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Rising ocean temperatures are threatening marine species and populations worldwide, and ectothermic taxa are particularly vulnerable to warming. Echinoderms are an ecologically important phylum of marine ectotherms and shifts in their population dynamics can have profound impacts on the marine environment. The effects of warming on echinoderms are highly variable across controlled laboratory-based studies. Accordingly, synthesis of these studies will facilitate the better understanding of broad patterns in responses of echinoderms to ocean warming. Herein, a meta-analysis incorporating the results of 85 studies (710 individual responses) is presented, exploring the effects of warming on various performance predictors. The mean responses of echinoderms to all magnitudes of warming were compared across multiple biological responses, ontogenetic life stages, taxonomic classes, and regions, facilitated by multivariate linear mixed effects models. Further models were conducted which only incorporated responses to warming greater than the projected end-of-century mean annual temperatures at the collection sites. This meta-analysis provides evidence that ocean warming will generally accelerate metabolic rate (+ 32%) and reduce survival (– 35%) in echinoderms, and echinoderms from sub-tropical (– 9%) and tropical (– 8%) regions will be the most vulnerable. The relatively high vulnerability of echinoderm larvae to warming (– 20%) indicates that this life stage may be a significant developmental bottleneck in the near-future, likely reducing successful recruitment into populations. Furthermore, asteroids appear to be the class of echinoderms that are most negatively affected by elevated temperature (– 30%). When considering only responses to magnitudes of warming representative of end-of-century climate change projections, the negative impacts on asteroids, tropical species and juveniles were exacerbated (– 51%, – 34%, and – 40% respectively). The results of these analyses enable better predictions of how keystone and invasive echinoderm species may perform in a warmer ocean, and the possible consequences for populations, communities, and ecosystems.

The aim of this scoping review was to identify what current and potential opportunities exist for occupational therapy in primary healthcare for underserved populations. Search phrases were utilized across several databases and Occupational Therapy specific journals were hand searched. Nineteen articles met inclusion criteria: English, 2009-2021, services delivered by occupational therapy practitioners or supervised students, for underserved populations/individuals, in community-based care, and primary health care settings. Five synergistic themes emerged from the literature are discussed: Client-centered, team collaboration, holistic and preventative health and wellness, evidence-based program evaluation, and innovative service delivery.

On the southern boundary of 160 acres of restored tallgrass prairie in southeastern Nebraska, there is a forty-foot-tall, three-quarter-mile-long row of 264 Osage orange trees (Maclura pomifera). Planted circa 1875 and then clear-cut in the 1920s, the hedgerow is today managed by Homestead National Monument of America, the site of the first land claim of the Homestead Acts. This isolated line of an obscure species—one of the most widely planted species in the history of North America—is a remnant of a once vast network across the Great Plains. Hailing from the wet coniferous forests of the riparian southeast, Maclura pomifera would come to shape the environmental fate of the bone-dry, treeless frontier, providing the crucial stop-gap measure for the forces of westward expansion until the introduction of barbed wire a few decades later. This essay offers a broad audit of this unassuming hedge, retracing its phyto-lifeworld back to the Pleistocene and into the near future to parse the historical axioms it assumes and the challenges of resource management it prompts for designers working in rural milieux.

Background CT scan measures of emphysema and airway disease have been correlated with lung function in cohorts of subjects with a range of COPD severity. The contribution of CT scan-assessed airway disease to objective measures of lung function and respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea in severe emphysema is less clear. Methods Using data from 338 subjects in the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) Genetics Ancillary Study, densitometric measures of emphysema using a threshold of −950 Hounsfield units (%LAA-950) and airway wall phenotypes of the wall thickness (WT) and the square root of wall area (SRWA) of a 10-mm luminal perimeter airway were calculated for each subject. Linear regression analysis was performed for outcome variables FEV 1 and percent predicted value of FEV 1 with CT scan measures of emphysema and airway disease. Results In univariate analysis, there were significant negative correlations between %LAA-950 and both the WT ( r = −0.28, p = 0.0001) and SRWA ( r = −0.19, p = 0.0008). Airway wall thickness was weakly but significantly correlated with postbronchodilator FEV 1 % predicted (R = −0.12, p = 0.02). Multivariate analysis showed significant associations between either WT or SRWA (β = −5.2, p = 0.009; β = −2.6, p = 0.008, respectively) and %LAA-950 (β = −10.6, p = 0.03) with the postbronchodilator FEV 1 % predicted. Male subjects exhibited significantly thicker airway wall phenotypes (p = 0.007 for WT and p = 0.0006 for SRWA). Conclusions Airway disease and emphysema detected by CT scanning are inversely related in patients with severe COPD. Airway wall phenotypes were influenced by gender and associated with lung function in subjects with severe emphysema.

Online learning in K-12 schools has experienced rapid growth in the past two decades, but this growth has not been shared by students with disabilities, specifically those who need speech and language therapy (SLP). Growth in the use of online speech therapy, referred to as telepractice, was stagnant by comparison to other forms of online education. Specific administrator characteristics, skills, and knowledge impact the successful implementation of technology innovations. The purpose of this research was to describe both special education administrators' self-described proficiency with the 21st-century technology required for telepractice implementation and their attitudes toward the innovation of online SLP telepractice and to determine if differences between administrators' abilities and views existed. Grounded in the theoretical construct of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations theory which seeks to explain why some new ideas, objects, or technologies are adopted and some are not this research use a convergent parallel design, with data gathered via online surveys and personal interviews. Data analysis describes special education administrators' level of proficiency with the 21st-century technology required for telepractice implementation and their attitudes toward the innovation of online SLP telepractice. The results revealed patterns that may influence the rate at which the innovation of SLP telepractice is adopted. Special education administrators possess skill with much of the technology used in online SLP telepractice and their attitude toward telepractice is influence by their use of technology at school. School cultures that embrace technology are more likely to support novel uses of technology. However, a strong, clear association between administrator technology skill and other demographic variables was not evident. Overall, administrators' attitudes toward SLP telepractice are more positive than negative, but they are limited by an apparent lack of knowledge of the key components that contribute to a decision to adopt or not adopt the innovation. The key finding will be of value for school leaders seeking to influence adoption of SLP telepractice.

When operating an anaerobic digestion biogas plant, it makes sense to maximize process efficiency at all stages. But not making the most of heat naturally generated as part of the process could be costing thousands of pounds a year. Matt Hale, international sales manager at UK-based HRS Heat Exchangers, explains how increasing efficiency can lead to major savings.