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Funding: Support for this project was provided by the Lenfest Ocean Program. 1. Determining acceptable rates of human‐caused mortality in low‐data situations is a concern for many taxa world‐wide. An established approach for determining acceptable levels of human‐caused mortality of marine mammals and other species of conservation concern is the Potential Biological Removal (PBR) framework, but PBR requires near‐unbiased estimates of absolute abundance, constraining its use in systems with limited data. 2. We develop three alternative methods for identifying acceptable levels of human‐caused mortality for long‐lived, slowly reproducing species, using indices of relative abundance combined with estimates of bycatch mortality in fisheries, and evaluate these methods using simulations similar to those used to develop PBR. 3. Across a variety of scenarios, the parameters of the three methods can be tuned to achieve conservation performance similar to that of PBR in scenarios that represent nearly ideal conditions. However, these methods produce lower and more variable bycatch mortality limits, depend upon reasonably accurate estimates of bycatch mortality and are more sensitive to uncertainties. 4. Synthesis and applications. Here we develop three alternative methods that expand the toolbox of approaches available for use in determining marine mammal conservation reference points for human‐caused mortality when it is not possible to apply the more standard, data‐hungry PBR approach. These approaches may be useful in supporting the establishment of new bycatch management programmes, or until estimates of absolute abundance become available. Publisher PDF

Fieldwork was supported by grants from the Sea World and Busch Gardens Conservation fund and Sea World and Parks Entertainment. This study used multisensory data tags with integrated 4K video to investigate feeding behavior and prey profitability in five adult male killer whales (Orcinus orca) at herring wintering grounds in Norway, in 2016 and 2017. Video recorded two killer whales engaged in carousel feeding, and two engaged in seiner feeding (i.e., feeding on herring discards around purse seiner vessels). The feeding behaviors identified from the video data allowed for determination of associated kinematic signatures, which were used to further identify and characterize carousel feeding and deep feeding dives over the entire logger duration. Prey consumption during on camera feeding bouts was also measured to calculate profitability of feeding bouts for the different behaviors. Average number of prey consumed per minute was 1.08±0.43 for carousel feeding and 0.43±0.07 for seiner feeding (n = 122 prey capture events). Using kinematic data, a total of 18 carousel feeding bouts and 206 deep feeding dives were identified. Whales spent at least 37%-65% of time over 24-hr feeding. Using field metabolic rate estimates from the literature and the energetic content of herring caught locally, killer whales required an estimated 285-578 herring/day to balance daily energy requirements. Postprint

A management strategy evaluation (MSE) is used to estimate success at achieving conservation goals for marine mammals while also aiming to minimize impacts on commercial fisheries. It is intended to improve understanding of US import rules that require countries exporting fish and fish products to the USA to adhere to marine mammal bycatch standards “comparable” to those used by the USA. The MSE framework is applied, for illustrative purposes, to export fisheries in Iceland that impact harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). Several management strategies are evaluated. The harbor porpoise population is estimated to be close to or above its maximum net productivity level (MNPL) and, according to the model, will continue to increase even if current levels of human-caused mortality are unchanged. In contrast, the grey seal and harbor seal populations are below MNPL, and bycatch mortality in the lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) fishery will need to be reduced to allow them to recover to MNPL.

High dietary sodium intake is a risk factor for arterial hypertension; given that the ability to overcome sympathetically mediated vasoconstriction (functional sympatholysis) is attenuated in individuals with hypertension, we investigated the cardiovascular responses to high salt (HS) intake in healthy humans. We hypothesized that a HS intake of 15 g/day for 7 days would attenuate functional sympatholysis and augment the blood pressure response to handgrip exercise (HGE). Thirteen participants (6 males, 7 females) underwent 2 individual days of testing. Beat-by-beat blood pressure and heart rate were recorded throughout the trial on the non-exercising limb. Forearm blood flow was derived from ultrasonography on the brachial artery of the exercising limb. Participants then underwent a flow-mediated dilation (FMD) test. Next, a submaximal HGE was performed for 7 min with lower body negative pressure initiated during minutes 5–7. A single spot urine sample revealed a significant increase in sodium excretion during the HS conditions (p < 0.01). FMD was reduced during the HS condition. Mean arterial pressure was significantly higher during HS intake. No alteration to functional sympatholysis was found between conditions (p > 0.05). In summary, HS intake increases blood pressure without impacting functional sympatholysis or blood pressure responsiveness during HGE. These findings indicate that brachial artery dysfunction precedes an inefficient functional sympatholysis. Novelty Functional sympatholysis was not impacted by 1 week of high sodium intake. High sodium intake augmented the rate pressure product during handgrip exercise in healthy humans.

Background Major liver resection can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Blood loss is one of the most important factors predicting a good outcome. Although various transection methods have been reported, there is no consensus on the best technique. This systematic review and network meta-analysis aims to characterise and identify the best reported technique for elective parenchymal liver transection based on published randomised controlled trials (RCT's). Methods A systematic review was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central to identify RCT's up to 5th June 2019 that examined parenchymal transection for liver resection. Data including study characteristics and outcomes including intraoperative (blood loss, operating time) and postoperative measures (overall and major complications, bile leaks) were extracted. Indirect comparisons of all regimens were simultaneously compared using random-effects network meta-analyses (NMA) which maintains randomisation within trials. Results This study identified 22 RCT's involving 2360 patients reporting ten parenchymal transection techniques. Bipolar cautery has lower blood loss and shorter operating time than stapler (mean difference: 85 mL; 22min) and Tissue Link (mean difference: 66 mL; 29min). Bipolar cautery was ranked first for blood loss and operating time followed by stapler and TissueLink. Harmonic scalpel is associated with lower overall complications than Hydrojet (Odds ratio (OR): 0.48), BiClamp forceps (OR: 0.46) and clamp crushing (OR: 0.41). Conclusion Bipolar cautery techniques appear to best at reducing blood loss and associated with shortest operating time. In contrast, Harmonic scalpel appears best for overall and major complications. Given the paucity of data and selective outcome reporting, it is still hard to identify what is the best technique for liver resection. Therefore, further high-quality large-scale RCT's are still needed.

Deep eutectic systems are currently under intense investigation to replace traditional organic solvents in a range of syntheses. Here, indole in choline chloride-malic acid deep eutectic solvent (DES) was studied as a function of water content, to identify solute interactions with the DES which affect heterocycle reactivity and selectivity, and as a proxy for biomolecule solvation. Empirical Potential Structure Refinement models of neutron diffraction data showed [Cholinium]

Introduction: Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) has potential advantages over its open equivalent open distal pancreatectomy (ODP) for pancreatic disease in the neck, body and tail. Within the United Kingdom (UK), there has been no previous experience describing the role of robotic distal pancreatectomy (RDP). This study evaluated differences between ODP, LDP and RDP. Methods: Patients undergoing distal pancreatectomy performed in the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery at the Freeman Hospital between September 2007 and December 2018 were included from a prospectively maintained database. The primary outcome measure was length of hospital stay, and the secondary outcome measures were complication rates graded according to the Clavien–Dindo classification. Results: Of the 125 patients, the median age was 61 years and 46% were male. Patients undergoing RDP (n = 40) had higher American Society of Anesthesiologists grading III compared to ODP (n = 38) and LDP (n = 47) (57% vs. 37% vs. 38%, P = 0.02). RDP had a slightly lower but not significant conversion rate (10% vs. 13%, P = 0.084), less blood loss (median: 0 vs. 250 ml, P < 0.001) and a higher rate of splenic preservation (30% vs. 2%, P < 0.001) and shorter operative time, once docking time excluded (284 vs. 300 min, P < 0.001) compared to LDP. RDP had a higher R0 resection rate than ODP and LDP (79% vs. 47% vs. 71%, P = 0.078) for neoplasms. RDP was associated with significantly shorter hospital stay than LDP and ODP (8 vs. 9 vs. 10 days, P = 0.001). While there was no significant different in overall complications across the groups, RDP was associated with lower rates of Grade C pancreatic fistula than ODP and LDP (2% vs. 5% vs. 6%, P = 0.194). Conclusion: Minimally invasive pancreatic resection offers potential advantages over ODP, with a trend showing RDP to be marginally superior when compared to conventional LDP, but it is accepted that that this is likely to be at greater expense compared to the other current techniques.

[Background and Aims] NAFLD is the most common hepatic pathology in western countries and no treatment is currently available. NAFLD is characterized by the aberrant hepatocellular accumulation of fatty acids in the form of lipid droplets (LDs). Recently, it was shown that liver LD degradation occurs through a process termed lipophagy, a form of autophagy. However, the molecular mechanisms governing liver lipophagy are elusive. Here, we aimed to ascertain the key molecular players that regulate hepatic lipophagy and their importance in NAFLD., [Approach and Results] We analyzed the formation and degradation of LD in vitro (fibroblasts and primary mouse hepatocytes), in vivo and ex vivo (mouse and human liver slices) and focused on the role of the autophagy master regulator mammalian target of rapamycin complex (mTORC) 1 and the LD coating protein perilipin (Plin) 3 in these processes. We show that the autophagy machinery is recruited to the LD on hepatic overload of oleic acid in all experimental settings. This led to activation of lipophagy, a process that was abolished by Plin3 knockdown using RNA interference. Furthermore, Plin3 directly interacted with the autophagy proteins focal adhesion interaction protein 200 KDa and autophagy-related 16L, suggesting that Plin3 functions as a docking protein or is involved in autophagosome formation to activate lipophagy. Finally, we show that mTORC1 phosphorylated Plin3 to promote LD degradation., [Conclusions] These results reveal that mTORC1 regulates liver lipophagy through a mechanism dependent on Plin3 phosphorylation. We propose that stimulating this pathway can enhance lipophagy in hepatocytes to help protect the liver from lipid-mediated toxicity, thus offering a therapeutic strategy in NAFLD., Supported by C0120R3166, C0245R4032, and BH182173 from Newcastle University. M. G.-M. is a Sara Borrell Postdoctoral fellow (CD18/00203) from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain). J. P. B. is funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, grants PID2019-105699RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and RED2018-102576-T, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CB16/10/00282), Junta de Castilla y León (Escalera de Excelencia CLU-2017-03), Ayudas Equipos Investigación Biomedicina 2017 Fundación BBVA, and Fundación Ramón Areces. V. I. K. acknowledges support from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M023389/1, BB/R008167/1, BB

Postcranial bones may provide valuable information about fossil taxa relating to their locomotor habits, manipulative abilities and body sizes. Distinctive features of the postcranial skeleton are sometimes noted in species diagnoses. Although numerous isolated postcranial fossils have become accepted by many workers as belonging to a particular species, it is worthwhile revisiting the evidence for each attribution before including them in comparative samples in relation to the descriptions of new fossils, functional analyses in relation to particular taxa, or in evolutionary contexts. Although some workers eschew the taxonomic attribution of postcranial fossils as being less important (or interesting) than interpreting their functional morphology, it is impossible to consider the evolution of functional anatomy in a taxonomic and phylogenetic vacuum. There are 21 widely recognized hominin taxa that have been described from sites in Africa dated from the Late Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene; postcranial elements have been attributed to 17 of these. The bones that have been thus assigned range from many parts of a skeleton to isolated elements. However, the extent to which postcranial material can be reliably attributed to a specific taxon varies considerably from site to site and species to species, and is often the subject of considerable debate. Here, we review the postcranial remains attributed to African hominin taxa from the Late Miocene to the Middle and Late Pleistocene and place these assignations into categories of reliability. The catalog of attributions presented here may serve as a guide for making taxonomic decisions in the future.

Understanding how diverse locomotor repertoires evolved in anthropoid primates is key to reconstructing the clade's evolution. Locomotor behaviour is often inferred from proximal femur morphology, yet the relationship of femoral variation to locomotor diversity is poorly understood. Extant acrobatic primates have greater ranges of hip joint mobility—particularly abduction—than those using more stereotyped locomotion, but how bony morphologies of the femur and pelvis interact to produce different locomotor abilities is unknown. We conducted hypothesis-driven path analyses via regularized structural equation modelling (SEM) to determine which morphological traits are the strongest predictors of hip abduction in anthropoid primates. Seven femoral morphological traits and two hip abduction measures were obtained from 25 primate species, split into broad locomotor and taxonomic groups. Through variable selection and fit testing techniques, insignificant predictors were removed to create the most parsimonious final models. Some morphological predictors, such as femur shaft length and neck-shaft angle, were important across models. Different trait combinations best predicted hip abduction by locomotor or taxonomic group, demonstrating group-specific linkages among morphology, mobility and behaviour. Our study illustrates the strength of SEM for identifying biologically important relationships between morphology and performance, which will have future applications for palaeobiological and biomechanical studies.

This research was supported by funding from the University of Malaya Research Programme grant no. RP001F-13SUS, University of Malaya Postgraduate Research Fund no. PG040-2013B, and an Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong grant (MM03-1314). The paucity of baseline data on coastal cetaceans due to a lack of research in developing countries frequently precludes assessment of their status and informed management actions for conservation. This study provides the first abundance estimates of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, Irrawaddy dolphins, and Indo-Pacific finless porpoises in the coastal waters of Matang, Peninsular Malaysia. Boat-based surveys covering 1,152 km2 of coastal waters with 4,108 km of survey effort were conducted between 2013 and 2016 to collect data for line transect analysis of Irrawaddy dolphins and finless porpoises. Photo-identification data of humpback dolphins were concurrently collected for mark-recapture analysis. Estimates of abundance from four sampling strata totalled 763 Irrawaddy dolphins (CV = 13%, 95% confidence interval (CI) [588, 990]) and 600 Indo-Pacific finless porpoises (CV = 27%, 95% CI [354, 1,016]). The annual abundance estimates of humpback dolphins ranged between 171 (95% CI [148, 208]) in 2014?2015 and 81 (95% CI [67, 98]) in 2015?2016, likely due to the presence of offshore individuals that moved in and out of the study area. The estuarine strata were inhabited by 68 (95% CI [63, 73]) inshore humpback dolphins in 2013?2014 to 87 (95% CI [78, 97]) dolphins in 2014?2015. As an International Union for Conservation of Nature important marine mammal area, the productive coastal waters of Matang are shown to support a high density of small coastal cetaceans, and the results serve as an important baseline for future studies to identify population trends for conservation management plans. Postprint

This study was conducted as part of a PhD thesis in the Graduate Programme in Ecology at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, with funding provided by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq – 407190/2012-0) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC – TR2012000295). This study is also part of the SELA Long-Term Ecological Research Programme (PELD CNPq – 445301/2020-1). C.B. received a doctoral scholarship from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES); P.C.S.L. received a research grant from CNPq (305573/2013-6); F.G.D.J. received a research grant from CNPq (308867/2019-0). 1. The small population paradigm assumes that populations with low numbers of individuals intrinsically have a high probability of extinction. The small population of Lahille's bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus gephyreus that specializes in foraging with artisanal fishers in Laguna, southern Brazil, faces human pressures including bycatch in fishing gear. The viability of this population was modelled over 30 and 100 years under different levels of bycatch, including the current scenario of two bycatches every year, two scenarios with higher incidence of bycatches and three management scenarios. The sensitivity of predicted growth rates to fixed-proportion and observed-variation changes in life history parameters was explored. 2. The current scenario predicted a declining population (r = -0.014; λ = 0.986) with a high probability of extinction in the long term (PE = 0.71). A small increase in bycatches would result in a marked increase in the probability of extinction. Management scenarios seem promising, but only the zero-bycatch management scenario would make the difference between a declining and an increasing population. 3. As expected for slow-growing species, population growth rate was most sensitive to proportional changes in adult female and juvenile survival. However, considering observed variation in vital rates, population dynamics were most influenced by variation in reproductive rates. 4. To determine the highest priority for management action, another simulation was made of how additional threat scenarios of recognized human activities (i.e. bycatch influencing adult survival and increased underwater noise or pollution influencing calf survival) would affect population dynamics. Population growth rate was very sensitive to changes in adult bycatch (especially females), as expected, and only subtly sensitive to a reduction in calf survival. 5. The current level of bycatch is unsustainable. Bycatch needs to be eliminated to maximize the probability of long-term persistence of this dolphin population. However, this population's persistence could be threatened by natural variation in reproductive rates. Postprint

Description, Climate change challenges southern right whale survival., Whales contribute to marine ecosystem functioning, and they may play a role in mitigating climate change and supporting the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) population, a keystone prey species that sustains the entire Southern Ocean (SO) ecosystem. By analyzing a five-decade (1971–2017) data series of individual southern right whales (SRWs; Eubalaena australis) photo-identified at Península Valdés, Argentina, we found a marked increase in whale mortality rates following El Niño events. By modeling how the population responds to changes in the frequency and intensity of El Niño events, we found that such events are likely to impede SRW population recovery and could even cause population decline. Such outcomes have the potential to disrupt food-web interactions in the SO, weakening that ecosystem’s contribution to the mitigation of climate change at a global scale.

Understanding the biogeography and evolution of Miocene catarrhines relies on accurate specimen provenience. It has long been speculated that some catarrhine specimens among the early collections from Miocene sites in Kenya have incorrect provenience data. The provenience of one of these, the holotype of Equatorius africanus (NHM M16649), was previously revised based on x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Here we use nondestructive portable x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to test the provenience of additional catarrhine specimens that, based on morphology and/or incomplete provenience information, were identified as possibly having been collected at a different site from that recorded at museum accession. We test the hypotheses that two specimens purportedly from the Early Miocene site of Rusinga (KNM-RU 1681 and KNM-RU 1999) are instead from Maboko, three specimens purportedly from the Middle Miocene site of Fort Ternan (KNM-FT 8, KNM-FT 41, and KNM-FT 3318) are instead from Songhor, and one specimen accessioned as being from Songhor (KNM-SO 5352) is from that site. Elemental data reveal that two of the specimens (KNM-FT 3318 and KNM-RU 1681) are likely to have been collected at sites other than their museum-accessioned provenience, while two others (KNM-RU 1999, and KNM-FT 41) were confirmed to have correct provenience. Results for both KNM-FT 8 and KNM-SO 5352, while somewhat equivocal, are best interpreted as supporting their accessioned provenience. Our results have implications for the distribution of certain catarrhine species during the Miocene in Kenya. Confirmation of the provenience of the specimens also facilitates taxonomic attribution, and resulted in additions to the morphological characterizations of some species. The protocol presented here has potential for wider application to assessing questions of provenience for fossils from other locations and periods.

Introduction This population based cohort study, aimed to quantify the risk of mortality following colectomy in patients with cirrhosis by urgency of surgery and stage of cirrhosis. Method Linked primary and secondary-care electronic healthcare data from England was used to identify all patients undergoing colectomy from January 2001 to December 2017. Patients were classified into three cohorts, non-cirrhotics, compensated cirrhotics and decompensated cirrhosis and followed up for 90-days from the date of surgery. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of postoperative mortality. Result A total of 36380 eligible patients were included. Of these, 248(0.7%) had liver cirrhosis and 70% had compensated disease. The proportion undergoing a colectomy who had a diagnosis of cirrhosis increased from 0.40% in 2001 to 1.07% in 2017 (χ2(16, N = 36380)=50.53, P Following elective colectomy, 90-day case fatality was 4% in non-cirrhotics , 7% in compensated cirrhotics and 10% in decompensated cirrhotics. Following emergency colectomy 90-day case fatality was higher, it was 16% in non-cirrhotics, 35% in compensated cirrhotics and 41% in decompensated cirrhotics. This corresponded to an adjusted 2-fold (HR 2.57(95% CI 1.75–3.76)) and 3-fold (3.43(95% CI 2.02–5.83)) increased mortality rate in compensated and decompensated cirrhotics respectively compared to non-cirrhotics following emergency colectomy. Conclusion Over the study period, the proportion of patients undergoing colectomy who had liver cirrhosis increased to 1 in every 100 colectomies. The 90-day case fatality rates were high in all patients with cirrhosis in both emergency and elective settings but the greatest mortality risk was seen in those with decompensation following emergency surgery. Take-home Message 1 in 100 colectomy procedures are in patients with cirrhosis. These cirrhotic patients have a very high risk of postoperative mortality, especially, emergency colectomy in patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

Lubrication theory is used to investigate how weakly bound particles can be transported away from the vicinity of the wall when two spatially periodic rough surfaces are sheared relative to one another at constant velocity U while immersed in fluid. The aim is to model what could be an important process during decontamination of hands by washing and is motivated by Mittal et al. [“The flow physics of COVID-19,” J. Fluid Mech. 894, F2 (2020)] who remark “Amazingly, despite the 170+ year history of hand washing in medical hygiene, we were unable to find a single published research article on the flow physics of hand washing.” Under the assumption that the roughness wavelength 2π/k is large compared with the spacing of the surfaces, a, the lubrication approximation permits closed-form expressions to be found for the time-varying velocity components. These are used to track the motion of a particle that is initially trapped in a potential well close to one of the surfaces, and experiences a drag force proportional to the difference between its velocity and that of the surrounding fluid. Complications such as particle-wall hydrodynamic interactions, finite size effects, and Brownian motion are ignored for now. Unsurprisingly, particles remain trapped unless the flow driven by the wall motion is strong compared to the depth of the trapping potential well. Perhaps less obvious is that for many starting positions the process of escape to large distances from the wall takes place over a large number of periods 2π/kU, essentially because the no-slip boundary condition means that fluid velocities relative to the wall are small close to the wall, and thus the velocities of particles along or away from the wall are also small. With reasonable estimates for the various dimensional parameters, the escape times in these cases are found to be comparable in magnitude to the washing times recommended in hand washing guidelines.

1. Predictive species distribution models (SDMs) have become powerful tools to determine habitat use patterns of mobile marine predators and their spatial overlap with potentially impacting anthropogenic activities. 2. This study used SDMs to investigate fine‐scale habitat use patterns of two poorly known and broadly sympatric coastal delphinids, Chilean dolphins (Cephalorhynchus eutropia) and Peale's dolphins (Lagenorhynchus australis), and their spatial interactions with intense aquaculture farming activities in the Chiloé archipelago, southern Chile. 3. A long‐term dataset (2002–2012) of boat‐based dolphin sightings and concurrently in situ collected environmental and anthropogenic variables was analysed using binomial Generalized Additive Models to investigate ecological drivers of each species' fine‐scale distribution and to predict dolphin occurrence spatially. 4. Chilean dolphins preferred shallow (

Funding: Natural Environment Research Council, Grant/Award Number: SMRU1001; Scottish Government, Grant/Award Number: Seal Diet Project; Scottish Natural Heritage, Grant/Award Number: CASE studentship award 1. Harbour seal populations have declined over the last 20 years in some regions around Britain. Causes are unknown but could include a reduction in prey availability which may potentially be influenced by competition with grey seals. The diets of these two marine predators overlap considerably, indicating that there could potentially be competition for prey. 2. In this study, the diets of harbour and grey seals in 2010/2012 were compared regionally and seasonally in relation to: (a) regional variation in population trends around Britain; (b) previous information on diet; and (c) changes in the stock size of key prey to investigate whether or not patterns could be consistent with reduction in prey availability or competition. 3. Diet was estimated from comprehensive sampling of scats around Scotland and eastern England. In total, 65,534 otoliths and beaks were recovered from 1976 harbour seal scats and 68,465 otoliths and beaks were recovered from 2205 grey seal scats collected in 2010/2012. Results showed considerable seasonal and regional variability; overall, sandeel and large gadids were the two main prey types. 4. Patterns in diet and trends in seal population size and prey stock size indicate that harbour seals have declined in regions where they appear to be reliant on sandeel and where sandeel stocks have declined, but not in regions where sandeel have never been an important component of the diet. A possible contributing reason for the harbour seal declines may therefore be a reduction in the availability of sandeel in these regions. 5. Sandeel continue to be an important (although reduced) prey in the diet of grey seals in regions where harbour seals have declined. If sandeel are a limiting resource, it is possible, therefore, that grey seals may reduce prey availability to harbour seals and contribute to their decline through competition. Postprint

Funding: co-funded by the Canary Government (Consejería de Política Territorial, Sostenibilidad y Seguridad), the Spanish Government (Fundación Biodiversidad and Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Medio Rural y Marino), Fundación La Caixa, and by a number of international projects funded by EU programmes MACETUS (FEDER/INTERREG III-B MAC/4.2/M10), EMECETUS (FEDER/INTERREG III-B56105/MAC/4.2/M10), LIFE (LIFE03NAT0062), INDEMARES LIFE+ (LIFE07/NAT/E/00732). 1. The geographic location and oceanographic, physical, and chemical water properties make the Canary Islands one of the planet's biodiversity hotspots. The short‐finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) is one of the archipelago's most commonly encountered species and is potentially vulnerable to a range of anthropogenic pressures, including habitat degradation, acoustic pollution, fishing, whale‐watching operations, and shipping. Assessment of impact has not been possible because of a lack of even basic information about occurrence and distribution. 2. Spatial and temporal distributions, ranging behaviour, and residence patterns of short‐finned pilot whales were explored for the first time using survey and photo‐identification data collected in the Canary Islands between 1999 and 2012. In total, 1,081 pilot whale sightings were recorded during 70,620 km of search effort over 1,782 survey days. 3. Pilot whales were detected year round and distributed non‐uniformly within the archipelago, with greater densities concentrated in patchy areas mainly on the leeward side of the main islands. In total, 1,320 well‐marked individuals were identified, which exhibited a large degree of variability in site fidelity. 4. Different but not isolated subpopulations of pilot whales that share ranges and maintain social interactions were apparently present in the Canary Islands. Strong evidence of an island‐associated subpopulation was found, with a group of 50 ‘core resident’ individuals associated particularly with Tenerife. There were also ‘transient’ individuals or temporary migrants, which, probably driven by inter‐ and intra‐specific competition, may travel long distances whilst using the archipelago as part of a larger range. 5. These findings fill a major gap in the knowledge of this species’ occurrence, distribution, movements, and site fidelity in the archipelago and provide much needed data to allow the initiation of informed conservation assessments and management actions. Postprint

Hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HCCA) arises from the confluence of the common hepatic duct and has a poor prognosis. If resectable, an extended left (eLH) or right hemihepatectomy (eRH) is usually required to provide oncological clearance. We reviewed outcomes for patients with HCCA managed at our centre. Electronic records of patients referred to our centre for HCCA were retrospectively reviewed. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate overall survival (OS) with the log rank test used for significance (p 0.05). Patients undergoing an eLH for HCCA have significantly better long-term outcomes compared to those undergoing eRH, independent of other pathological variables. The functional liver remnant (FLR) is usually smaller following eRH, resulting in a higher risk of post-operative liver failure. Combining CT volumetry with PVE may result in better prediction and optimisation of the FLR in the context of eRH for HCCA. An extended left hemihepatectomy is an independent predictor of survival; investigation into the precise interaction between left- and right-sided resections and pre- and post-embolization liver volume is warranted.

Longitudinal studies are commonly used in the social and behavioral sciences to answer a wide variety of research questions. Longitudinal researchers often collect data anonymously from participants when studying sensitive topics to ensure that accurate information is provided. One difficulty gathering longitudinal anonymous data is that of correctly matching participants across waves of data collection. A number of methods have been proposed for using nonidentifying codes to match anonymous participants; however, currently there is no consensus on the most effective method. This article reviews and analyzes the literature on nonidentifying codes and provides recommendations for researchers interested in using these types of codes in conducting anonymous longitudinal studies.

A. Schleimer was supported by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR; AFR/11256673). Significant ecosystem changes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL) have had far-reaching effects at all trophic levels. The abundance of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) has declined significantly in the northern GSL over the past decade. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the observed decline was correlated to changing environmental conditions. Cetacean sighting data from 292 surveys, resulting in 2986 fin whale encounters from 2007 to 2013, were used to fit two separate generalised additive models in terms of (1) bathymetric and oceanographic variables (the proxy model) and (2) modelled krill biomass (the prey model). The concept of “handling time” was introduced to correct for time off search effort, applicable to other studies relying on opportunistically sampled data. While a positive correlation between krill biomass and fin whale numbers was found, the performance of the proxy model (24.2 % deviance explained) was overall better than the prey model (11.8 %). Annual predictive maps derived from the final proxy model highlighted two key areas with recurrently high relative fin whale abundance and a significant overlap with shipping lanes. While both models provided evidence for an annual decline in relative fin whale abundance, static bathymetric features were the most important predictors of habitat use and no correlation between dynamic variables and the decline was found. High resolution prey data and a better understanding of the feeding ecology of fin whales are proposed to further investigate the predator-prey relationship and decline of fin whales in the GSL. Postprint

Digital health tools can provide convenient delivery of evidence-based treatments. The DynamiCare Health smartphone app delivers a contingency management intervention for substance use disorder consisting of remote self-testing for alcohol (breath) and drugs (saliva) with remote test validation and delivery of financial incentives for negative test results. This study examined feasibility, engagement (duration and consistency of app utilization), and impact on usual care treatment participation when a community substance use treatment program implemented this digital therapy among its patients. The study randomly assigned patients with alcohol use disorder (N=61) to receive either DynamiCare along with treatment-as-usual (TAU; N=29) or TAU only (N=32) during a 90-day evaluation period. Mean duration between first and last app use was 64 (±35) days, with mean earnings of $248 (±$209, out of $600 maximum). Among those with any app use (n=25), compliance was 68% and 74%, respectively for requested breath and saliva samples. Overall, two thirds of patients (66%) assigned to the app used it for at least 57 days and with high rates of self-testing compliance. Those completing the assessment (n=13; 45% of sample) endorsed high satisfaction ratings. DynamiCare versus TAU participants were more likely to be retained in usual care treatment at 90 days (24% vs 3%; (χ(2)(1, 61)=5.9,p

Preventing declines in common species is key to sustaining the structure and function of marine ecosystems. Yet for many common marine mammals, including oceanic dolphins, statistical power to detect declines remains low due to patchy distribution and large variability in group sizes. In this study, population viability analyses (PVA) were used to model the dynamics of four oceanic dolphin populations off the United States West Coast: eastern North Pacific long-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis capensis), short-beaked common dolphins (D. delphis delphis), Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), and “offshore” common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). We calibrated the PVA with life-history tables, studies on proxy species, and stock assessment reports. We explored the sensitivity of populations to demographic variation and projected how they may respond to changes in three sublethal threats (prey limitation, ocean noise, and chemical pollution) and one lethal threat (fisheries bycatch). We found the most serious projected declines in long-beaked common dolphins, which showed the lowest birth rate. Most threat scenarios resulted in declines that would not be detected by existing monitoring programs in the United States, which are among the most data-rich surveys of their kind. The cumulative effects of the three sublethal stressors exceeded the effect of the one lethal stressor (fisheries bycatch). To implement pro-active management and monitoring programs, anticipating which cetaceans are more at risk and which anthropogenic threats could cause declines is paramount. Our study highlights the value of model testing with PVA when monitoring data are poor, thereby identifying priorities for future research, monitoring, and management.

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) and their hydrated mixtures are used for solvothermal routes towards greener functional nanomaterials. Here we present the first static structural and in situ studies of the formation of iron oxide (hematite) nanoparticles in a DES of choline chloride : urea where xurea = 0.67 (aka. reline) as an exemplar solvothermal reaction, and observe the effects of water on the reaction. The initial speciation of Fe3+ in DES solutions was measured using extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), while the atomistic structure of the mixture was resolved from neutron and X-ray diffraction and empirical potential structure refinement (EPSR) modelling. The reaction was monitored using in situ small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), to determine mesoscale changes, and EXAFS, to determine local rearrangements of order around iron ions. It is shown that iron salts form an octahedral [Fe(L)3(Cl)3] complex where (L) represents various O-containing ligands. Solubilised Fe3+ induced subtle structural rearrangements in the DES due to abstraction of chloride into complexes and distortion of H-bonding around complexes. EXAFS suggests the complex forms [–O–Fe–O–] oligomers by reaction with the products of thermal hydrolysis of urea, and is thus pseudo-zero-order in iron. In the hydrated DES, the reaction, nucleation and growth proceeds rapidly, whereas in the pure DES, the reaction initially proceeds quickly, but suddenly slows after 5000 s. In situ SANS and static small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments reveal that nanoparticles spontaneously nucleate after 5000 s of reaction time in the pure DES before slow growth. Contrast effects observed in SANS measurements suggest that hydrated DES preferentially form 1D particle morphologies because of choline selectively capping surface crystal facets to direct growth along certain axes, whereas capping is restricted by the solvent structure in the pure DES.

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are extensively hydrogen-bonded eutectic mixtures with low melting points. The presence of H-bonding makes them highly susceptible to interactions with water and also allows them to support amphiphile self-assembly, both for surfactants and biological lipids. Water disrupts the DES nework through intermolecular H-bonding, leading to changes in physicochemical properties: melting point, density and viscosity decrease; whereas electrical conductivity increases as water is added. Trends in these properties and structural studies suggest an upper hydration limit, where a transition is observed, around 60–80 mol% water, from water-in-DES to DES-in-water behavior. Amphiphiles form aggregates in DES depending on solvophobicity, water content and Gordon parameter with structures ranging from globular micelles to highly ordered hexagonal/cubic phases. Lipid vesicle formation is also observed in DES with and without water. These interactions find important applications in fields such as biology, nanoparticle synthesis and electrodeposition.