Peatlands and Climate Change

This is the author's manuscript version and this version is free to view and download for personal use only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works.This material is forthcoming in Peatland Restoration and Ecosystem Services Science, Policy and Practice, 9781107619708, © Cambridge University PressThe fundamental reason for the presence of peatlands is a positive balance between plant production and decomposition. Organic matter accumulates in these systems because prolonged waterlogged conditions result in soil anoxia (i.e., exclusion of oxygen), and under these conditions decomposition rates can be lower than those of primary production. Climate therefore plays an important role in peat accumulation, both directly by affecting productivity and decomposition processes, and indirectly through its effects on hydrology/water balance and vegetation (for a summary, refer to Yu, Beilman & Jones 2009). Climate provides broad-scale constraints or controls on peatland extent, types and vegetation, and ultimately, ecosystem functioning, carbon accumulation, greenhouse gas exchange and all of the other ecosystem services that peatlands provide. Peatlands can play a vital role in helping society mitigate and adapt to climate change, because of their carbon and water regulating functions, while at the same time, the climate sensitivity of peatlands makes them potentially vulnerable to future global warming and changes in spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation, especially if they are in a degraded state. Climate change is likely to alter the hydrology and soil temperature of peatlands, with far- reaching consequences for their biodiversity, ecology and biogeochemistry. Their involvement in the global carbon cycle will also be affected, with the possibility of drier conditions allowing peatland erosion and increases in CO2 emissions that would result in a positive feedback to climate change (Turetsky 2010). This highlights all the more the need for restoration to ensure peatlands are resilient to change so that they continue to deliver ecosystem services for human well-being. This chapter describes the interactions between climate and peatlands, in three sections. The first section explains how present climate influences peatlands, by documenting how climate limits peatland geographical extent globally, and how bioclimatic envelope models can predict peatland extent. We indicate how each type of peatland is linked to a specific climate range, and introduce the concept of ecosystem function in relation to climate. The second section looks into the past. It describes how peat preserves a record of past climates and environmental conditions that can be deciphered to reveal the history of peatland vegetation, hydrology and carbon accumulation changes in relation to past changes in climate. We highlight lessons that can be learned from the palaeorecord preserved in peat. The final section discusses the potential effects of present and future climate change on peatlands, their extent, carbon accumulation rates, fire frequency, water table and greenhouse gas exchanges. We also consider how increases in sea level and CO2 concentration, and decreases in the extent of permafrost, are likely to affect peatlands

Effects of mental health training on capacity, willingness and engagement in peer-to-peer support in rural New South Wales

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Rural Australians experience significant barriers in accessing mental health services, some of which may be overcome by increasing mental health literacy in rural communities. This paper evaluates Mental Health Support Skills (MHSS), short training courses developed by the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP). MHSS was designed to build the capacity of community members and gatekeepers to identify people with mental health concerns and link them to appropriate resources or services. METHODS: Program data from April 2017 to March 2020 were analysed to assess the reach and outcomes of MHSS training. Training feedback was collected through a post‐training survey, completed directly after courses, and a follow‐up survey two months after training. An app used by RAMHP coordinators (the trainers) recorded the geographic and demographic reach of courses. RESULTS: MHSS was provided to 10,208 residents across rural New South Wales. Survey participation was 49% (n = 4,985) for the post‐training survey and 6% (n = 571), for the follow‐up survey, two months post‐training. The training was well‐received and increased the mental health understanding and willingness to assist others of most respondents (91%‐95%). Follow‐up survey respondents applied learnings to assist others; 53% (n = 301) asked a total of 2,252 people about their mental health in the two months following training. Those in clinical roles asked a median of 6 people about their mental health, compared to 3 for those in nonclinical roles. Most follow‐up survey respondents (59%, n = 339) reported doing more to look after their own mental health in the two months after training. CONCLUSION: These results are encouraging as they suggest that short‐form mental health training can be an effective tool to address poorer mental health outcomes for rural residents by improving the ability of participants to help themselves and the people around them. SO WHAT? Serious consideration should be given to short mental health courses, such as MHSS, to increase literacy and connection to services, especially in rural areas

Vitamin K Supplementation in Postmenopausal Women with Osteopenia (ECKO Trial): A Randomized Controlled Trial

Angela Cheung and colleagues investigate whether vitamin K1 can prevent bone loss among postmenopausal women with osteopenia

Measurement, Monitoring, and Evaluation of State Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Dual Eligible Individuals: Massachusetts Evaluation Design Plan.

CMS contracted with RTI International to monitor the implementation of all State demonstrations under the Financial Alignment Initiative, and to evaluate their impact on beneficiary experience, quality, utilization, and cost. The evaluation includes an aggregate evaluation and State-specific evaluations. This report describes the State-specific Evaluation Plan for the Massachusetts demonstration as of December 16, 2013. The evaluation activities may be revised if modifications are made to either the Massachusetts demonstration or to the activities described in the Aggregate Evaluation Plan (Walsh et al., 2013). Although this document will not be revised to address all changes that may occur, the annual and final evaluation reports will note areas where the evaluation as executed differs from this evaluation plan. The goals of the evaluation are to monitor demonstration implementation, evaluate the impact of the demonstration on the beneficiary experience, monitor unintended consequences, and monitor and evaluate the demonstration’s impact on a range of outcomes for the eligible population as a whole and for subpopulations (e.g., people with mental illness and/or substance use disorders and long-term services and supports (LTSS) recipients)

Antiretroviral Therapy for Prevention of HIV Infection: New Clues From an Animal Model

The authors discuss the implications of a new study in macaques of antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis regimens

Identification and characterization of the nano-sized vesicles released by muscle cells

Several cell types secrete small membranous vesicles that contain cell-specific collections of proteins, lipids, and genetic material. The function of these vesicles is to allow cell-to-cell signaling and the horizontal transfer of their cargo molecules. Here, we demonstrate that muscle cells secrete nano-sized vesicles and that their release increases during muscle differentiation. Analysis of these nanovesicles allowed us to characterize them as exosome-like particles and to define the potential role of the multifunctional protein Alix in their biogenesis

Wrappings of power: a woman’s burial in cattle hide at Langwell Farm, Strath Oykel

A well-preserved burial, discovered during peat clearing on Langwell Farm in Strath Oykel, Easter Ross, consisted of a stone cist that held the skeleton of a woman who had died in 2200–1960 cal BC. Although the cist contents were disturbed and partly removed before archaeological investigation took place, the burial rite can be interpreted to some extent. The woman, who died in her late 20s, had been wrapped in brown cattle hide, and wooden and woven objects were placed with her body. Periodic waterlogging created conditions that allowed the rare, partial preservation of the organic materials. Analysis of bone histology indicated that decay of the human remains had been arrested, either by deliberate mummification or waterlogging. The cist had been set into a low knoll on the valley floor and it may have been covered with a low cairn or barrow. This spot had been the site of a fire several hundred years earlier, and it may have been a node on a cross-country route linking east and west coasts in the Early Bronze Age. The use of animal hide suggests the creation and use of particular identities, linking the dead to ancestors and to powerful spiritual properties attributed to the natural world. The work was carried out for Historic Scotland under the Human Remains Call-off Contract

Short course daily prednisolone therapy during an upper respiratory tract infection in children with relapsing steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (PREDNOS 2):protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Relapses of childhood steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) are treated with a 4- to 8-week course of high-dose oral prednisolone, which may be associated with significant adverse effects. There is a clear association between upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) and relapse development. Previous studies in developing nations have suggested that introducing a 5- to 7-day course of daily prednisolone during an URTI may prevent a relapse developing and the need for a treatment course of high-dose prednisolone. The aim of PREDNOS 2 is to evaluate the effectiveness of a 6-day course of daily prednisolone therapy during an URTI in reducing the development of a subsequent relapse in a developed nation.METHODS/DESIGN: The subjects will be 300 children with relapsing SSNS (≥2 relapses in preceding year), who will be randomised to receive either a 6-day course of daily prednisolone or no change to their current therapy (with the use of placebo to double blind) each time they develop an URTI over 12 months. A strict definition for URTI will be used. Subjects will be reviewed at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months to capture data regarding relapse history, ongoing therapy and adverse effect profile, including behavioural problems and quality of life. A formal health economic analysis will also be performed. The primary end point of the study will be the incidence of URTI-related relapse (3 days of Albustix +++) following the first infection during the 12-month follow-up period. DNA and RNA samples will be collected to identify a potential genetic cause for the disease. Subjects will be recruited from over 100 UK centres with the assistance of the Medicines for Children Research Network. PREDNOS 2 is funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme (11/129/261).DISCUSSION: We propose that PREDNOS 2 will be a pivotal study that will inform the future standard of care for children with SSNS. If it is possible to reduce the disease relapse rate effectively and safely, this will reduce the morbidity and cost associated with drug treatment, notwithstanding hospital admission and parental absence from employment.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials (ISRCTN10900733).</p

Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group Guidance Paper 5: Reporting guidelines for qualitative, implementation and process evaluation evidence syntheses

OBJECTIVE: To outline contemporary and novel developments for presentation and reporting of syntheses of qualitative, implementation and process evaluation evidence, and provide recommendations for use of reporting guidelines. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: An overview of reporting guidelines for qualitative, implementation and process evaluation evidence syntheses drawing on current international literature and the collective expert knowledge of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Several reporting guidelines exist that can be used or adapted to report syntheses of qualitative, implementation and process evaluation evidence. Methods to develop individual guidance varied. The use of a relevant reporting guideline can enhance the transparency, consistency and quality of reporting. Guidelines exist that are: generic; method specific; and for particular aspects of the reviewing process eg searching. Caution is expressed over the potential for reporting guidelines to produce a mechanistic approach moving the focus away from the content and towards the procedural aspects of the review. The use of a reporting guideline is recommended and a five-step decision flowchart to guide the choice of reporting guideline is provided. Gaps remain in method specific reporting guidelines such as mixed-study, implementation and process evaluation evidence syntheses