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Species status assessments (SSAs) are required for endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and focus on the resiliency, redundancy, and representation of endangered species. SSAs must include climate information, because climate is a factor that will impact species in the future. To aid in the inclusion of climate information, a decision support system (DSS) entitled Climate Analysis and Visualization for the Assessment of Species Status (CAnVAS) was developed by the State Climate Office of North Carolina using a coproduction approach. In this study, users viewed a mock-up version of the CAnVAS interface displaying a sample layout of future projections for three key climate variables (average precipitation, average maximum temperature, and occurrence of maximum temperature) at a location of interest. This assessment of the pilot version of the CAnVAS DSS was the first step in refining CAnVAS for species-manager use. This research analyzed the differences in usability between two pilot versions of the CAnVAS DSS through eye tracking and subsequent interviews with novice users. The two pilot versions of CAnVAS differed in the way data were displayed on graphs and the color ramps used on regional maps. We found that graphically displaying temporal climate information through box-and-whisker plots and spatially through a sequential color ramp from white to purple were more effective than alternative displays at communicating climate information on endangered species. The results of this research will be used to further develop the CAnVAS DSS tool for future implementation. Significance Statement A decision support system was developed for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists to incorporate more climate information in species status assessments for endangered species. This tool was tested through eye tracking and interviews with a novice undergraduate student sample to best refine the tool for stakeholder use. This work was able to discover that graphically displaying data in box-and-whisker format and spatially displaying data with a sequential color scheme of white to purple was best for usability purposes. The authors provide these recommendations for those who are producing usable products.

Drought is a complex phenomenon that is difficult to characterize and monitor. Accurate and timely communication is necessary to ensure that affected sectors and the public can respond and manage associated risks and impacts. To that end, myriad drought indicators, indices, and other tools have been developed and made available, but understanding and using this information can be a challenge for end users who are unfamiliar with the information or presentation or for decision-makers with expertise in areas outside of climate and drought. This article highlights a project that aimed to improve the usability and dissemination of drought information for North Carolina (NC) audiences by addressing specific needs for a better understanding of how drought is monitored, the climatic and environmental conditions that can cause or worsen drought, and the impacts occurring in NC’s different sectors and subregions. Conducted to support NC’s official, statewide drought monitoring process, the project’s methods and results have utility for other geographies and contexts. The project team designed an iterative process to engage users in the development, evaluation, refinement, and distribution of new resources. Featured products include the Weekly Drought Update infographic, which explains the factors used to determine NC’s drought status, and the Short-Range Outlook infographic, a synthesis of National Weather Service forecasts. Effective strategies included using stakeholders’ preferred and existing channels to disseminate products, emphasizing impacts relevant to different user groups (such as agriculture, forestry, and water resources) rather than indices, and employing concise narratives and visualizations to translate technical and scientific information.

The Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP) is currently the largest source of human islets for research in the U.S. The IIDP Human Islet Phenotyping Program (HIPP) provides standardized islet assessment and makes these data available to researchers. Since 2016, HIPP has phenotyped 337 islet samples from nondiabetic organ donors (40%F / 60%M, 45±12 years, BMI 29.0±5.4; 52% European, 26% Latino, 8% African, 3% Asian, and 11% other ancestry) . To define the islet structure-function relationships, we integrated physiological profiling of hormone secretion with islet cell composition measured by immunohistochemistry­. We found that % β cells varied significantly (range 34 - 92%; CV 21%) and had a strong negative correlation with % α (range 3 - 59%; CV 33%; r -0.95; p Disclosure M. Brissova: None. G. Poffenberger: None. D. C. Saunders: None. A. C. Powers: None. J. C. Niland: None. C. Evans-molina: Advisory Panel; Avotres Inc., DiogenX, Isla Technologies, MaiCell Therapeutics, Provention Bio, Inc., Other Relationship; Astellas Pharma Inc., Dompé, Lilly, Research Support; BMS, Nimbus Therapeutics. H. H. Durai: None. S. Mei: None. A. Coldren: None. C. Davis: None. C. Reihsmann: None. A. L. Hopkirk: None. D. Gibson: None. R. Aramandla: None.

ATP release from β cell secretory vesicles during insulin exocytosis is postulated to modulate islet hormone secretion via purinergic signaling in an autocrine or paracrine manner. Ecto-enzymes, including a family of ectonucleotidases (NTPDase) , control the concentration of extracellular nucleotides. One member of this family, ectonucleotidase triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 3 (NTPDase3) , is specifically expressed in human β cells during postnatal maturation, and its enzymatic activity is present in isolated adult human islets. The role of NTPDase3 in islet hormone secretion is not understood. We hypothesized that NTPDase3 regulates islet hormone secretion by modulating local extracellular nucleotide levels that signal through purinergic receptors expressed by islet cells. To define the cellular distribution of purinergic ecto-enzymes and nucleotide receptors in human islets, we used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. In addition to β cell NTPDase3 expression, ecto-enzymes ENPP1, and ENPP2 were abundant in α and ε cells while ecto-5'-NT and ADA were expressed in endothelial and stellate cells. These ecto-enzymes can further hydrolyze β cell-derived ATP to ADP, AMP, and adenosine which all bind purinergic receptors. We found that the ATP receptor, P2RY1, was enriched in β cells, and an adenosine receptor, ADORA2A, was expressed in α cells by both bulk and scRNA-seq. To study the function of this purinergic niche, we further assessed extracellular ATP levels which increased concomitantly (4.2E-12 vs. 4.3E-13 moles/100 IEQ/hour; n=9; p=0.03) with insulin secretion (21 vs. 60 ng/100 IEQ/hour; n=9; p=0.02) upon stimulation with 16.7 mM glucose + IBMX. To directly test NTPDase3 loss of function, we genetically manipulated human pseudoislets using an shRNA knockdown approach, resulting in a 1.7-fold increase of insulin secretion (AUC=3 vs. 5 ng/100 IEQs; n=3) . Overall, these studies provide an insight into how extracellular nucleotides and purinergic signaling mechanisms fine-tune human islet hormone secretion. Disclosure T. M. Richardson: None. D. C. Saunders: None. K. C. Coate: None. S. C. Robson: Advisory Panel; eGenesis, Consultant; Puretech, Synlogic, Research Support; Tizona Inc, Stock/Shareholder; EPurines, Purinomia. A. C. Powers: None. M. Brissova: None. C. Dai: None. R. Aramandla: None. H. H. Durai: None. C. Reihsmann: None. C. Davis: None. S. Mei: None. D. Gibson: None. S. Shrestha: None.

While there is growing demand for use of climate model projections to understand the potential impacts of future climate on resources, there is a lack of effective visuals that convey the range of possible climates across spatial scales and with uncertainties that potential users need to inform their impact assessments and studies. We use usability testing including eye tracking to explore how a group of resource professionals (foresters) interpret and understand a series of graphical representations of future climate change, housed within a web-based decision support system (DSS), that address limitations identified in other tools. We find that a three-map layout effectively communicates the spread of future climate projections spatially, that location-specific information is effectively communicated if depicted both spatially on a map and temporally on a time series plot, and that model error metrics may be useful for communicating uncertainty and in demonstrating the utility of these future climate datasets.

Decision support systems—collections of related information located in a central place to be used for decision-making—can be used as platforms from which climate information can be shared with decision-makers. Unfortunately, these tools are not often evaluated, meaning developers do not know how useful or usable their products are. In this study, a web-based climate decision support system (DSS) for foresters in the southeastern United States was evaluated by using eye-tracking technology. The initial study design was exploratory and focused on assessing usability concerns within the website. Results showed differences between male and female forestry experts in their eye-tracking behavior and in their success with completing tasks and answering questions related to the climate information presented in the DSS. A follow-up study, using undergraduate students from a large university in the southeastern United States, aimed to determine whether similar gender differences existed and could be detected and, if so, whether the cause(s) could be determined. The second evaluation, similar to the first, showed that males and females focused their attention on different aspects of the website; males focused more on the maps depicting climate information while females focused more on other aspects of the website (e.g., text, search bars, and color bars). DSS developers should consider the possibility of gender differences when designing a web-based DSS and include website features that draw user attention to important DSS elements to effectively support various populations of users.

Objective: To develop principles for how to evaluate Measure 110 and a set of meaningful metrics for effectively determining the outcomes of Measure 110

In response to the role of opioid prescribing in the U.S. opioid crisis, states have enacted laws intended to curb high risk opioid prescribing practices. This study assessed the effects of state prescribing cap laws that limit the dose and/or duration of dispensed opioid prescriptions on opioid prescribing patterns and opioid overdose.We identified 1,414,908 adults from a large U.S. administrative insurance claims database. Treatment states included 32 states that implemented a prescribing cap law between 2017 and 2019. Comparison states included 16 states and DC without a prescribing cap law by 2019. A difference-in-differences approach with staggered policy adoption was used to assess effects of these laws on opioid analgesic prescribing and opioid overdose.State opioid prescribing cap laws were not associated with changes in the proportion of people receiving opioid analgesic prescriptions, the dose or duration of opioid prescriptions, or opioid overdose. States with laws that imposed days' supply limits only versus days' supply and dosage limits, as well as with specific law provisions also showed no association with opioid prescribing or opioid overdose outcomes.State opioid prescribing cap laws did not appear to impact outcomes related to opioid analgesic prescribing or opioid overdose. These findings are potentially due to the limited scope of these laws, which often apply only to a subset of opioid prescriptions and include professional judgment exemptions.

Trends in average annual or seasonal precipitation are insufficient for detecting changes in the climatic fire season, especially in regions where the fire season is defined by wet-dry seasonal cycles and lightning activity. Using an extensive dataset (1897-2017) in the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, we examined changes in annual dry season length, total precipitation, and (since 1945) the seasonal distribution of thunder-days as a correlate of lightning activity. We found that across the entire region, the dry season has lengthened by as much as 156 days (130% over 120 years), both starting earlier and ending later with less total precipitation. Less rainfall over a longer dry season, with no change in seasonal thunderstorm patterns, likely increases both the potential for lightning-ignited wildfires and fire severity. Global climate change could be having a hitherto undetected influence on fire regimes by altering the synchrony of climatic seasonal parameters.

This report articulates a preservation recommendation forScholars Portal Dataversethat involves connecting institutional subscriber Dataverse repositories to robust and replicated long-term storage of datasets in theOntario Library Research Cloud(OLRC), ensuring a minimum level of reliable repository storage underlying Dataverse to support “preservation in place” (here understood as bit-level preservation and reliable fixity checking), while also providing those repositories with the ability to select datasets and create their ownArchival Information Packages(AIPs) via anArchivematicapipeline, which would support the more robust preservation activities required for the long-term maintenance of research data.

During recent droughts in North Carolina, various audiences have articulated needs for information that explains current or anticipated impacts, droughts’ geographic extent and timing, and how the ...

During recent droughts in North Carolina, decision makers have articulated needs for drought information, including current or anticipated impacts, geographic extent and timing, and how and who mon...

Anesthesia information management systems (AIMS) are rapidly gaining widespread acceptance. Aggressively promoted as an improvement to manual-entry recordkeeping systems in the areas of accuracy, completeness, quality improvement, billing, and vigilance, these systems record all patient vital signs and parameters, providing a legible hard copy and permanent electronic record. With well-documented financial incentives, as well as government subsidies, AIMS are becoming adopted at an unprecedented rate. With the goals of the federal government to enhance the use of the electronic medical record, there is an emerging belief that AIMS may soon be mandated, with more limited choices than currently available. As assessed by, and often in spite of the published evidence, concerns of practitioners still reflect many of the same concerns expressed in the editorial comments of the past.

Additive manufacturing (AM) of tissue scaffolds provides medical professionals and patients with personalized treatment options, which align with patients’ specific physiology and provide a more efficient and precise manufacturing process. Vat photopolymerization (VP) AM affords biocompatible, degradable, and high-resolution scaffolds capable of achieving specific pore sizes necessary for tissue regeneration. Earlier biodegradable, photoactive polymers for the VP platform usually require dissolution in a solvent or water, which often results in anisotropic shrinkage upon drying and inconsistencies in the final part geometry. This work describes a photoactive oligomeric precursor that eliminates the requirement for water or solvent during VP. Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) diacrylates with low number-average molecular weights (

Background. Anesthesia machines are known reservoirs of bacterial species, potentially contributing to healthcare associated infections (HAIs). An inexpensive, disposable, nonpermeable, transparent anesthesia machine wrap (AMW) may reduce microbial contamination of the anesthesia machine. This study quantified the density and diversity of bacterial species found on anesthesia machines after terminal cleaning and between cases during actual anesthesia care to assess the impact of the AMW. We hypothesized reduced bioburden with the use of the AMW. Methods. In a prospective, experimental research design, the AMW was used in 11 surgical cases (intervention group) and not used in 11 control surgical cases. Cases were consecutively assigned to general surgical operating rooms. Seven frequently touched and difficult to disinfect “hot spots” were cultured on each machine preceding and following each case. The density and diversity of cultured colony forming units (CFUs) between the covered and uncovered machines were compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Student’s t-tests. Results. There was a statistically significant reduction in CFU density and diversity when the AMW was employed. Conclusion. The protective effect of the AMW during regular anesthetic care provides a reliable and low-cost method to minimize the transmission of pathogens across patients and potentially reduces HAIs.

This article is the result of a 2009 survey of student usage of e-books at Royal Roads University (RRU) Library. The authors found that the proportion of students using RRU Library e-books has gone up since a similar 2003 survey, although only just above half of students are using RRU Library e-books. An almost identical number of student respondents (approximately 54%) said “no” to preferring a print version of the book over the e-book version of the book in both the 2003 and 2009 surveys. The majority of students rated the ability to download an e-book to a hand-held device as not important. There has been a notable increase in the use of e-books for course readings from 2003 to 2009. A lack of awareness of RRU Library e-books remains the top reason cited by students for not using them.

Journal homepage: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1877-7252/ We developed twelve novel microsatellite loci 8 primers in the European lobster (Homarus gammarus). All 9 markers were obtained from partial genomic DNA libraries 10 enriched for tetranucleotide repeats and characterized in 48 11 unrelated individuals from one putative population. The 12 number of alleles ranged from 5 to 13, with an average of 13 8.3 per locus, and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 14 0.35 to 0.83 (average 0.69). These microsatellite loci can 15 be used as markers in the assessment of connectivity and 16 genetic structure of exploited lobster populations.

As conceptualized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and its partners, a culture of health centers on a society in which health flourishes across all populations and sectors. Law, among other tools, is critical to advancing a culture of health across multiple arenas. In this manuscript, Network for Public Health Law colleagues illustrate how legal innovations at all levels of government contribute to societal health. Examples include modern laws that promote healthy and safe low-income housing, telemedicine reimbursement, paid sick and safe time, healthy food and beverages, reduced smoking rates, child vaccinations, universal pre-k, adolescents' healthy sleep, overdose prevention, and medical-legal partnerships.

Since its inception in September 2010, the Network for Public Health Law has responded to hundreds of public health legal technical assistance claims from around the country. Based on a review of these data, a series of major trends in public health practice and the law are analyzed, including issues concerning: the Affordable Care Act, tobacco control, emergency legal preparedness, health information privacy, food policy, vaccination, drug overdose prevention, sports injury law, public health accreditation, and maternal breastfeeding. These and other emerging themes in public health law demonstrate the essential role of law and practice in advancing the public's health.

Web-scale discovery has arrived. With products like Summon and WorldCat Local, hundreds of millions of articles and books are accessible at lightning speed from a single search box via the library. But there's a catch. As the size of the index grows, so too does the challenge of relevancy. When Google launched in 1998 with an index of only 25 million pages, its patented PageRank algorithm was powerful enough to provide outstanding results. But the web has grown to well over a trillion pages, and Google now employs over 200 different signals to determine what search results you see. According to Eli Pariser, author of "The filter bubble: what the internet is hiding from you" (Penguin, 2011), a growing number of these signals are based on what Google knows about you, especially your web history; and, according to Pariser, serving up information that's "pleasant and familiar and confirms your beliefs" is becoming increasingly synonymous with relevancy. This session will critique Pariser's concept of the 'filter bubble' in terms of collection development and the possible evolutions of discovery layers like Summon and WorldCat Local, and the challenge of providing relevant academic research results in a web-scale world where students increasingly expect the kind of personalization sometimes at odds with academia's adherence to privacy and intellectual freedom.

Anesthesia information management systems (AIMS) are rapidly gaining widespread acceptance. Aggressively promoted as an improvement to manual-entry recordkeeping systems (MERS) in the areas of accuracy, quality improvement, billing and vigilance, these systems record all patient vital signs and parameters, providing a legible hard copy and permanent electronic record. Concern exists that the practitioner may be less vigilant unless this data is recorded manually. This study’s purpose was to determine if vigilance, as measured by the ability to recall important data, is influenced by the method of recordkeeping. This study analyzed differences in the accuracy of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists’ (CRNAs) recall of specific patient variables during the course of an actual anesthetic case. CRNAs using AIMS were compared to CRNAs using MERS. Accuracy of recalled values of 10 patient variables was measured: highest and lowest values for heart rate, systolic blood pressure, inspiratory pressure, and end-tidal carbon dioxide levels, lowest oxygen saturation and total fluid volume. Four tertiary care facilities participated in this research; two of which used MERS, two utilized AIMS. A total of 214 subjects participated in this study; 106 in the computerized recordkeeping group, and 108 in the manual entry recordkeeping group. Demographic covariates were analyzed to ensure homogeneity between groups and facilities. No significant statistical differences were identified between the accuracy of recall among the groups. There was no difference in the accuracy of practitioners’ recall of patient variables when using computerized or manual entry recordkeeping systems, suggesting little impact on vigilance.

Strains carrying ras2(318S) as their sole RAS gene fail to elicit a transient increase in cAMP levels following addition of glucose to starved cells but maintain normal steady-state levels of cAMP under a variety of growth conditions. Such strains show extended delays in resuming growth following transition from a quiescent state to glucose-containing growth media, either in emerging from stationary phase or following inoculation as spores onto fresh media. Otherwise, growth of such strains is indistinguishable from that of RAS2(+) strains. ras2(318S) strains also exhibit a delay in glucose-stimulated phosphorylation and turnover of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, a substrate of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) and a key component of the gluconeogenic branch of the glycolytic pathway. Finally Tpk(w) strains, which fail to modulate PKA in response to fluctuations in cAMP levels, show the same growth delay phenotypes, as do ras2(318S) strains. These observations indicate that the glucose-induced cAMP spike results in a transient activation of PKA, which is required for efficient transition of yeast cells from a quiescent state to resumption of rapid growth. This represents the first demonstration that yeast cells use the Ras pathway to transmit a signal to effect a biological change in response to an upstream stimulus.