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Nest depredation is one of the greatest threats posed to ground-nesting ducks. We employed cameras to monitor 164 duck nests (71 cinnamon teal, Spatula cyanoptera, 44 gadwall, Mareca strepera, 38 mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, and 11 nests of unknown species) in the wetlands surrounding Great Salt Lake, from 2015–2021. Of the 164 nests, 21% were successful, 73% were depredated and 7% were abandoned. We observed predators at 99 of the 119 depredated nests; predators at 20 nests went undetected. Raccoons (Procyon lotor, depredated nests) and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis, ) were the most common of the 99 nest predators recorded. Other predators that depredated nests included long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata), northern harriers (Circus hudsonius), California gulls (Larus californicus), Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis), common ravens (Corvus corax), coyotes (Canis latrans) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Neither the number of eggs removed per depredation event nor the number of eggs remaining varied by predator species. Depredated nests were easier for predators to find than undisturbed, incubated nests, resulting in 68% of depredated nests being visited by multiple predators. All hens detected the approach of a predator and flushed before the predator reached the nest; no hens attempted to defend their nest or attack the predator. Only 21% of hens returned to their depredated nest, and those that did remained off their nest an average of 33 h and 23 h after their nest was depredated by a raccoon or skunk, respectively. Seventeen percent of hens resumed incubation of their depredated nest, but only 1 nest to which a hen returned successfully hatched an egg. Depredation events of raccoons and skunks were not distributed randomly during the 24-hour day, but rather occurred most often during the night and nautical twilight, and rarely during the day. Depredation events of avian predators occurred during the day, rarely during twilight, and none during the night. Depredation events during the night were more likely when the wind was calm but temperature, humidity, and actual moon illumination had no impact. Depredation events by skunks and raccoons occurred more often during the 1st and 4th phases of the moon (new moon) than in the 2nd or 3rd phase.

Development of clinical guidelines and recommendations to address the care of pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have rarely included the perspectives of providers from a variety of healthcare disciplines or the patients and parents themselves. Accordingly, the National Kidney Foundation hosted an in-person, one and one-half day workshop that convened a multidisciplinary group of physicians, allied healthcare professionals, and pediatric CKD patients and their parents, with the goal of developing key clinical recommendations regarding best practices for the clinical management of pediatric patients living with CKD. The key clinical recommendations pertained to five broad topics: Addressing the Needs of Patients and Parents/Caregivers; Modifying the Progression of CKD; Clinical Management of CKD-Mineral Bone Disorder and Growth Retardation; Clinical Management of Anemia, Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension; and Transition and Transfer of Pediatric Patients to Adult Nephrology Care. This report describes the recommendations generated by the participants who attended the workshop.

At the turn of the century, firms struggled to make transportation decisions in increasingly integrated supply chains that routinely stretched around the world. In “A Framework for Transportation Decision Making in an Integrated Supply Chain” (Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 5 [2]: 71–77) T. P. Stank and T. J. Goldsby proposed an original transportation decision-making framework to address the need. The framework is cited over 250 times in the academic literature and referenced by firms seeking to optimize cost-service tradeoffs in an environment characterized by higher levels of market freedoms, service innovation, and supply chain collaboration. Since the year 2000, though, the digital revolution, customer expectations, and supply chain resilience concerns have given rise to new demands for transportation decision-making, with operations residing in a hyper-integrated and further globally entrenched state. Therefore, we revisit Stank and Goldsby’s original framework to review major transportation decision areas and devise contemporary mechanisms to address the modern business environment. Our framework highlights the rapid and interdependent nature of today’s corporate transportation decisions to help firms tackle current business needs and long-term strategic interests. We also seek to illuminate prospective avenues for research endeavor.

Our understanding of continental rifting is, in large parts, derived from the stratigraphic record. This record is, however, incomplete as it does not often capture the geomorphic and erosional signal of rifting. New 3D seismic reflection data reveal a Late Permian-Early Triassic landscape incised into the pre-rift basement of the northern North Sea. This landscape, which covers at least 542 km2, preserves a drainage system bound by two major tectonic faults. A quantitative geomorphic analysis of the drainage system reveals 68 catchments, with channel steepness and knickpoint analysis of catchment-hosted palaeo-rivers showing that the landscape preserved a >2 Myr long period of transient tectonics. We interpret that this landscape records a punctuated uplift of the footwall of a major rift-related normal fault (Vette Fault) at the onset of rifting. The landscape was preserved by a combination of relatively rapid subsidence in the hangingwall of a younger fault (Øygarden Fault) and burial by post-incision sediments. As such, we show how and why erosional landscapes are preserved in the stratigraphic record, and how they can help us understand the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of ancient continental rifts. publishedVersion

Climate change has brought increasing attention to the assessment of health risks associated with climate and extreme events. Drought is a complex climate phenomenon that has been increasing in frequency and severity both locally and globally due to climate change. However, the health risks of drought are often overlooked, especially in places such as the United States, as the pathways to health impacts are complex and indirect. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the effects of monthly drought exposure on respiratory mortality for NOAA climate regions in the United States from 2000 to 2018. A two-stage model was applied to estimate the location-specific and overall effects of respiratory risk associated with two different drought indices over two timescales (the US Drought Monitor and the 6-month and 12-month Evaporative Demand Drought Index). During moderate and severe drought exposure, respiratory mortality risk ratio in the general population increased up to 6.0% (95% Cr: 4.8 to 7.2) in the Northeast, 9.0% (95% Cr: 4.9 to 13.3) in the Northern Rockies and Plains, 5.2% (95% Cr: 3.9 to 6.5) in the Ohio Valley, 3.5% (95% Cr: 1.9 to 5.0) in the Southeast, and 15.9% (95% Cr: 10.8 to 20.4) in the Upper Midwest. Our results showed that age, ethnicity, sex (both male and female), and urbanicity (both metro and non-metro) resulted in more affected population subgroups in certain climate regions. The magnitude and direction of respiratory risk ratio differed across NOAA climate regions. These results demonstrate a need for policymakers and communities to develop more effective strategies to mitigate the effects of drought across regions.

Massive investments in artificial intelligence (AI) have sparked a renewed debate over its impact on how we live, learn, and work. The last few years have also seen a burst of critical sociology about AI, pushing the conversation toward a deeper understanding of structural and intersectional inequalities. Here, we offer five big ideas that highlight what is distinctive about the emerging sociology of AI.

Water and sediment transport in rivers are not uniform through time. In perennial rivers, sediment may be in motion for much of the year. However, intermittent rivers only transport bedload material during the most significant flow events, therefore changes in precipitation patterns have a large impact on these sensitive systems. Understanding intermittency is thus a key challenge in the Earth Sciences due to the vulnerability of landscapes in a changing climate. Here, we generate new constraints on modern fluvial intermittency factors based on field measurements in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, including hydraulic geometry, sediment grain size and well-constrained Holocene accumulation rates into a closed basin. Results reveal that these rivers are extremely intermittent, requiring only 1 - 5 hours of active bedload transport per year in order to fulfil their annual bedload sediment budgets. Historical data reinforce these results, suggesting that the channels draining into the Gulf are only active in large, infrequent storms associated with rainfall rates > 50 mm/d; this hydroclimate is typical of large areas of Mediterranean landscape. Furthermore, climate models predict precipitation extremes (i.e., storminess) will increase across Europe. Therefore, as the threshold of sediment transport is surpassed more frequently, we predict annual sediment budgets will increase significantly by the year 2100. As storminess increases, source-to-sink dynamics in intermittent river systems across the globe are likely to be the most impacted by environmental change in the near future.

Spatially resolved rotational temperature of ground state hydrogen molecules desorbed from plasma-facing surface was measured in QUEST, LTX-β, and DIII-D tokamaks, and the increases of the rotational temperature with the surface temperature and due to collisional-radiative processes in the plasmas were evaluated. The increase due to collisional-radiative processes was calculated by solving rate equations considering electron and proton collisional excitation and deexcitation and spontaneous emission. The calculation results suggest a high sensitivity for the rotational temperature to electron and proton densities, but a negligible sensitivity to the electron, proton, and surface temperatures. In the three tokamaks with different plasma parameters and plasma facing surface materials, the spatial profile of the rotational temperature was estimated using Fulcher-α emission lines (600-608 nm). In QUEST, the spatial profile of the rotational temperature was estimated from spatially resolved spectra. In the other tokamaks, the rotational temperature was evaluated assuming a single point emission with a location determined from the Fulcher-α emission profile as measured with a filtered camera. In metal-walled devices QUEST and LTX-β, the rotational temperature increased with the surface temperature, and the calculated collisional-radiative increase is consistent with measured increase assuming that the rotational temperature at the surface is approximately 450 K higher than the surface temperature. In DIII-D with carbon walls, a larger collisional-radiative increase than the other tokamaks was observed because of the higher density leading to a large difference from the calculated increase compared to the other smaller tokamaks. Measurement of the Fulcher-α emission profile with higher spatial resolution in DIII-D may reduce the difference and reveal the effect of the surface temperature on the rotational temperature. These results shows the increases in the rotational temperature with the surface temperature and due to the collisional-radiative processes.

Purpose: In this study, we examine the immunomodulatory effects and antitumor activity of tamoxifen and letrozole when combined with the human epithelial mucin (hMUC1)-specific vaccine, L-BLP25, in the hMUC1-expressing mammary tumor (MMT) mouse model.Experimental Design: Dose-finding studies were conducted for both tamoxifen and letrozole. Letrozole and L-BLP25 combination studies used 69 MMT female mice assigned to five groups: untreated, cyclophosphamide + placebo, cyclophosphamide + L-BLP25, letrozole 0.8 mg/kg, and cyclophosphamide + L-BLP25 + letrozole. Tamoxifen and L-BLP25 combination studies used 48 MMT female mice assigned to five treatment groups: untreated, cyclophosphamide + placebo, cyclophosphamide + L-BLP25, tamoxifen 50 mg/kg, and cyclophosphamide + L-BLP25 + tamoxifen 50 mg/kg group. Mice were injected subcutaneously with L-BLP25 (10 μg) weekly for 8 weeks. Serum cytokines were serially measured using a Luminex assay, whereas splenocytes at termination were analyzed by ELISpot to determine T-helper (TH)1/TH2 polarization of immune response.Results: Daily oral doses of 50 and 0.8 mg/kg of tamoxifen and letrozole, respectively, resulted in a significant survival advantage over controls (P < 0.05). A predominant TH1-polarized immune response in vaccinated mice was seen with or without tamoxifen or letrozole treatments. In the L-BLP25 plus letrozole treatment group, statistically significant (P < 0.05) additive antitumor activity was observed, whereas tamoxifen plus L-BLP25 was not significantly different (P > 0.05).Conclusion: The results of this study show that hormonal therapy does not interfere with L-BLP25–induced predominant TH1 response, and the combination of L-BLP25 with letrozole has additive antitumor activity in the MMT mouse model. Clin Cancer Res; 18(10); 2861–71. ©2012 AACR.

Supplementary Table from An Exercise-Induced Metabolic Shield in Distant Organs Blocks Cancer Progression and Metastatic Dissemination

PDF file - 87K, Representative MMT tumors stained with H&E (A), ER-alpha IHC (B), and hMUC1 (C) (bar = 100 mu m)

Supplementary Data from An Exercise-Induced Metabolic Shield in Distant Organs Blocks Cancer Progression and Metastatic Dissemination

PDF file - 87K, Kaplan-Meier survival curves comparing the vaccine alone treatment group with the tamoxifen (A), letrozole (B), and estradiol (C) plus vaccine combination treatment groups are shown (N=7, all groups)

PDF file - 119K, Percentage cytotoxicity was measured in hMUC1 expressing breast cancer target cells (derived from an MMT tumor) after 60 min incubation with CD8 effectors derived from vaccinated/placebo or untreated mice. (A) CD8+ effector cells from mice were purified and incubated at a 5:1 effector to target ratio (N=1 for control, untreated, and CTX + placebo, and N=2 for CTX + vaccine). (B) Unpurified effector cells from mice were incubated at a 10:1 ratio (N=1, all groups). CTX= cyclophosphamide; LET= letrozole

Exercise prevents cancer incidence and recurrence, yet the underlying mechanism behind this relationship remains mostly unknown. Here we report that exercise induces the metabolic reprogramming of internal organs that increases nutrient demand and protects against metastatic colonization by limiting nutrient availability to the tumor, generating an exercise-induced metabolic shield. Proteomic and ex vivo metabolic capacity analyses of murine internal organs revealed that exercise induces catabolic processes, glucose uptake, mitochondrial activity, and GLUT expression. Proteomic analysis of routinely active human subject plasma demonstrated increased carbohydrate utilization following exercise. Epidemiologic data from a 20-year prospective study of a large human cohort of initially cancer-free participants revealed that exercise prior to cancer initiation had a modest impact on cancer incidence in low metastatic stages but significantly reduced the likelihood of highly metastatic cancer. In three models of melanoma in mice, exercise prior to cancer injection significantly protected against metastases in distant organs. The protective effects of exercise were dependent on mTOR activity, and inhibition of the mTOR pathway with rapamycin treatment ex vivo reversed the exercise-induced metabolic shield. Under limited glucose conditions, active stroma consumed significantly more glucose at the expense of the tumor. Collectively, these data suggest a clash between the metabolic plasticity of cancer and exercise-induced metabolic reprogramming of the stroma, raising an opportunity to block metastasis by challenging the metabolic needs of the tumor.Significance:Exercise protects against cancer progression and metastasis by inducing a high nutrient demand in internal organs, indicating that reducing nutrient availability to tumor cells represents a potential strategy to prevent metastasis.See related commentary by Zerhouni and Piskounova, p. 4124

Objectives Sexual health knowledge among international students in Australia is lower than domestic students, however, little is known about what factors affect the uptake of STI testing, nor if there are differences for overseas-born domestic students. Methods We included sexually active respondents from a survey of university students in Australia (N = 3,075). Multivariate regression and mediation analyses investigated associations of STI and HIV testing with STI and HIV knowledge respectively, sexual risk behaviour and demographics, including comparisons among: domestic Australian-born, domestic overseas-born, and international students. Results STI and HIV knowledge was positively associated with STI and HIV testing respectively (STI OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.16; HIV OR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.48). STI knowledge was significantly lower for international than domestic Australian-born students (10.8 vs. 12.2 out of 16), as was STI testing (32% vs. 38%); the difference in knowledge accounted for half the difference in STI testing rates between these two groups. International students from Southern Asia, and Eastern Asia reported the lowest STI testing rates. HIV testing was highest amongst international students from Africa and North America. Higher sexual risk behaviour, younger age, and identifying as gay or bisexual were positively associated with higher STI and HIV testing rates. Conclusions Our study supports greater investment and commitment by universities for the provision of sexual health education that can promote access to testing to improve the health of their students.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) appendicular lean tissue is used to screen older adults for sarcopenia. However, emerging data indicates that ageing-related muscle atrophy largely occurs within specific muscles, which may be masked using appendicular lean tissue. Comparisons between appendicular lean tissue and site-specific measures of muscle in relation to strength and physical function are needed to advance our understanding of these features in the context of poor muscle function in aged adults. Our primary objective was to compare correlations between lean tissue and site-specific muscle characteristics in relation to strength and physical function in older males. Older males (≥65 years) were evaluated for muscle strength, physical function (6-minute walk and 30-second sit-to-stand), and muscle size (appendicular and site-specific) and composition (echo intensity) using DXA and ultrasound. Of the 32 older males (75.4 ± 7.9 years), 12 had low appendicular lean tissue. All DXA and ultrasound muscle characteristics were associated (r = 0.39 to 0.83, p < 0.05) with torque or power producing capabilities. Except for the knee flexors, no differences in correlation coefficients were observed between muscle thickness or regional lean tissue in relation to muscle strength. Neither DXA nor ultrasound muscle characteristics were associated with physical function. In older males, ultrasound-based muscle thickness and DXA lean tissue provided similar associations with strength. Novelty: Lean tissue and muscle thickness provide similar associations with strength. Muscle thickness can distinguish low and normal appendicular lean tissue in older adults.