Patterns of abundance across geographical ranges as a predictor for responses to climate change: Evidence from UK rocky shores

Aim: Understanding patterns in the abundance of species across thermal ranges can give useful insights into the potential impacts of climate change. The abundant-centre hypothesis suggests that species will reach peak abundance at the centre of their thermal range where conditions are optimal, but evidence in support of this hypothesis is mixed and limited in geographical and taxonomic scope. We tested the applicability of the abundant-centre hypothesis across a range of intertidal organisms using a large, citizen science-generated data set. Location: UK. Methods: Species' abundance records were matched with their location within their thermal range. Patterns in abundance distribution for individual species, and across aggregated species abundances, were analysed using Kruskal–Wallis tests and quantile general additive models. Results: Individually, invertebrate species showed increasing abundances in the cooler half of the thermal range and decreasing abundances in the warmer half of the thermal range. The overall shape for aggregated invertebrate species abundances reflected a broad peak, with a cool-skewed maximum abundance. Algal species showed little evidence for an abundant-centre distribution individually, but overall the aggregated species abundances suggested a hump-backed abundance distribution

Publisher Connection: Export-Led Growth in the UAE: Multivariate Causality Between Primary Exports, Manufactured Exports and Economic Growth

The principal question that this research addresses is the validity of the Export-Led Growth hypothesis (ELG) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the period 1981–2012, focusing on the causality between primary exports, manufactured exports and economic growth. Unit root tests are applied to examine the time-series properties of the variables, while the Johansen cointegration test is performed to confirm or not the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables. Moreover, the multivariate Granger causality test and a modified version of Wald test are applied to examine the direction of the short-run and long-run causality respectively. The cointegration analysis reveals that manufactured exports contribute more to economic growth than primary exports in the long-run. In addition, this research provides evidence to support a bi-directional causality between manufactured exports and economic growth in the short-run, while the Growth-Led Exports (GLE) hypothesis is valid in the long-run for UAE

Assessment of Total Mercury (HgT) in Sediments and Biota of Indian Sundarban Wetland and Adjacent Coastal Regions

The distribution of total mercury (HgT) in surface sediments (0-5 cm; n = 12; particle size < 63 μm) and representative biota (benthic polychaetes, bivalve mollusks and finfish) were observed in the Sundarban mangrove wetland and adjacent regions nearby the Indian Ganges river estuary. Relatively low concentrations of HgT were measured in sediments ranging from 0.008 μg g-1 to 0.056 μg g-1. There exist sharp differences in HgT accumulation in biota which revealed the following decreasing trend: polychaetes > fish > bivalve mollusks. These variations are related to a number of intrinsic (size, age and sex) and extrinsic (pH and salinity) factors together with the accumulation mechanisms intrinsic to each species for mercury. An organ-specific HgT accumulation in bivalve mollusks was evidenced with the following decreasing order: visceral mass > siphon > adductor muscle > mantle > gill, with a maximum value of 0.42 μg g-1 in Sanguinolaria acuminata. Fishes showed wide efficiency in HgT accumulation in dorsal muscle, and of most concern, one species presented HgT above 0.05 μg g-1 levels, the prescribed limit established by European Union. The benthic polychaetes showed extreme variations of HgT in their body tissues, with the maximum value of 0.603 μg g-1 in Dendronereis heteropoda which is above the European Union threshold value. The authors strongly recommend further monitoring to investigate the source of toxic metals, including Hg which may originate from diverse potential sources such as industrial discharges, agricultural runoff and sewage sludge from upstream of the Ganges River Estuary.Commonwealth Scholarship Commissio

Management of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis in conflict-affected areas: The case of Iraq.

Since December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) has encouraged National Tuberculosis Programs to deprioritize the use of injectable-containing regimens and roll-out all-oral bedaquiline-containing regimens for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) treatment. Consequently, Iraq gradually replaced the injectable-containing regimen with an all-oral regimen, including bedaquiline. To assess treatment enrolment and outcomes of both regimens during a transitioning phase in Iraq, where health system services are recovering from decades of war, we conducted a nationwide retrospective cohort study using routinely collected programmatic data for patients enrolled between 2019-2021. We describe treatment enrolment and use logistic regression to identify predictors of unfavorable treatment outcomes (failure, death, or lost to follow-up), including regimen type. Nationwide, a total of 301 RR-TB patients started treatment, of whom 167 concluded treatment. The proportion of patients enrolled on the all-oral regimen increased from 53.2% (50/94) in 2020, to 75.5% (80/106) in 2021. Successful treatment was achieved in 82.1% (32/39) and 63.3% (81/128), for all-oral and injectable-containing regimens respectively. Moreover, the proportion of lost to follow-up was lower among those treated with the all-oral versus the long injectable-containing regimen; respectively 2.6% (1/39) versus 17.9% (23/128: p = 0.02). Unfavorable treatment outcome was associated with male gender (aOR 2.12, 95%CI:1.02-4.43) and age <15 years (vs 30-49 years, aOR 5.80, 95%CI:1.30-25.86). Regimen type (aOR 2.37, 95%CI: 0.91-6.13) was not significantly associated with having an unfavorable treatment outcome. In Iraq, the use of bedaquiline-containing all-oral regimen resulted in a high treatment success and reduced lost to follow-up

Treatment outcomes of RR-TB patients who completed either the injectable-containing or the all-oral regimen before 31 May 2022 in Iraq.

Treatment outcomes of RR-TB patients who completed either the injectable-containing or the all-oral regimen before 31 May 2022 in Iraq.</p

Composition, indications, and duration of both the all-oral and injectable-containing regimens in Iraq between 2019–2021.

Composition, indications, and duration of both the all-oral and injectable-containing regimens in Iraq between 2019–2021.</p

Baseline characteristics of RR-TB patients enrolled on all-oral and injectable-containing regimen between 2019–2021 in Iraq.

Baseline characteristics of RR-TB patients enrolled on all-oral and injectable-containing regimen between 2019–2021 in Iraq.</p