Restoration of linear disturbances from oil-and-gas exploration in boreal landscapes: How can network models help?

In western Canada, decades of oil-and-gas exploration have fragmented boreal landscapes with a dense network of linear forest disturbances (seismic lines). These seismic lines are implicated in the decline in wildlife populations that are adapted to function in unfragmented forest landscapes. In particular, anthropogenic disturbances have led to a decline of woodland caribou populations due to increasing predator access to core caribou habitat. Restoration of seismic lines aims to reduce the landscape fragmentation and stop the decline of caribou populations. However, planning restoration in complex landscapes can be challenging because it must account for a multitude of diverse aspects. To assist with restoration planning, we present a spatial network optimization approach that selects restoration locations in a fragmented landscape while addressing key environmental and logistical constraints. We applied the model to develop restoration scenarios in the Redrock-Prairie Creek caribou range in northwestern Alberta, Canada, which includes a combination of caribou habitat and active oil-and-gas and timber extraction areas. Our study applies network optimization at two distinct scales to address both the broad-scale restoration policy planning and project-level constraints at the level of individual forest sites. We first delineated a contiguous set of coarse-scale regions where restoration is most cost-effective and used this solution to solve a fine-scale network optimization model that addresses environmental and logistical planning constraints at the level of forest patches. Our two-tiered approach helps address the challenges of fine-scale spatial optimization of restoration activities. An additional coarse-scale optimization step finds a feasible starting solution for the fine-scale restoration problem, which serves to reduce the time to find an optimal solution. The added coarse-scale spatial constraints also make the fine-scale restoration solution align with the coarse-scale landscape features, which helps address the broad-scale restoration policies. The approach is generalizable and applicable to assist restoration planning in other regions fragmented by oil-and-gas activities.

The Effectiveness of Student-Led Musculoskeletal and Vascular Ultrasound Workshops at a Single Institution: A Retrospective Survey Analysis.

Introduction Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a rapidly evolving field of diagnostic medicine as its low cost, portability, and versatility have made handheld ultrasound (US) probes an invaluable tool for many modern physicians. Despite US's benefits as a bedside evaluative tool, many medical schools have not integrated POCUS into their pre-clerkship medical education due to a lack of equipment and faculty. The first objective of our study was to determine whether student tutors (STs) would be effective resources to teach musculoskeletal (MSK) and vascular US to preclinical medical students. The second objective of our study was to determine whether students who previously attended ST-run MSK US workshops perform better in vascular US than those who did not. Methods Six POCUS workshops were led by STs after approval from experienced US faculty. These included US workshops on gastrointestinal structures, forearm structures, joint structures, basic echocardiography, and US-guided IV access. We collected data from two of our six workshops. We developed surveys to gauge the confidence and ability of students to perform US after an MSK workshop and US-guided IV access workshop led by STs. We also measured students' US abilities and collected student feedback after our US-guided IV access workshop. We evaluated students' US competency in US-guided IV access via their ability to correctly position the US probe, angle the needle of insertion, move the probe with the needle, and access the vein based on the accuracy of the movements. We divided student results into two groups: students who previously attended the MSK workshop before attending the US-guided IV access workshop and students who did not attend the MSK workshop before attending the US-guided IV access workshop. We used averages, frequencies, and two-tailed t-tests to analyze the survey responses and US-guided IV access skill assessments. Results Fifty percent of first- and second-year surveyed students "agreed," and 32.4% "strongly agreed" that they felt confident using US after an ST-run MSK workshop. About 29.4% of surveyed students "agreed" and 41.2% "strongly agreed" that they felt comfortable explaining basic US concepts, such as proper probe positioning and echogenicity. The group of students who attended the MSK workshop prior to the peripheral IV workshop scored similarly to the students who did not attend the MSK workshop (14.33±1.03 versus 14.20±0.84 points). Both groups of students had an average of over 94% accuracy in technique, positioning, angling, moving the US probe, and achieving US-guided venous access after being taught by STs. Qualitative surveying noted positive student feedback, such as "Teacher was great at guiding us through the procedure." Survey responses also included suggestions on adding and diversifying equipment, such as "[It would be useful to have a] different type of needle to see the difference on ultrasound." Conclusion Based on the high percentages of accuracy and confidence, we found that STs were effective resources to teach MSK and vascular POCUS and that students who attended previous MSK ST-run US workshops had stronger vascular US ability over time compared to those who did not. Our data support the use of STs as US educational resources, especially in institutions without an existing pre-clerkship US curriculum and limited US resources.

Natural climate solutions for Canada.

Alongside the steep reductions needed in fossil fuel emissions, natural climate solutions (NCS) represent readily deployable options that can contribute to Canada's goals for emission reductions. We estimate the mitigation potential of 24 NCS related to the protection, management, and restoration of natural systems that can also deliver numerous co-benefits, such as enhanced soil productivity, clean air and water, and biodiversity conservation. NCS can provide up to 78.2 (41.0 to 115.1) Tg CO2e/year (95% CI) of mitigation annually in 2030 and 394.4 (173.2 to 612.4) Tg CO2e cumulatively between 2021 and 2030, with 34% available at ≤CAD 50/Mg CO2e. Avoided conversion of grassland, avoided peatland disturbance, cover crops, and improved forest management offer the largest mitigation opportunities. The mitigation identified here represents an important potential contribution to the Paris Agreement, such that NCS combined with existing mitigation plans could help Canada to meet or exceed its climate goals.

There's a storm a-coming: Ecological resilience and resistance to extreme weather events.

Extreme weather events (EWEs) are expected to increase in stochasticity, frequency, and intensity due to climate change. Documented effects of EWEs, such as droughts, hurricanes, and temperature extremes, range from shifting community stable states to species extirpations. To date, little attention has been paid to how populations resist and/or recover from EWEs through compensatory (behavioral, demographic, or physiological) mechanisms; limiting the capacity to predict species responses to future changes in EWEs. Here, we systematically reviewed the global variation in species' demographic responses, resistance to, and recovery from EWEs across weather types, species, and biogeographic regions. Through a literature review and meta-analysis, we tested the prediction that population abundance and probability of persistence will decrease in populations after an EWE and how compensation affects that probability. Across 524 species population responses to EWEs reviewed (27 articles), we noted large variation in responses, such that, on average, the effect of EWEs on population demographics was not negative as predicted. The majority of species populations (80.4%) demonstrated compensatory mechanisms during events to reduce their deleterious effects. However, for populations that were negatively impacted, the demographic consequences were severe. Nearly 20% of the populations monitored experienced declines of over 50% after an EWE, and 6.8% of populations were extirpated. Population declines were reflected in a reduction in survival. Further, resilience was not common, as 80.0% of populations that declined did not recover to before EWE levels while monitored. However, average monitoring time was only two years with over a quarter of studies tracking recovery for less than the study species generation time. We conclude that EWEs have positive and negative impacts on species demography, and this varies by taxa. Species population recovery over short-time intervals is rare, but long-term studies are required to accurately assess species resilience to current and future events.

Origin and functional heterogeneity of fibroblasts.

The inherent plasticity and resiliency of fibroblasts make this cell type a conventional tool for basic research. But where do they come from, are all fibroblasts the same, and how do they function in disease? The first fibroblast lineages in mammalian development emerge from the ooze of primary mesenchyme during gastrulation. They are cells that efficiently create and negotiate the extracellular matrix of the mesoderm in order to migrate and meet their developmental fate. Mature fibroblasts in epithelial tissues live in the interstitial spaces between basement membranes that spatially delimit complex organ structures. While the function of resident fibroblasts in healthy tissues is largely conjecture, the accumulation of fibroblasts in pathologic lesions offers insight into biologic mechanisms that control their function; fibroblasts are poised to coordinate fibrogenesis in tissue injury, neoplasia, and aging. Here, we examine the developmental origin and plasticity of fibroblasts, their molecular and functional definitions, the epigenetic control underlying their identity and activation, and the evolution of their immune regulatory functions. These topics are reviewed through the lens of fate mapping using genetically engineered mouse models and from the perspective of single-cell RNA sequencing. Recent observations suggest dynamic and heterogeneous functions for fibroblasts that underscore their complex molecular signatures and utility in injured tissues.

Continuity With Patients, Preceptors, and Peers Improves Primary Care Training: A Randomized Medical Education Trial.

PURPOSE: Infusing continuity of care into medical student clerkships may accelerate professional development, preserve patient-centered attitudes, and improve primary care training. However, prospective, randomized studies of longitudinal curricula are lacking. METHOD: All entering Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine students in 2015 and 2016 were randomized to the Education Centered Medical Home (ECMH), a 4-year, team-based primary care clerkship; or a mentored individual preceptorship (IP) for 2 years followed by a traditional 4-week primary care clerkship. Students were surveyed 4 times (baseline, M1, M2, and M3 year [through 2018]); surveys included the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI); the Communication, Curriculum, and Culture (C3) survey assessing the hidden curriculum; and the Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams (ATHCT) scale. The authors analyzed results using an intent-to-treat approach. RESULTS: Three hundred twenty-nine students were randomized; 316 (96%) participated in surveys. Seventy percent of all respondents would recommend the ECMH to incoming first-year students. ECMH students reported a more positive learning environment (overall quality, 4.4 ECMH vs 4.0 IP, P < .001), greater team-centered attitudes (ATHCT scale, 3.2 vs 3.0, P = .007), less exposure to negative aspects of the hidden curriculum (C3 scale, 4.6 vs 4.3, P < .001), and comparable medical knowledge acquisition. ECMH students established more continuity relationships with patients (2.2 vs 0.3, P < .001) and reported significantly higher professional efficacy (MBI-PE, 4.1 vs 3.9, P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: In this randomized medical education trial, the ECMH provided superior primary care training across multiple outcomes compared with a traditional clerkship-based model, including improved professional efficacy.

Functional response of wolves to human development across boreal North America.

AIM: The influence of humans on large carnivores, including wolves, is a worldwide conservation concern. In addition, human-caused changes in carnivore density and distribution might have impacts on prey and, indirectly, on vegetation. We therefore tested wolf responses to infrastructure related to natural resource development (i.e., human footprint). LOCATION: Our study provides one of the most extensive assessments of how predators like wolves select habitat in response to various degrees of footprint across boreal ecosystems encompassing over a million square kilometers of Canada. METHODS: We deployed GPS-collars on 172 wolves, monitored movements and used a generalized functional response (GFR) model of resource selection. A functional response in habitat selection occurs when selection varies as a function of the availability of that habitat. GFRs can clarify how human-induced habitat changes are influencing wildlife across large, diverse landscapes. RESULTS: Wolves displayed a functional response to footprint. Wolves were more likely to select forest harvest cutblocks in regions with higher cutblock density (i.e., a positive functional response to high-quality habitats for ungulate prey) and to select for higher road density in regions where road density was high (i.e., a positive functional response to human-created travel routes). Wolves were more likely to use cutblocks in habitats with low road densities, and more likely to use roads in habitats with low cutblock densities, except in winter when wolves were more likely to use roads regardless of cutblock density. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: These interactions suggest that wolves trade-off among human-impacted habitats, and adaptively switch from using roads to facilitate movement (while also risking encounters with humans), to using cutblocks that may have higher ungulate densities. We recommend that conservation managers consider the contextual and interacting effects of footprints when assessing impacts on carnivores. These effects likely have indirect impacts on ecosystems too, including on prey species.

Quantifying fear effects on prey demography in nature.

In recent years, it has been argued that the effect of predator fear exacts a greater demographic toll on prey populations than the direct killing of prey. However, efforts to quantify the effects of fear have primarily relied on experiments that replace predators with predator cues. Interpretation of these experiments must consider two important caveats: (1) the magnitude of experimenter-induced predator cues may not be realistically comparable to those of the prey's natural sensory environment, and (2) given functional predators are removed from the treatments, the fear effect is measured in the absence of any consumptive effects, a situation which never occurs in nature. We contend that demographic consequences of fear in natural populations may have been overestimated because the intensity of predator cues applied by experimenters in the majority of studies has been unnaturally high, in some instances rarely occurring in nature without consumption. Furthermore, the removal of consumption from the treatments creates the potential situation that individual prey in poor condition (those most likely to contribute strongly to the observed fear effects via starvation or reduced reproductive output) may have been consumed by predators in nature prior to the expression of fear effects, thus confounding consumptive and fear effects. Here, we describe an alternative treatment design that does not utilize predator cues, and in so doing, better quantifies the demographic effect of fear on wild populations. This treatment substitutes the traditional cue experiment where consumptive effects are eliminated and fear is simulated with a design where fear is removed and consumptive effects are simulated through the experimental removal of prey. Comparison to a natural population would give a more robust estimate of the effect of fear in the presence of consumption on the demographic variable of interest. This approach represents a critical advance in quantifying the mechanistic pathways through which predation structures ecological communities. Discussing the merits of both treatments will motivate researchers to go beyond simply describing the existence of fear effects and focus on testing their true magnitude in wild populations and natural communities.

S100A4 Is a Biomarker and Regulator of Glioma Stem Cells That Is Critical for Mesenchymal Transition in Glioblastoma.

Glioma stem cells (GSC) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) are strongly associated with therapy resistance and tumor recurrence, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here, we show that S100A4 is a novel biomarker of GSCs. S100A4+ cells in gliomas are enriched with cancer cells that have tumor-initiating and sphere-forming abilities, with the majority located in perivascular niches where GSCs are found. Selective ablation of S100A4-expressing cells was sufficient to block tumor growth in vitro and in vivo We also identified S100A4 as a critical regulator of GSC self-renewal in mouse and patient-derived glioma tumorspheres. In contrast with previous reports of S100A4 as a reporter of EMT, we discovered that S100A4 is an upstream regulator of the master EMT regulators SNAIL2 and ZEB along with other mesenchymal transition regulators in glioblastoma. Overall, our results establish S100A4 as a central node in a molecular network that controls stemness and EMT in glioblastoma, suggesting S100A4 as a candidate therapeutic target. Cancer Res; 77(19); 5360-73. ©2017 AACR.

Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in diabetic adult out-patients in Tanzania.

Despite the increasing number of patients with Diabetes Mellitus in sub-Saharan Africa, the magnitude of chronic kidney disease among diabetics has not been well established. A study done by Janmohamed et al. found chronic kidney disease in 83.7 % of diabetics which is relatively higher than the prevalence reported elsewhere. However this study was conducted in schistosoma endemic area along the shores of Lake Victoria. Schistosomiasis has been reported to cause a range of renal diseases. Interpretation of these findings should therefore take into account the possibility of schistosomiasis as a possible confounder.

First Ecological Study of the Bawean Warty Pig (Sus blouchi), One of the Rarest Pigs on Earth.

The Bawean warty pig (Sus blouchi) is an endemic pig species confined to the 192 km(2) large island of Bawean in the Java Sea, Indonesia. Due to a lack of quantitative ecological research, understanding of natural history and conservation requirements have so far been based solely on anecdotal information from interviews with local people and study of captive and museum specimens. In this study we provide the first assessment of population and habitat preferences for S. blouchi by using camera trapping. From the 4th of November 2014 to January 8th 2015, we placed camera traps at 100 locations in the forested protected areas on Bawean. In 690.31 camera days (16567.45 hours) we captured 92 independent videos showing S. blouchi. Variation in S. blouchi trapping rates with cumulative trap effort stabilized after 500 camera days. An important outcome is that, in contrast to the suggestion of previous assessments, only S. blouchi was detected and no S. scrofa was found, which excludes hybridization threats. We fitted a Random Encounter Model, which does not require the identification of individual animals, to our camera-trapping data and estimated 172-377 individuals to be present on the island. Activity patterns and habitat data indicate that S. blouchi is mainly nocturnal and prefers community forests and areas near forest borders. Next to this, we found a positive relationship between S. blouchi occupancy, distance to nearest border, litter depth and tree density in the highest ranking occupancy models. Although these relationships proved non-significant based on model averaging, their presence in the top ranking models suggests that these covariables do play a role in predicting S. blouchi occurrence on Bawean. The estimated amount of sites occupied reached 58%. Based on our results, especially the estimation of the population size and area of occupancy, we determine that the species is Endangered according to the IUCN/SSC Red List criteria.

Influence of In-Situ Oil Sands Development on Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) Movement.

In-situ oil sands development (ISD) involves a network of facilities, wells, roads and pipelines to extract and transport subsurface bitumen. This technology is rapidly expanding and there is uncertainty whether ISDs restrict animal movement, leading to increased extinction probabilities for some wide-ranging species. Here we test for effects of simulated future (i.e., 50 years from now) and current ISDs on simulated movements of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus), a threatened species across North America. In simulations of future scenarios, we varied the spacing and permeability of ISDs and the presence/absence of protected areas. Permeability was measured as the number of times simulated caribou crossed ISDs with different levels of modelled permeability. We estimated the effects of these factors on caribou step length and annual home range size, key metrics of small and large spatiotemporal scales of movement, respectively. Current caribou crossings of above-ground pipeline features of ISDs were measured using camera traps and compared to expected caribou crossing rates based on present-day caribou movement simulations. Current crossing rates were evaluated within the context of predicted future crossing success rates necessary to maintain caribou step lengths and home ranges. With few exceptions, permeability across ISDs was the main factor affecting caribou movement, more so than spacing between developments or the presence of protected areas. However, minimal permeability (crossing rates of c. 15% to 60%, relative to an undisturbed site was needed to maintain existing home range size and step lengths. The effect of permeability on home range size and step length was non-linear, suggesting that small increases in permeability would provide a disproportionately greater benefit to caribou movement. Our predictions demonstrate that maintaining permeability across ISDs is more important than spacing between leases or including protected areas, and thus provides clear direction for mitigation efforts for features that will exist on the landscape for decades to come.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling determines kidney size.

Kidney size adaptively increases as mammals grow and in response to the loss of 1 kidney. It is not clear how kidneys size themselves or if the processes that adapt kidney mass to lean body mass also mediate renal hypertrophy following unilateral nephrectomy (UNX). Here, we demonstrated that mice harboring a proximal tubule-specific deletion of Pten (Pten(ptKO)) have greatly enlarged kidneys as the result of persistent activation of the class I PI3K/mTORC2/AKT pathway and an increase of the antiproliferative signals p21(Cip1/WAF) and p27(Kip1). Administration of rapamycin to Pten(ptKO) mice diminished hypertrophy. Proximal tubule-specific deletion of Egfr in Pten(ptKO) mice also attenuated class I PI3K/mTORC2/AKT signaling and reduced the size of enlarged kidneys. In Pten(ptKO) mice, UNX further increased mTORC1 activation and hypertrophy in the remaining kidney; however, mTORC2-dependent AKT phosphorylation did not increase further in the remaining kidney of Pten(ptKO) mice, nor was it induced in the remaining kidney of WT mice. After UNX, renal blood flow and amino acid delivery to the remaining kidney rose abruptly, followed by increased amino acid content and activation of a class III PI3K/mTORC1/S6K1 pathway. Thus, our findings demonstrate context-dependent roles for EGFR-modulated class I PI3K/mTORC2/AKT signaling in the normal adaptation of kidney size and PTEN-independent, nutrient-dependent class III PI3K/mTORC1/S6K1 signaling in the compensatory enlargement of the remaining kidney following UNX.