Spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi host surprisingly diverse communities of endobacteria.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous plant root symbionts, which can house two endobacteria: Ca. Moeniiplasma glomeromycotorum (CaMg) and Ca. Glomeribacter gigasporarum (CaGg). However, little is known about their distribution and population structure in natural AMF populations and whether AMF can harbour other endobacteria. We isolated AMF from two environments and conducted detailed analyses of endobacterial communities associated with surface-sterilised AMF spores. Consistent with the previous reports, we found that CaMg were extremely abundant (80%) and CaGg were extremely rare (2%) in both environments. Unexpectedly, we discovered an additional and previously unknown level of bacterial diversity within AMF spores, which extended beyond the known endosymbionts, with bacteria belonging to 10 other phyla detected across our spore data set. Detailed analysis revealed that: CaGg were not limited in distribution to the Gigasporaceae family of AMF, as previously thought; CaMg population structure was driven by AMF host genotype; and a significant inverse correlation existed between the diversity of CaMg and diversity of all other endobacteria. Based on these data, we generate novel testable hypotheses regarding the function of CaMg in AMF biology by proposing that they might act as conditional mutualists of AMF.

Evidence of a selective and bi-directional relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal and bacterial communities co-inhabiting plant roots.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) provide plants with vital mineral nutrients and co-exist inside the roots alongside a complex community of bacterial endophytes. These co-existing AMF and bacterial root communities have been studied individually and are known to be influenced in structure by different environmental parameters. However, the extent to which they are affected by environmental parameters and by each other is completely unknown. The current study addressed this knowledge gap by characterising AMF and bacterial communities inside plant roots from a natural and an agricultural ecosystem. Using multivariate modelling, the relative contribution of environmental parameters in structuring the two communities was quantified at different spatial scales. Using this model, it was possible to then remove the contribution of environmental parameters and show that the co-existing AMF and bacterial communities were significantly correlated with each other, explaining up to 36% of each other's variance. Notably, this was not due to the presence of know AMF endobacteria, as removal of endobacterial reads maintained the significance of correlation. These findings provide the first empirical evidence of a selective and bi-directional relationship between AMF and bacteria co-inhibiting plant roots and indicate that a significant fraction of this covariation is due to biological and ecological interactions between them.

A comparison of digestate management options at a large anaerobic digestion plant.

Increased biogas production from increasing numbers of anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities has increased the mass of digestate applied to agricultural land close to AD plants and has led to an oversupply in some regions. This necessitates long distance digestate transportation accompanied by economic, environmental, and social drawbacks. This work assesses the performance of three different digestate management options (MOs); land application of whole digestate (MO1), digestate separation (MO2), and digestate separation and evaporation (MO3), combined with centralised or decentralised digestate storage. All MOs required the same landbank area, whilst MO2 and MO3 reduced digestate management costs by 9% and 37% (if recovered heat is used) respectively. GHG emissions from MO2 were 41% lower than MO1 if renewable electricity was used. MO3 reduced GHG emissions by 63% compared to MO1, if renewable electricity and recovered heat were used. MO2 required the same centralised digestate storage volume as MO1 while MO3 required 44% of the centralised storage volume. Centralised digestate storage required a maximum of 79 days for digestate transportation (33 trucks/day, 20 m3 capacity) to land for MO1 and MO2, and 35 days for MO3. Decentralised digestate storage required 63 storage tanks and 15 trucks/day for MO1, 69 tanks and 15 trucks/day for MO2, and 68 tanks and 7 trucks/day for MO3. Tank size ranged from 500 m3 to 20,000 m3. MO3 combined with decentralised storage could reduce the cost and GHG emissions (if recovered energy is used), vehicle movements, and the number of storage tanks required for digestate management.

Trust Versus Content in Multi-functional Land Management: Assessing Soil Function Messaging in Agricultural Networks.

Growing sustainability demands on land have a high knowledge requirement across multiple scientific domains. Exploring networks can expose opportunities for targeting. Using mixed-methods combining social network analysis (SNA) and surveys, networks for key soil functions in case studies in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands are explored. We find a diversity of contrasting networks that reflect local conditions, sustainability challenges and governance structure. Farmers were found to occupy a central role in the agri-environmental governance network. A comparison of the SNA and survey results indicate low acceptance of messages from many central actors indicating scope to better harness the network for sustainable land management. The source of the messages was important when it came to the implementation of farm management actions. Two pathways for enhanced farmer uptake of multi-functionality are proposed that have wider application are; to increase trust between farmers and actors that are agents of multi-functional messages and/or to increase the bundling or multi-functionality of messages (mandate) of actors trusted by farmers.

Using machine learning to estimate herbage production and nutrient uptake on Irish dairy farms.

Nutrient management on grazed grasslands is of critical importance to maintain productivity levels, as grass is the cheapest feed for ruminants and underpins these meat and milk production systems. Many attempts have been made to model the relationships between controllable (crop and soil fertility management) and noncontrollable influencing factors (weather, soil drainage) and nutrient/productivity levels. However, to the best of our knowledge not much research has been performed on modeling the interconnections between the influencing factors on one hand and nutrient uptake/herbage production on the other hand, by using data-driven modeling techniques. Our paper proposes to use predictive clustering trees (PCT) learned for building models on data from dairy farms in the Republic of Ireland. The PCT models show good accuracy in estimating herbage production and nutrient uptake. They are also interpretable and are found to embody knowledge that is in accordance with existing theoretical understanding of the task at hand. Moreover, if we combine more PCT into an ensemble of PCT (random forest of PCT), we can achieve improved accuracy of the estimates. In practical terms, the number of grazings, which is related proportionally with soil drainage class, is one of the most important factors that moderates the herbage production potential and nutrient uptake. Furthermore, we found the nutrient (N, P, and K) uptake and herbage nutrient concentration to be conservative in fields that had medium yield potential (11 t of dry matter per hectare on average), whereas nutrient uptake was more variable and potentially limiting in fields that had higher and lower herbage production. Our models also show that phosphorus is the most limiting nutrient for herbage production across the fields on these Irish dairy farms, followed by nitrogen and potassium.

The effects of introducing high-fidelity simulation to preclinical student respiratory therapists.

INTRODUCTION: This action research study examines the use of high-fidelity simulation (HFS) in a 3-year Respiratory Therapy advanced diploma program offered at a community college located in southwestern Ontario. It seeks to identify if the use of preclinical experiential learning offered through various HFS scenarios had an impact on learners' ability to transition into clinical practicum. The experiential learning theory provided the framework that guided this study as it sought to determine the effect, if any, of HFS on confidence and student anxiety. METHODS: A mixed-method research approach to data collection was used to assess both qualitative and quantitative data. A presimulation, Likert-type questionnaire was completed by 20 participants and utilized to identify learning styles and anxiety with experiential learning activities. The qualitative component of the study involved a focus group exploring four participant's impressions of how HFS affected their ability, anxiety, and competence in preparation for their clinical rotation. Finally, following the focus of action research, the researcher's observations and journaling were used as a method to improve the future delivery and practice of simulation at the researcher's institution. RESULTS: The results of this research project suggest that learners have an increased level of confidence following simulation participation, but that their anxiety levels have not changed when thinking about transitioning into clinical practicum. CONCLUSION: Ongoing research focusing on how this model affects student respiratory therapists' abilities and performance in clinical practicum is needed.

A multisource feedback tool to assess ward round leadership skills of senior paediatric trainees: (2) Testing reliability and practicability.

BACKGROUND: A five-domain multisource feedback (MSF) tool was previously developed in 2009-2010 by the authors to assess senior paediatric trainees' ward round leadership skills. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether this MSF tool is practicable and reliable, whether individuals' feedback varies over time and trainees' views of the tool. METHODS: The MSF tool was piloted (April-July 2011) and field tested (September 2011-February 2013) with senior paediatric trainees. A focus group held at the end of field testing obtained trainees' views of the tool. RESULTS: In field testing, 96/115 (84%) trainees returned 633 individual assessments from three different ward rounds over 18 months. The MSF tool had high reliability (Cronbach's α 0.84, G coefficient 0.8 for three raters). In all five domains, data were shifted to the right with scores of 3 (good) and 4 (excellent). Consultants gave significantly lower scores (p<0.001), as did trainees for self-assessment (p<0.001). There was no significant change in MSF scores over 18 months but comments showed that trainees' performance improved. Trainees valued these comments and the MSF tool but had concerns about time taken for feedback and confusion about tool use and the paediatric assessment strategy. CONCLUSIONS: A five-domain MSF tool was found to be reliable on pilot and field testing, practicable to use and liked by trainees. Comments on performance were more helpful than scores in giving trainees feedback.

A multisource feedback tool to assess ward round leadership skills of senior paediatric trainees: (1) Development of tool.

BACKGROUND: Leading a ward round is an essential skill for hospital consultants and senior trainees but is rarely assessed during training. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the key attributes for ward round leadership and to use these results to develop a multisource feedback (MSF) tool to assess the ward round leadership skills of senior specialist trainees. METHODS: A panel of experts comprising four senior paediatric consultants and two nurse managers were interviewed from May to August 2009. From analysis of the interview transcripts, 10 key themes emerged. A structured questionnaire based on the key themes was designed and sent electronically to paediatric consultants, nurses and trainees at a large university hospital (June-October 2010). RESULTS: 81 consultants, nurses and trainees responded to the survey. The internal consistency of this tool was high (Cronbach's α 0.95). Factor analysis showed that five factors accounted for 72% of variance. The five key areas for ward round leadership were communication skills, preparation and organisation, teaching and enthusiasm, team working and punctuality; communication was the most important key theme. A MSF tool for ward round leadership skills was developed with these areas as five domains. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that this tool will add to the current assessment tools available by providing feedback about ward round leadership skills.

A new tool to evaluate postgraduate training posts: the Job Evaluation Survey Tool (JEST).

BACKGROUND: Three reports in 2013 about healthcare and patient safety in the UK, namely Berwick, Francis and Keogh have highlighted the need for junior doctors' views about their training experience to be heard. In the UK, the General Medical Council (GMC) quality assures medical training programmes and requires postgraduate deaneries to undertake quality management and monitoring of all training posts in their area. The aim of this study was to develop a simple trainee questionnaire for evaluation of postgraduate training posts based on the GMC, UK standards and to look at the reliability and validity including comparison with a well-established and internationally validated tool, the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM). METHODS: The Job Evaluation Survey Tool (JEST), a fifteen item job evaluation questionnaire was drawn up in 2006, piloted with Foundation doctors (2007), field tested with specialist paediatric registrars (2008) and used over a three year period (2008-11) by Foundation Doctors. Statistical analyses including descriptives, reliability, correlation and factor analysis were undertaken and JEST compared with PHEEM. RESULTS: The JEST had a reliability of 0.91 in the pilot study of 76 Foundation doctors, 0.88 in field testing of 173 Paediatric specialist registrars and 0.91 in three years of general use in foundation training with 3367 doctors completing JEST. Correlation of JEST with PHEEM was 0.80 (p < 0.001). Factor analysis showed two factors, a teaching factor and a social and lifestyle one. CONCLUSION: The JEST has proved to be a simple, valid and reliable evaluation tool in the monitoring and evaluation of postgraduate hospital training posts.

A perspective on three sustainable hydrogen production technologies with a focus on technology readiness level, cost of production and life cycle environmental impacts.

Hydrogen will play an indispensable role as both an energy vector and as a molecule in essential products in the transition to climate neutrality. However, the optimal sustainable hydrogen production system is not definitive due to challenges in energy conversion efficiency, economic cost, and associated marginal abatement cost. This review summarises and contrasts different sustainable hydrogen production technologies including for their development, potential for improvement, barriers to large-scale industrial application, capital and operating cost, and life-cycle environmental impact. Polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis technology shows significant potential for large-scale application in the near-term, with a higher technology readiness level (expected to be 9 by 2030) and a levelized cost of hydrogen expected to be 4.15-6 €/kg H2 in 2030; this equates to a 50% decrease as compared to 2020. The four-step copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) water thermochemical cycle can perform better in terms of life cycle environmental impact than the three- and five-step Cu-Cl cycle, however, due to system complexity and high capital expenditure, the thermochemical cycle is more suitable for long-term application should the technology develop. Biological conversion technologies (such as photo/dark fermentation) are at a lower technology readiness level, and the system efficiency of some of these pathways such as biophotolysis is low (less than 10%). Biomass gasification may be a more mature technology than some biological conversion pathways owing to its higher system efficiency (40%-50%). Biological conversion systems also have higher costs and as such require significant development to be comparable to hydrogen produced via electrolysis.

Quantification of phosphorus transport from a karstic agricultural watershed to emerging spring water.

The degree to which waters in a given watershed will be affected by nutrient export can be defined as that watershed's nutrient vulnerability. This study applied concepts of specific phosphorus (P) vulnerability to develop intrinsic groundwater vulnerability risk assessments in a 32 km(2) karst watershed (spring zone of contribution) in a relatively intensive agricultural landscape. To explain why emergent spring water was below an ecological impairment threshold, concepts of P attenuation potential were investigated along the nutrient transfer continuum based on soil P buffering, depth to bedrock, and retention within the aquifer. Surface karst features, such as enclosed depressions, were reclassified based on P attenuation potential in soil at the base. New techniques of high temporal resolution monitoring of P loads in the emergent spring made it possible to estimate P transfer pathways and retention within the aquifer and indicated small-medium fissure flows to be the dominant pathway, delivering 52-90% of P loads during storm events. Annual total P delivery to the main emerging spring was 92.7 and 138.4 kg total P (and 52.4 and 91.3 kg as total reactive P) for two monitored years, respectively. A revised groundwater vulnerability assessment was used to produce a specific P vulnerability map that used the soil and hydrogeological P buffering potential of the watershed as key assumptions in moderating P export to the emergent spring. Using this map and soil P data, the definition of critical source areas in karst landscapes was demonstrated.

Prevalence of hearing loss in the United States by industry.

BACKGROUND: Twenty-two million workers are exposed to hazardous noise in the United States. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of hearing loss among U.S. industries. METHODS: We examined 2000-2008 audiograms for male and female workers ages 18-65, who had higher occupational noise exposures than the general population. Prevalence and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) for hearing loss were estimated and compared across industries. RESULTS: In our sample, 18% of workers had hearing loss. When compared with the Couriers and Messengers industry sub-sector, workers employed in Mining (PR = 1.65, CI = 1.57-1.73), Wood Product Manufacturing (PR = 1.65, CL = 1.61-1.70), Construction of Buildings (PR = 1.52, CI = 1.45-1.59), and Real Estate and Rental and Leasing (PR = 1.61, CL = 1.51-1.71) [corrected] had higher risks for hearing loss. CONCLUSIONS: Workers in the Mining, Manufacturing, and Construction industries need better engineering controls for noise and stronger hearing conservation strategies. More hearing loss research is also needed within traditional "low-risk" industries like Real Estate.

DOPS assessment: a study to evaluate the experience and opinions of trainees and assessors.

BACKGROUND: Workplace based assessments (WBAs) have been part of UK training for the last 3 years. Carrying out procedures efficiently and safely is of paramount importance in anaesthesia. AIMS: To explore opinions and experiences of Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) assessments in a regional anaesthetic training programme. METHODS: 19 and 20-item questionnaires were distributed to trainees and consultants respectively. RESULTS: Questionnaire response rate was 76% (90/119) for trainees and 65% (129/199) for consultants. 43% of consultants and 33% of trainees were not trained in DOPS use. Assessments were usually not planned. 50% were ad hoc and the remainder mainly retrospective. Time spent on assessment was short with DOPS and feedback achieved in ≤15 minutes in the majority of cases with lack of suggestions for further improvement. Both trainees and consultants felt that DOPS was not a helpful learning tool (p = 0.001) or a reflection of trainee competency. CONCLUSIONS: DOPS assessments are currently not valued as an educational tool. Training is essential in use of this WBA tool which needs to be planned and sufficient time allocated so as to address current negative attitudes.

Palliative care needs of terminally ill people living alone: a service provider perspective.

BACKGROUND: Community-based palliative care services face challenges in meeting the needs of terminally ill clients who live alone without a primary caregiver. Yet, there is a dearth of literature on the perceptions of health service providers (HSPs) regarding the care needs and possible management options to assist this growing group to remain at home. OBJECTIVE: This paper investigated the support needs of people living alone with a terminal illness from a service provider perspective. DESIGN: In depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine HSPs from community based services in three Australian states. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged: care challenges, differences in care provision, appropriate approaches to care and essentials for an effective service such as 24 h care, cost-free provision of personal alarm systems, supported and coordinated housekeeping services, funded respite care and financial care packages. HSPs expressed a respect for the autonomy and independence of the clients, yet felt pressured to ensure that safe and attentive care was possible. HSPs recognised the central importance of maintaining the independence and autonomy of palliative care clients living alone. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first in-depth account of what HSPs perceive they need to effectively look after home alone dying clients. The study provided directions to inform service planning for this growing and challenging population group regarding adequate and timely services that will lead to more complying with the clients' wishes, more care being delivered at home, a reduction in hospitalisations, a better quality of life and a capacity to die at home.

Design, Construction, and Concept Validation of a Laboratory-Scale Two-phase Reactor to Valorize Whiskey Distillery By-products.

The by-products generated from the whiskey distillation process consist of organic liquids with a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and residues with a high solid content. Low-carbon strategies that repurpose and valorize such by-products are now imperative to reduce the carbon footprint of the food and beverage industries. The operation of a two-phase anaerobic digester to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and biogas may enable distilleries to transition toward a low-carbon bioeconomy. An example of such a system is a leach bed reactor connected to an expanded granular sludge bed (LBR-EGSB) which was designed, commissioned, and conceptually validated in this paper. Several design improvements progress the LBR-EGSB beyond previous reactor designs. An external gas-liquid-solid separator in the EGSB was used to capture any residual gases produced by the effluent and may reduce the amount of methane slippage and biomass washout. The implementation of a siphon-actuated leachate cup is a low-cost alternative that is less prone to actuation malfunction as compared to electrically actuated solenoid valves in previous reactor designs. Furthermore, replacing fresh water with distillery's liquid by-products as leachate promotes a circular repurpose and reuse philosophy. The system proved to be effective in generating VFAs (10.3 g VFAs L-1Leachate), in EGSB COD removal (96%), and in producing methane-rich biogas (75%vol), which is higher than the values achieved by traditional anaerobic digestion systems. The LBR-EGSB could ultimately provide more by-product valorization and decarbonization opportunities than traditional anaerobic digestion systems for a whiskey distillery.

A perspective on methodologies and system boundaries to develop abatement cost for on-farm anaerobic digestion.

Marginal Abatement Cost Curves compare and assess greenhouse gas mitigation options available to various sectors of the economy. In the Irish agricultural sector, large anaerobic digestion facilities are currently considered a high-cost abatement solution. In prior studies of anaerobic digestion abatement costs, two options were assessed: the generation of heat and electricity from biogas (115 €/tCO2eq) and the production of renewable heat from biomethane (280 €/tCO2eq). Both scenarios encompass single cost values that may not capture the potentially variable nature of such systems. In contrast, prior techno-economic analyses and lifecycle analyses can provide a comparison of the abatement costs of anaerobic digestion systems at a range of scales. This work compares two case studies (based on prior literature) for small and medium-scale on farm anaerobic digestion systems. The small-scale system is set in Ireland with cattle slurry collected in open tanks during the winter, while the medium-scale system is set in the USA with cattle slurry collected periodically indoors all year-round. It was found that the abatement cost can vary between -117 to +79 € per t CO2eq. The key variables that affected the abatement cost were additional revenue streams such as biofertilizer sales, displaced energy savings, and additional incentives and emissions savings within the system boundary. Including only some of these options in the analysis resulted in higher abatement costs being reported. Based on the variation between system topologies and therefore system boundaries, assigning a single mitigation cost to anaerobic digestion systems may not be representative.

The veracity of an abatement cost analysis depends on a clear methodological process.The abatement cost varies based on the processes considered within the system boundary.On-farm digestion abatement costs assessed ranged from -117 to +79 €/tCO_2eq.On-farm emissions savings ranged from 609 to 10,358 tCO_2eq/yr.Abatement costs reduce when considering the income and emissions savings from co-benefits.

Demand-driven biogas production from Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors to balance the power grid.

Future energy systems necessitate dispatchable renewable energy to balance electrical grids with high shares of intermittent renewables. Biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD) can generate electricity on-demand. High-rate methanogenic reactors, such as the Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB), can react quicker to variations in feeding as compared to traditional AD systems. In this study, experimental trials validated the feasibility of operating the UASB in a demand-driven manner. The UASB was operated with leachate produced from a hydrolysis reactor treating grass silage. The UASB demonstrated a high degree of flexibility in responding to variable feeding regimes. The intra-day biogas production rate could be increased by up to 123% under 4 hours in demand-driven operation, without significant deterioration in performance. A model based on kinetic analysis was developed to help align demand-driven operation with the grid. The findings suggest significant opportunities for UASBs to provide positive and negative balance to the power grid.

Two-phase anaerobic digestion for enhanced valorisation of whiskey distillery by-products.

The valorisation of whiskey by-products was assessed and compared in three anaerobic digestion systems. The systems produced similar methane yields, which could satisfy up to 44% of the thermal energy demand at a distillery. Using methane generated from by-products would displace natural gas and reduce the distillery's carbon footprint. Two-phase systems had higher methane content (ca. 75 %vol) than the traditional system (54 %vol) and furthermore, unlocked opportunities for volatile fatty acid production. The potential value that could be generated from the extraction of butyric acid and caproic acid was approximately €6.76 million for a 50 million litre alcohol facility (0.14 € per litre of whiskey). All three anaerobic digestion systems showed the potential to valorise whiskey by-products and convert current linear distillery production processes into circular repurpose and reuse production processes.

A taxometric investigation of the latent structure of eating disorders.

The present study examined the latent structure of eating disorder symptoms in a large sample of patients with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa restricting type, anorexia nervosa binge eating/purging type, and bulimia nervosa (n=3747). Three taxometric procedures (MAXimum EIGenvalue (MAXEIG), Mean Above Minus Below A (MAMBAC), and Latent-Mode Factor Analysis (L-Mode)) were applied to self-reported symptoms of bulimia, drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, as well as body mass index. Taxometric analysis among patients with the restricting and binge eating/purging subtype of anorexia and those with bulimia nervosa supported a dimensional latent structure of eating disorder symptoms. Taxometric analysis also revealed a dimensional latent structure of eating disorder symptoms among patients with the restricting and binge eating/purging subtype of anorexia suggesting that the two anorexia subtypes may not represent discrete categories. These findings suggest that the diagnosis and assessment of eating disorder symptoms should be conceptualized from a dimensional framework.

Mathematical determination of cell population doubling times for multiple cell lines.

Cell cycle times are vital parameters in cancer research, and short cell cycle times are often related to poor survival of cancer patients. A method for experimental estimation of cell cycle times, or doubling times of cultured cancer cell populations, based on addition of paclitaxel (an inhibitor of cell division) has been proposed in literature. We use a mathematical model to investigate relationships between essential parameters of the cell division cycle following inhibition of cell division. The reduction in the number of cells engaged in DNA replication reaches a plateau as the concentration of paclitaxel is increased; this can be determined experimentally. From our model we have derived a plateau log reduction formula for proliferating cells and established that there are linear relationships between the plateau log reduction values and the reciprocal of doubling times (i.e. growth rates of the populations). We have therefore provided theoretical justification of an important experimental technique to determine cell doubling times. Furthermore, we have applied Monte Carlo experiments to justify the suggested linear relationships used to estimate doubling time from 5-day cell culture assays. We show that our results are applicable to cancer cell populations with cell loss present.