Personal traits predict conservationists’ optimism about outcomes for nature

In the face of unprecedented biodiversity loss, the belief that conservation goals can be met could play an important role in ensuring they are fulfilled. We asked conservationists how optimistic they felt about key biodiversity outcomes over the next 10 years; 2341 people familiar with conservation in 144 countries responded. Respondents expressed optimism that enabling conditions for conservation would improve but felt pressures would continue, and the state of biodiversity was unlikely to get better. Respondents with greater general optimism about life, at early-career stages, and working in practice and policy (compared to academia) reported higher conservation optimism. But most of our biodiversity and conservation status indicators were not associated with conservation optimism. Unbounded optimism without appropriate action would be misguided in the face of growing threats to biodiversity. However, supporting those struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel could help sustain efforts to overcome these threats

Three Key considerations for biodiversity conservation in multilateral agreements

It is nearly three decades since the world recognized the need for a global multilateral treaty aiming to address accelerating biodiversity loss. However, biodiversity continues to decline at a concerning rate. Drawing on lessons from the implementation of the current strategic plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2010 Aichi Targets, we highlight three interlinked core areas, which require attention and improvement in the development of the post‐2020 Biodiversity Framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity. They are: (1) developing robust theories of change which define agreed, adaptive plans for achieving targets; (2) using models to evaluate assumptions and effectiveness of different plans and targets; and (3) identifying the common but differentiated responsibilities of different actors/states/countries within these plans. We demonstrate how future multilateral agreements must not focus only on what needs to be done but also on how it should be done, using measurable steps, which make sense at the scales at which biodiversity change happens

Transposable Elements Are Co-opted as Oncogenic Regulatory Elements by Lineage-Specific Transcription Factors in Prostate Cancer

Transposable elements hold regulatory functions that impact cell fate determination by controlling gene expression. However, little is known about the transcriptional machinery engaged at transposable elements in pluripotent and mature versus oncogenic cell states. Through positional analysis over repetitive DNA sequences of H3K27ac chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing data from 32 normal cell states, we report pluripotent/stem and mature cell state–specific “regulatory transposable elements.” Pluripotent/stem elements are binding sites for pluripotency factors (e.g., NANOG, SOX2, OCT4). Mature cell elements are docking sites for lineage-specific transcription factors, including AR and FOXA1 in prostate epithelium. Expanding the analysis to prostate tumors, we identify a subset of regulatory transposable elements shared with pluripotent/stem cells, including Tigger3a. Using chromatin editing technology, we show how such elements promote prostate cancer growth by regulating AR transcriptional activity. Collectively, our results suggest that oncogenesis arises from lineage-specific transcription factors hijacking pluripotent/stem cell regulatory transposable elements.</p

Net positive outcomes for nature

Much research and policy effort is being expended on seeking ways to conserve living nature while enabling the economic and social development needed to increase global equity and end poverty. We propose that this will only be possible if the language of policy shifts away from setting conservation targets that focus on avoiding losses and towards developing processes that consider net outcomes for biodiversity

Transposable Elements Are Co-opted as Oncogenic Regulatory Elements by Lineage-Specific Transcription Factors in Prostate Cancer

Transposable elements hold regulatory functions that impact cell fate determination by controlling gene expression. However, little is known about the transcriptional machinery engaged at transposable elements in pluripotent and mature versus oncogenic cell states. Through positional analysis over repetitive DNA sequences of H3K27ac chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing data from 32 normal cell states, we report pluripotent/stem and mature cell state–specific “regulatory transposable elements.” Pluripotent/stem elements are binding sites for pluripotency factors (e.g., NANOG, SOX2, OCT4). Mature cell elements are docking sites for lineage-specific transcription factors, including AR and FOXA1 in prostate epithelium. Expanding the analysis to prostate tumors, we identify a subset of regulatory transposable elements shared with pluripotent/stem cells, including Tigger3a. Using chromatin editing technology, we show how such elements promote prostate cancer growth by regulating AR transcriptional activity. Collectively, our results suggest that oncogenesis arises from lineage-specific transcription factors hijacking pluripotent/stem cell regulatory transposable elements.</p

Setting robust biodiversity goals

The new global biodiversity framework (GBF) being developed under the Convention on Biological Diversity must drive action to reverse the ongoing decline of the Earth’s biodiversity. Explicit, measurable goals that specify the outcomes we want to achieve are needed to set the course for this action. However, the current draft goals and targets fail to set out these clear outcomes. We argue that distinct outcome goals for species, ecosystems, and genetic diversity are essential, and should specify net outcomes required for each. Net outcome goals such as ‘no net loss’ do, however, have a controversial history, and loose specification can lead to perverse outcomes. We outline seven general principles to underpin net outcome goal-setting that minimise risk of such perverse outcomes. Finally, we recommend inclusion of statements of impact in action targets that support biodiversity goals, and we illustrate the importance of this with examples from the draft GBF action targets. These modifications would help reveal the specific contribution each would make to achieving the outcome goals, and provide clarity on whether the successful achievement of action targets would be adequate to achieve the outcome goals and, in turn, the 2050 vision: living in harmony with nature

Children admitted to hospital following unintentional injury: perspectives of health service providers in Aotearoa/New Zealand

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and hospitalisation among New Zealand children, with indigenous Māori and ethnic minority Pacific children significantly over represented in these statistics. International research has shown that many children hospitalised for injury, as well as their families experience high levels of stress, and ethnic disparities in the quality of trauma care are not uncommon. The research on which this paper is based sought to identify key issues and concerns for New Zealand's multi-ethnic community following hospitalisation for childhood injury in order to inform efforts to improve the quality of trauma services. This paper reports on service providers' perspectives complementing previously published research on the experiences of families of injured children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A qualitative research design involving eleven in-depth individual interviews and three focus groups was used to elicit the views of 21 purposefully selected service provider key informants from a range of professional backgrounds involved in the care and support of injured children and their families in Auckland, New Zealand. Interviews were transcribed and data were analysed using thematic analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Key issues identified by service providers included limited ability to meet the needs of children with mild injuries, particularly their emotional needs; lack of psychological support for families; some issues related to Māori and Pacific family support services; lack of accessible and comprehensive information for children and families; poor staff continuity and coordination; and poor coordination of hospital and community services, including inadequacies in follow-up plans. There was considerable agreement between these issues and those identified by the participant families.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The identified issues and barriers indicate the need for interventions for service improvement at systemic, provider and patient levels. Of particular relevance are strategies that enable families to have better access to information, including culturally appropriate oral and written sources; improve communication amongst staff and between staff and families; and carefully developed discharge plans that provide care continuity across boundaries between hospital and community settings. Māori and Pacific family support services are important and need better resourcing and support from an organisational culture responsive to the needs of these populations.</p

A Global Mitigation Hierarchy for Nature Conservation

Efforts to conserve biodiversity comprise a patchwork of international goals, national-level plans, and local interventions that, overall, are failing. We discuss the potential utility of applying the mitigation hierarchy, widely used during economic development activities, to all negative human impacts on biodiversity. Evaluating all biodiversity losses and gains through the mitigation hierarchy could help prioritize consideration of conservation goals and drive the empirical evaluation of conservation investments through the explicit consideration of counterfactual trends and ecosystem dynamics across scales. We explore the challenges in using this framework to achieve global conservation goals, including operationalization and monitoring and compliance, and we discuss solutions and research priorities. The mitigation hierarchy's conceptual power and ability to clarify thinking could provide the step change needed to integrate the multiple elements of conservation goals and interventions in order to achieve successful biodiversity outcomes

Spectators’ Negotiations of Risk, Masculinity and Performative Mobilities at the TT Races

This paper explores the particular assemblage of place, event and individual identity performances that occur each year in the Isle of Man in and through the TT (Tourist Trophy) motorcycle races. These road races are associated with a high degree of risk for the racers and the confluence of over 30,000 visitors and 10,000 motorcycles also presents potential risks for spectators and residents alike. Both motorcycling and risk-taking have been associated with particular forms of masculinity, notably hegemonic, working class and youthful masculinities. Using detailed surveys of spectators we argue that the TT races, while undoubtedly dominated by men and predicated on a cultural privileging of speed and skill, are grounded in varying combinations of determinate and reflexive attitudes to risk, reflecting the performance of a variety of gendered, ‘biker’ and wider identity-based positionalities. Findings also highlight a particular inter-relation of mobilities and place identities at the TT races and bring to light the highly significant and under-researched embodied, performative and emotional mobilities of spectators. The conceptual and methodological importance of (a) situated research of both mobilities and gender in specific place-temporalities and (b) wider surveys of motorcyclists to complement ethnographic studies of small cohorts are also stressed