime data from June, July, and August (JJA) which average >200,000 strokes each year above 65°N for the years 2010–2020. We minimize the possible influence of WWLLN network detection efficiency increases by normalizing our results to the total global strokes during northern summer each year. The ratio of strokes occurring above a given latitude, compared to total global strokes, increases with time, indicating that the Arctic is becoming more influenced by lightning. We compare the increasing fraction of strokes with the NOAA global temperature anomaly, and find that the fraction of strokes above 65°N to total global strokes increases linearly with the temperature anomaly and grew by a factor of 3 as the anomaly increased from 0.65°C to 0.95°C. Plain Language Summary: Global Lightning location data from 2010 – 2020 are used to show that the number of strokes in the Arctic above 65N is increasing. We show that the increase in the fraction of strokes in the Arctic compared to total global strokes is well correlated with the global temperature anomaly. Key Points: Over the last decade the number of lightning strokes in the arctic has increased dramaticallyThe fraction of lightning strokes above 65° latitude is an increasing fraction of all global lightningFraction of strokes above 65° compared to total global strokes is shown to closely follow the global temperature anomaly [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting changes in the abundance of species over time is a central goal of conservation ecology. Typically, demographic data are used to parameterise models which describe population dynamics. Vital rates of plants vary across a species' distribution, yet most demographic estimates are spatially constrained. Banksia ornata (Proteaceae), a widespread serotinous obligate‐seeding shrub in southern Australia, has previously had a fire management model developed based on demographic data derived from a chronosequence in one part of the species' range. We asked: are demographic data collected from a limited geographic range robust for developing population dynamic models that are applied across the broader species' range? How much variation exists in the demography of species across their range and does this matter for estimating fire return intervals necessary for species persistence? We examine site‐to‐site variation in the pyrodemography of six populations of B. ornata encompassing its geographic range. We documented changes in population density, time to first reproduction and canopy seed bank accumulation in stands varying in age from 0.5 to 55 years. We model year of maximum seed production on demographic parameters such as population starting density and survival rate. Density, primary juvenile period, rates of mortality and seed bank accumulation varied across populations. Primary juvenile period varied across populations (from 6 to <20 years), while time to maximum seed production was estimated to take 34–39 years after fire. Hence, the fire intervals that correspond to minimising extinction risk (due to variation in primary juvenile periods) diverge moreso among populations than the fire intervals that produce (on average) the highest maximum seed production with respect to time since fire. Demographic data collected at different locations in a species' range are likely valuable for building realistic species response models to disturbance, providing underlying assumptions about key transitions, such as mortality rate, are made explicit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Joint species distribution models (JSDMs) simultaneously model the distributions of multiple species, while accounting for residual co‐occurrence patterns. Despite increasing adoption of JSDMs in the literature, the question of how to define and evaluate JSDM predictions has only begun to be explored.We define four different JSDM prediction types that correspond to different aspects of species distribution and community assemblage processes. Marginal predictions are environment‐only predictions akin to predictions from single‐species models; joint predictions simultaneously predict entire community assemblages; and conditional marginal and conditional joint predictions are made at the species or assemblage level, conditional on the known occurrence state of one or more species at a site. We define five different classes of metrics that can be used to evaluate these types of predictions: threshold‐dependent, threshold‐independent, community dissimilarity, species richness and likelihood metrics.We illustrate different prediction types and evaluation metrics using a case study in which we fit a JSDM to a frog occurrence dataset collected in Melbourne, Australia.Joint species distribution models present opportunities to investigate the facets of species distribution and community assemblage processes that are not possible to explore with single‐species models. We show that there are a variety of different metrics available to evaluate JSDM predictions, and that choice of prediction type and evaluation metric should closely match the questions being investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family caregivers exhibit a wide variety of needs and concerns while providing care to stroke survivors after discharge to the home setting. We report the results of two related studies utilizing a multimethod design in which stroke family caregivers (N = 12; N = 10) were interviewed using open‐ended questions, followed by written caregiver ratings regarding the types of telehealth technologies they preferred for the telephone assessment and skill‐building kit (TASK III). Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis procedures with a provisional "start list" of codes in a matrix template based on the types of telehealth technologies in the rating forms. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze ratings with response scales ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Average ratings for the telehealth technologies for the TASK III resource guide were obtained for the mailed hard copy binder (M = 3.58–4.13; SD = 0.35–1.00), an interactive website (https://www.task3web.com/; M = 3.86–4.17; SD =.72–1.07), an eBook (M = 3.17–3.67; SD = 0.84–1.17), and a USB drive (M = 3.75–4.00; SD =.82–.96). Average ratings for the telehealth technologies for the TASK III calls with the nurse were obtained for the use of a telephone (M = 4.36–5.00; SD = 0.00–0.89), FaceTime on an iOS device (e.g., iPhone or iPad; M = 3.73–4.40; SD = 0.79–0.98), or online videoconferencing (M = 3.17–3.50; SD = 0.82–1.47). Qualitative data revealed a wide variety of preferences for each type of telehealth technology, with advantages and disadvantages of each. The findings underscored the importance of offering multiple telehealth technology options to stroke family caregivers. Future studies are recommended that employ randomized control trial methodology to test theoretically‐based interventions that are based on stroke family caregiver preferences for telehealth technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic has impacted spine care around the globe. Much uncertainty remains regarding the immediate and long‐term future of spine care and education in this COVID‐19 era. Study design: Cross‐sectional, international study of spine surgeons. Methods: A multi‐dimensional survey was distributed to spine surgeons around the world. A total of 73 questions were asked regarding demographics, COVID‐19 observations, personal impact, effect on education, adoption of telemedicine, and anticipated challenges moving forward. Multivariate analysis was performed to assess factors related to likelihood of future conference attendance, future online education, and changes in surgical indications. Results: A total of 902 spine surgeons from seven global regions completed the survey. Respondents reported a mean level of overall concern of 3.7 on a scale of one to five. 84.0% reported a decrease in clinical duties, and 67.0% reported a loss in personal income. The 82.5% reported being interested in continuing a high level of online education moving forward. Respondents who personally knew someone who tested positive for COVID‐19 were more likely to be unwilling to attend a medical conference 1 year from now (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: [0.39, 0.95], P =.029). The 20.0% reported they plan to pursue an increased degree of nonoperative measures prior to surgery 1 year from now, and respondents with a spouse at home (OR: 3.55, 95% CI: [1.14, 11.08], P =.029) or who spend a large percentage of their time teaching (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: [1.02, 2.07], P =.040) were more likely to adopt this practice. Conclusions: The COVID‐19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on surgeon teaching, clinical volume, and personal income. In the future, surgeons with family and those personally affected by COVID‐19 may be more willing to alter surgical indications and change education and conference plans. Anticipating these changes may help the spine community appropriately plan for future challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inosine pranobex (IP) is a synthetic immunomodulating compound, indicated for use in the treatment of human papillomavirus‐associated warts and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Previous studies demonstrate that the immunomodulatory activity of IP is characterized by enhanced lymphocyte proliferation, cytokine production, and NK cell cytotoxicity. The activation of NKG2D signaling on NK cells, CD8+ T cells, and γδ T cells also produces these outcomes. We hypothesized that IP alters cellular immunity through the induction of NKG2D ligand expression on target cells, thereby enhancing immune cell activation through the NKG2D receptor. We tested this hypothesis and show that exposure of target cells to IP leads to increased expression of multiple NKG2D ligands. Using both targeted metabolic interventions and unbiased metabolomic studies, we found that IP causes an increase in intracellular concentration of purine nucleotides and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates and NKG2D ligand induction. The degree of NKG2D ligand induction was functionally significant, leading to increased NKG2D‐dependent target cell immunogenicity. These findings demonstrate that the immunomodulatory properties of IP are due to metabolic activation with NKG2D ligand induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent mania and depression episodes and requiring lifelong treatment with mood stabilizing drugs. Several lines of evidence, including with BD patient iPSC‐derived neurons, suggest that neuronal hyperexcitability may underlie the key clinical symptoms of BD. Indeed, higher mRNA levels of SCN11A, coding for the voltage‐gated sodium channel NaV1.9 implicated in nociception, were detected in iPSC‐derived neurons from BD patients, and were normalized by in vitro lithium. Here we studied SCN11A expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from well‐phenotyped female BD patients and controls and evaluated their association with several clinical sub‐phenotypes. We observed higher mRNA levels of SCN11A in PBMCs from female BD patients with no records of alcohol dependence (p =.0050), no records of psychosis (p =.0097), or no records of suicide attempts (p =.0409). A trend was observed for higher SCN11A expression (FD = 1.91; p =.052) in BD PBMCs compared with controls. Datamining of published postmortem gene expression datasets indicated higher SCN11A expression in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex tissues from BD patients compared with controls. Higher phenotype‐associated expression levels in PBMC from BD patients were also observed for ID2 (alcohol dependence, suicide attempts) and HDGFRP3 (seasonal BD pattern). Our findings suggest that higher PBMC SCN11A expression levels may be associated with certain behavioral BD sub‐phenotypes, including lack of alcohol dependence and psychosis, among BD patients. The NaV1.9 voltage‐gated sodium channel thus deserves consideration as a tentative phenotype modifier in BD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A remarkable, large‐amplitude, mountain wave (MW) breaking event was observed on the night of 21 June 2014 by ground‐based optical instruments operated on the New Zealand South Island during the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE). Concurrent measurements of the MW structures, amplitudes, and background environment were made using an Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper, a Rayleigh Lidar, an All‐Sky Imager, and a Fabry‐Perot Interferometer. The MW event was observed primarily in the OH airglow emission layer at an altitude of ~82 km, over an ~2‐hr interval (~10:30–12:30 UT), during strong eastward winds at the OH altitude and above, which weakened with time. The MWs displayed dominant horizontal wavelengths ranging from ~40 to 70 km and temperature perturbation amplitudes as large as ~35 K. The waves were characterized by an unusual, "saw‐tooth" pattern in the larger‐scale temperature field exhibiting narrow cold phases separating much broader warm phases with increasing temperatures toward the east, indicative of strong overturning and instability development. Estimates of the momentum fluxes during this event revealed a distinct periodicity (~25 min) with three well‐defined peaks ranging from ~600 to 800 m2/s2, among the largest ever inferred at these altitudes. These results suggest that MW forcing at small horizontal scales (<100 km) can play large roles in the momentum budget of the mesopause region when forcing and propagation conditions allow them to reach mesospheric altitudes with large amplitudes. A detailed analysis of the instability dynamics accompanying this breaking MW event is presented in a companion paper, Fritts et al. (2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jd030899). Key Points: Multi‐instrument characterization of a mesospheric mountain wave exhibit a unique, large‐amplitude "saw‐tooth" wave breaking signatureUnexpected large‐amplitude mesospheric mountain waves accompany weak winds over low orography due to favorable propagation conditionsVery large mesospheric mountain wave momentum fluxes ~400‐800 m2/s2 are sustained for multiple wave periods [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Fabry‐Perot interferometers at five midlatitude stations (Boulder, Palmer, Millstone Hill, Mount John, and Kelan) in both hemispheres, we examine the interhemispheric and seasonal variations of midlatitude thermospheric dynamics. We also use the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM) to simulate the seasonal changes of winds and the effects from Sub‐Auroral Polarization Streams. The observations and TIEGCM simulations show a clear seasonal variation with more westward and equatorward summer winds. The TIEGCM runs overestimate the westward zonal winds and underestimate the electron densities in the northern summer. We believe that the underestimated TIEGCM electron density leads to a weak ion drag effect in the model, and strong westward zonal winds. TIEGCM overestimates the Sub‐Auroral Polarization Stream effects on neutral winds in most cases, probably because the empirical Sub‐Auroral Polarization Stream model used by the TIEGCM applies an unrealistic persistent electric field for a long period of time (over 3 hr) due to the low temporal resolution of the Kp index. Key Points: Summer zonal (meridional) winds are more westward (equatorward). The seasonal changes in the zonal winds are largerThe TIEGCM simulated zonal winds are more westward in the northern midlatitudes during the June solstice than the measured windsThe SAPS‐enabled TIEGCM overestimates the SAPS effects in most cases due to unrealistic electric field [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Rotational spectroscopy is an invaluable tool to unambiguously determine the molecular structure of a species, and sometimes even to establish its very existence. This article illustrates how experimental and theoretical state‐of‐the‐art tools can be used in tandem to investigate the rotational structure of molecules, with particular emphasis on those that have long remained elusive. The examples of three emblematic species—gauche‐butadiene, disilicon carbide, and germanium dicarbide—highlight the close, mutually beneficial interaction between high‐level theoretical calculations and sensitive microwave measurements. Prospects to detect other elusive molecules of chemical and astronomical interest are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) have an extremely poor prognosis despite multimodal therapy with surgery and chemoradiation. Lenvatinib, a multi‐targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, as well as checkpoint inhibitors targeting the programmed cell death pathway, have proven effective in some patients with advanced thyroid cancer. Combination of these therapies is a potential means to boost effectiveness and minimize treatment resistance in ATC. We utilized our novel immunocompetent murine model of orthotopic ATC to demonstrate that lenvatinib led to significant tumor shrinkage and increased survival, while combination therapy led to dramatic improvements in both. Lenvatinib monotherapy increased tumor‐infiltrating macrophages, CD8+ T‐cells, regulatory T‐cells, and most notably, polymorphonuclear myeloid derived suppressor cells (PMN‐MDSCs). While both combination therapies led to further increases in CD8+ T‐cells, only the lenvatinib and anti‐PD‐1 combination decreased PMN‐MDSCs. PMN‐MDSC expansion was also seen in the blood of mice and one patient receiving lenvatinib therapy for ATC. RNA‐Seq of the ATC cell line used in our mouse model demonstrated that lenvatinib has multifaceted effects on angiogenesis, response to hypoxia, the epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition, and on multiple pathways implicated in inflammation and host immunity. Combination of lenvatinib with anti‐Gr‐1 antibody ameliorated lenvatinib's expansion of MDSCs and significantly improved lenvatinib's anti‐tumor effect. These data suggest that MDSCs play a negative role in ATC's response to lenvatinib and support future study of their role as a potential biomarker and treatment target. What's new? Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a rare malignancy that is notoriously aggressive. Fatality from ATC remains high, despite advances in multimodal therapy. Here, the authors investigated combination therapy employing tyrosine kinase inhibitors and checkpoint inhibitors as a novel treatment strategy in ATC. In a mouse model of orthotopic ATC, combined treatment with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib and an anti‐PD‐1/PD‐L1 checkpoint inhibitor was found to dramatically reduce tumor volume and improve survival. While lenvatinib monotherapy was associated with increased tumor‐infiltrating and circulating myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), the depletion of MDSCs via combination therapy significantly augmented lenvatinib's effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint species distribution models (JSDMs) account for biotic interactions and missing environmental predictors in correlative species distribution models. Several different JSDMs have been proposed in the literature, but the use of different or conflicting nomenclature and statistical notation potentially obscures similarities and differences among them. Furthermore, new JSDM implementations have been illustrated with different case studies, preventing direct comparisons of computational and statistical performance.We aim to resolve these outstanding issues by (a) highlighting similarities among seven presence–absence JSDMs using a clearly defined, singular notation; and (b) evaluating the computational and statistical performance of each JSDM using six datasets that vary widely in numbers of sites, species, and environmental covariates considered.Our singular notation shows that many of the JSDMs are very similar, and in turn parameter estimates of different JSDMs are moderate to strongly, positively correlated. In contrast, the different JSDMs clearly differ in computational efficiency and memory limitations.Our framework will allow ecologists to make educated decisions about the JSDM that best suits their objective, and enable wider uptake of JSDM methods among the ecological community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many animal populations, demographic parameters such as survival and recruitment vary markedly with age, as do parameters related to sampling, such as capture probability. Failing to account for such variation can result in biased estimates of population‐level rates. However, estimating age‐dependent survival rates can be challenging because ages of individuals are rarely known unless tagging is done at birth. For many species, it is possible to infer age based on size. In capture–recapture studies of such species, it is possible to use a growth model to infer the age at first capture of individuals. We show how to build estimates of age‐dependent survival into a capture–mark–recapture model based on data obtained in a capture–recapture study. We first show how estimates of age based on length increments closely match those based on definitive aging methods. In simulated analyses, we show that both individual ages and age‐dependent survival rates estimated from simulated data closely match true values. With our approach, we are able to estimate the age‐specific apparent survival rates of Murray and trout cod in the Murray River, Australia. Our model structure provides a flexible framework within which to investigate various aspects of how survival varies with age and will have extensions within a wide range of ecological studies of animals where age can be estimated based on size. Age‐specific estimates of survival rates for animals in the wild are hard to come by as ages of animals are rarely known without observing births of or sacrificing individuals to determine age. We integrate known‐age data from otoliths with observed changes in length in Murray cod and trout cod in Australia in order to estimate growth rates and age‐specific survival. Our results show how inclusion of auxiliary otolith data lead to more robust estimates of age and survival rates in these two species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The joint threats of climate and land‐use change require an understanding of how environmental variation influences species abundance and distribution. However, most species distribution models use static data and methods without considering how species respond over multiple temporal and spatial scales. Using a novel analytical approach, we show how multiscalar environmental variation drives spatial population dynamics of mobile species. Location: Great Plains, North America. Methods: We developed a spatial hierarchical model of abundance using long‐term citizen science data for two severely declining species (Lark Bunting, Calamospiza melanocorys, Chestnut‐collared Longspur, Calcarius ornatus). Specifically, we (a) compared regional variation in range‐wide abundance and population trends, (b) evaluated the influence of short‐term and long‐term drought on range dynamics and (c) tested whether regional population dynamics are spatially autocorrelated by environmental conditions occurring in geographically separated areas. Results: Both species exhibited long‐term range‐wide declines >70% with contraction towards the range core. Lark Buntings showed opposing responses to environmental variation; regional abundance increased with wetter conditions during arrival on the breeding grounds but also with longer‐term (4‐year) drought conditions. Chestnut‐collared Longspurs showed no response to drought at either temporal scale. We found strong evidence that Lark Bunting abundance in the southern portion of the range increases with favourable environmental conditions leading to subsequent declines in abundance in northern regions. Main conclusions: Our results highlight how (a) species can show opposing responses to the same environmental variable at different temporal and spatial scales, (b) sympatric species vary in their propensity to track environmental conditions and (c) for latitudinal migrants, environmental conditions along the migration pathway can influence settlement patterns with conditions in southern regions impacting abundance in the north. Our analysis indicates that an understanding of how global change impacts mobile species distributions will require range‐wide assessments incorporating response to environmental conditions across temporal and spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Our aim involved developing a method to analyse spatiotemporal distributions of Arctic marine mammals (AMMs) using heterogeneous open source data, such as scientific papers and open repositories. Another aim was to quantitatively estimate the effects of environmental covariates on AMMs' distributions and to analyse whether their distributions have shifted along with environmental changes. Location: Arctic shelf area. The Kara Sea. Methods: Our literature search focused on survey data regarding polar bears (Ursus maritimus), Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) and ringed seals (Phoca hispida). We mapped the data on a grid and built a hierarchical Poisson point process model to analyse species' densities. The heterogeneous data lacked information on survey intensity and we could model only the relative density of each species. We explained relative densities with environmental covariates and random effects reflecting excess spatiotemporal variation and the unknown, varying sampling effort. The relative density of polar bears was explained also by the relative density of seals. Results: The most important covariates explaining AMMs' relative densities were ice concentration and distance to the coast, and regarding polar bears, also the relative density of seals. The results suggest that due to the decrease in the average ice concentration, the relative densities of polar bears and walruses slightly decreased or stayed constant during the 17‐year‐long study period, whereas seals shifted their distribution from the Eastern to the Western Kara Sea. Main conclusions: Point process modelling is a robust methodology to estimate distributions from heterogeneous observations, providing spatially explicit information about ecosystems and thus serves advances for conservation efforts in the Arctic. In a simple trophic system, a distribution model of a top predator benefits from utilizing prey species' distributions compared to a solely environmental model. The decreasing ice cover seems to have led to changes in AMMs' distributions in the marginal Arctic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The increasing awareness that a fire regime that promotes biodiversity in one system can threaten biodiversity in another has resulted in a shift away from fire management based on vague notions of maximising pyrodiversity, towards determining the optimal fire regime based on the demonstrated requirements of target species. We utilised a long‐running, replicated fire experiment on Melville Island, the largest island off the northern Australian coast, to test the importance of pyrodiversity for native mammals in a northern Australian savanna landscape. We first developed statistical models to determine how native mammal abundance has responded to nine years of experimentally‐manipulated fire frequency. Next, given each species' modelled response to fire frequency, we identified the level of pyrodiversity and optimal mix of fire frequencies that would be expected to maximise mammal diversity and abundance, and minimise extinction risk. This was done for both the entire mammal assemblage and for the mammal species currently declining on Melville Island. Fire frequency was a significant predictor of abundance of the northern brown bandicoot Isoodon macrourus, black‐footed tree‐rat Mesembriomys gouldii, brush‐tailed rabbit‐rat Conilurus penicillatus, grassland melomys Melomys burtoni, pale field‐rat Rattus tunneyi, and mice/dunnarts but not for the common brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula. The geometric mean abundance (GMA) of the entire mammal assemblage was positively associated with pyrodiversity, but peaked at an intermediate value. Hence, maximising pyrodiversity would reduce native mammal assemblage GMA below its potential maximum. The fire history for an area that maximised the entire native mammal assemblage GMA consisted of 57% long‐unburnt, 43% triennially burnt and <1% annually burnt. Pyrodiversity did not reduce the extinction risk, nor increase the GMA of declining mammals above that predicted in areas entirely annually or triennially burnt. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrate a useful approach with which to develop fire management strategies based on the demonstrated requirements of target species. By comparing the optimal fire regime identified for the conservation of threatened species and that identified for the entire mammal assemblage, we demonstrate the flexibility of this approach to tailor fire management to address specific management priorities in other fire‐prone environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is on aggregate U.S. labor productivity growth. Accordingly, we have taken real gross national product per labor hour employed as our indicator of labor productivity. Table I shows the history of labor productivity over the 1947–1973 period. The time periods reported in Table I were chosen to encompass peak periods of economic activity. This should minimize business cycle distortions of productivity movements. The data in Table I suggest that productivity has slowed considerably. It is important to ask whether the slowdown is permanent in nature. A closely related issue is the question of whether economic policy measures can be designed which would significantly affect long-run productivity growth. The only way to resolve these issues is to undertake a careful accounting of the sources of productivity growth and to develop forecasts of movements in the factors which affect productivity. The analysis of this paper indicates that the slowdown in productivity growth, in the 1970's in particular, can be traced to a very slow growth in the capital/labor ratio in the years 1970–75 and to a change in the labor force mix because of the entrance into the work force of large numbers of young and inexperienced workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by severe mood symptoms, often accompanied by circadian rhythm disturbances. Preclinical studies indicate that lithium, a first-line treatment for BD, has effects on circadian rhythms.1 However, less attention has been given to the effects of lithium on the clinical symptoms of BD related to circadian rhythm disruption. We present a case of a BD patient with profound disruption in sleep/wake activity and show that lithium potently corrected her circadian rhythm disturbances. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract: Australia has contributed a disproportionate number of the world's mammal extinctions over the past 200 years, with the greatest loss of species occurring through the continent's southern and central arid regions. Many taxonomically and ecologically similar species are now undergoing widespread decline across the northern Australian mainland, possibly driven by predation by feral cats and changed fire regimes. Here, we report marked recent declines of native mammal species in one of Australia's few remaining areas that support an intact mammal assemblage, Melville Island, the largest island off the northern Australian coast. We have previously reported a marked decline on Melville Island of the threatened brush‐tailed rabbit‐rat (Conilurus penicillatus) over the period 2000–2015, linked to predation by feral cats. We now report a 62% reduction in small mammal trap‐success and a 36% reduction in site‐level species richness over this period. There was a decrease in trap‐success of 90% for the northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus), 64% for the brush‐tailed rabbit‐rat and 63% for the black‐footed tree‐rat (Mesembriomys gouldii), but no decline for the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). These results suggest that populations of native mammals on Melville Island are exhibiting similar patterns of decline to those recorded in Kakadu National Park two decades earlier, and across the northern Australian mainland more generally. Without the implementation of effective management actions, these species are likely to be lost from one of their last remaining strongholds, threatening to increase Australia's already disproportionate contribution to global mammal extinctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Debris‐covered glaciers are ubiquitous in the Himalaya, and supraglacial debris significantly alters how glaciers respond to climate forcing. Estimating debris thickness at the glacier scale, however, remains a challenge. This study inverts a subdebris melt model to estimate debris thickness for three glaciers in the Everest region from digital elevation model difference‐derived elevation change. Flux divergences are estimated from ice thickness and surface velocity data. Monte Carlo simulations are used to incorporate the uncertainties associated with debris properties, flux divergence, and elevation change. On Ngozumpa Glacier, surface lowering data from 2010 to 2012 and 2012 to 2014 are used to calibrate and validate the method, respectively. The debris thickness estimates are consistent with existing in situ measurements. The method performs well over both actively flowing and stagnant parts of the glacier and is able to accurately estimate thicker debris (>0.5 m). Uncertainties associated with the thermal conductivity and elevation change contribute the most to uncertainties of the debris thickness estimates. The surface lowering associated with ice cliffs and supraglacial ponds was found to significantly reduce debris thickness, especially for thicker debris. The method is also applied to Khumbu and Imja‐Lhotse Shar Glaciers to highlight its potential for regional application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Biodiversity offsetting schemes permit habitat destruction, provided that losses are compensated by gains elsewhere. While hundreds of offsetting schemes are used around the globe, the optimal timing of habitat creation in such projects is poorly understood. Here, we developed a spatially explicit metapopulation model for a single species subject to a habitat compensation scheme. Managers could compensate for destruction of a patch by creating a new patch either before, at the time of, or after patch loss. Delaying patch creation is intuitively detrimental to species persistence, but allowed managers to invest financial compensation, accrue interest, and create a larger patch at a later date. Using stochastic dynamic programming, we found the optimal timing of patch creation that maximizes the number of patches occupied at the end of a 50‐yr habitat compensation scheme when a patch is destroyed after 10 yr. Two case studies were developed for Australian species subject to habitat loss but with very different traits: the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis) and the critically endangered Mount Lofty Ranges Southern Emu‐wren (Spititurus malachurus intermedius). Our results show that adding a patch either before or well after habitat destruction can be optimal, depending on the occupancy state of the metapopulation, the interest rate, the area of the destroyed patch and metapopulation parameters of the focal species. Generally, it was better to delay patch creation when the interest rate was high, when the species had a relatively high colonization rate, when the patch nearest the new patch was occupied, and when the destroyed patch was small. Our framework can be applied to single‐species metapopulations subject to habitat loss, and demonstrates that considering the timing of habitat compensation could improve the effectiveness of offsetting schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the seven messages encapsulated in the policy of "Conservation Letters" periodical about he confidence intervals (CIs) and p values that highlights the change in statistical reporting. Among the messages mentioned include use of interval length as guide to reporting and interpreting the precision, avoiding of dichotomous interpretations, and precise specification on what the error bar represent.

Abstract: Biodiversity indices are widely used to summarize changes in the distribution and abundance of multiple species and measure progress towards management targets. However, the sensitivity of biodiversity indices to the data, landscape classification and conservation values underpinning them are rarely interrogated. There are limited studies to help scientists and land managers use biodiversity indices in the presence of fire and vegetation succession. The geometric mean of species' relative abundance or occurrence (G) is a biodiversity index that can be used to determine the mix of post‐fire vegetation that maximizes biodiversity. We explored the sensitivity of G to (1) type of biodiversity data, (2) representation of ecosystem states, (3) expression of conservation values, and (4) uncertainty in species' response to landscape structure. Our case study is an area of fire‐prone woodland in southern Australia where G is used in fire management planning. We analysed three datasets to determine the fire responses of 170 bird, mammal and reptile species. G and fire management targets were sensitive to the species included in the analysis. The optimal mix of vegetation successional states for threatened birds was more narrowly defined than the optimal mix for all species combined. G was less sensitive to successional classification (i.e. number of states); although classifications of increasing complexity provided additional insights into desirable levels of heterogeneity. Weighting species by conservation status or endemism influenced the mix of vegetation states that maximized biodiversity. When a higher value was placed on threatened species the importance of late successional vegetation was emphasized. Representing variation in individual species' response to vegetation structure made it clearer when a decrease in G was likely to reflect a significant reduction in species occurrences. Synthesis and applications. Data, models and conservation values can be combined using biodiversity indices to make robust environmental decisions. Combining different types of biodiversity data using composite indices, such as the geometric mean, can improve the coverage and relevance of biodiversity indices. We recommend that evaluation of biodiversity indices for fire management verify how index assumptions align with management objectives, consider the relative merits of different types of biodiversity data, test sensitivity of ecosystem state definitions and incorporate conservation values through species weightings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The planarity of the second stable conformer of 1,3‐butadiene, the archetypal diene for the Diels–Alder reaction in which a planar conjugated diene and a dienophile combine to form a ring, is not established. The most recent high level calculations predicted the species to adopt a twisted, gauche structure owing to steric interactions between the inner terminal hydrogens rather than a planar, cis structure favored by the conjugation of the double bonds. The structure cis‐1,3‐butadiene is unambiguously confirmed experimentally to indeed be gauche with a substantial dihedral angle of 34°, in excellent agreement with theory. Observation of two tunneling components indicates that the molecule undergoes facile interconversion between two equivalent enantiomeric forms. Comparison of experimentally determined structures for gauche‐ and trans‐butadiene provides an opportunity to examine the effects of conjugation and steric interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global change is threatening ecosystems and biodiversity world-wide, creating a pressing need to understand how climate and disturbance regimes interact and influence the persistence of species. We quantify how three ecosystem drivers - rainfall, fire and herbivory - influence vital rates in the perennial resprouting graminoid, Triodia scariosa, a foundation species of semi-arid Australia., We used an 11-year dataset from a fire and herbivore exclosure experiment, to model flowering, post-fire recruitment and the post-fire survival of seedlings and resprouting plants. Regression modelling quantified the effect of rainfall, inter-fire interval, fire type (wildfire or prescribed fire), grazing by herbivores (native and feral) and an interaction between fire type and herbivory on T. scariosa populations., Rainfall, fire and herbivory had significant effects on post-fire recruitment and the survival of seedlings and resprouting plants, including strong interactions between these drivers. Herbivory following wildfire had a minor effect, but in years of below-average rainfall herbivory following prescribed fire had a large effect, reducing the survival of seedlings and resprouting plants by 20% and over 50% respectively, relative to post-fire survival under average rainfall conditions., Variation in rainfall underpinned significant variation in post-fire resprouting and seedling survival, thus we postulate rainfall primarily drives the dynamics of T. scariosa populations., Synthesis. This study highlights the importance of modelling interactions between key ecosystem drivers when predicting how changes in global climate and disturbance regimes influence plant vital rates. Relatively small changes to disturbance regimes can substantially alter population processes, even in perennial resprouting species. This work suggests that conservation of foundation species, such as T. scariosa, will benefit if fire management decisions are better integrated with inter-annual weather forecasts and herbivore management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about the concept of pyrodiversity and its application for animal conservation. It discusses environmental heterogeneity driving biodiversity as well as issues concerning the implementation of fire management in the conservation of animals. It also mentions the impact of the missapplication of the assumption that pyrodiversity promotes biodiversity on animal population.

Urbanization causes major environmental changes globally, which can potentially homogenize biota across cities through the loss and gain of particular types of species. We examine whether urban environments consistently select for plants with particular traits and the implications of such changes on the functional composition of urban floras. We classified plant recorded in 11 cities around the globe as species that have either colonized (arrived and naturalized), persisted or been lost (local extirpation) following urbanization. We analyzed how 10 traits previously linked with plant responses to environmental conditions explained membership of these three groups, by comparing colonisers with persistent and extirpated plants through individual city-level Bayesian models. Then, we used meta-analysis to assess consistency of traits across urban areas. Finally, we explored several possible scenarios of functional change using these results. On average, urban colonizers had heavier seeds, unspecialised nutrient requirements, were taller and were annual species more often, especially when compared to locally extirpated plants. Common trends of functional change in urban plant communities include shifts towards taller and heavier-seeded plants, and an increased prevalence of the short-lived species, and plants without mutualistic nutritional strategies. Our results suggest that plant traits influence the species that succeed in urban environments worldwide. Different species use different ecological strategies to live in urban environments, as suggested by the importance of several traits that may appear as trait constellations. Plant height and seed mass were the only traits associated with both colonizer and extirpated plant status in urban environments. Based on our data, predicting colonization in urban environments may be easier than identifying extirpation-prone plants; albeit some regional variation, colonization seems strongly driven by environmental conditions common to most cities (e.g. altered disturbance regimes), whereas extirpation may depend more on processes that vary across cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]