<i>Teredinibacter waterburyi</i> sp. nov., a marine, cellulolytic endosymbiotic bacterium isolated from the gills of the wood-boring mollusc <i>Bankia setacea</i> (Bivalvia: Teredinidae) and emended description of the genus <i>Teredinibacter</i>

A cellulolytic, aerobic, gammaproteobacterium, designated strain Bs02T, was isolated from the gills of a marine wood-boring mollusc, Bankia setacea (Bivalvia: Teredinidae). The cells are Gram-stain-negative, slightly curved motile rods (2-5×0.4-0.6 µm) that bear a single polar flagellum and are capable of heterotrophic growth in a simple mineral medium supplemented with cellulose as a sole source of carbon and energy. Cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, xylan, cellobiose and a variety of sugars also support growth. Strain Bs02T requires combined nitrogen for growth. Temperature, pH and salinity optima (range) for growth were 20 °C (range, 10-30 °C), 8.0 (pH 6.5-8.5) and 0.5 M NaCl (range, 0.0-0.8 M), respectively when grown on 0.5 % (w/v) galactose. Strain Bs02T does not require magnesium and calcium ion concentrations reflecting the proportions found in seawater. The genome size is approximately 4.03 Mbp and the DNA G+C content of the genome is 47.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, and on conserved protein-coding sequences, show that strain Bs02T forms a well-supported clade with Teredinibacter turnerae. Average nucleotide identity and percentage of conserved proteins differentiate strain Bs02T from Teredinibacter turnerae at threshold values exceeding those proposed to distinguish bacterial species but not genera. These results indicate that strain Bs02T represents a novel species in the previously monotypic genus Teredinibacter for which the name Teredinibacter waterburyi sp. nov. is proposed. The strain has been deposited under accession numbers ATCC TSD-120T and KCTC 62963T

Thin ice, deep snow and surface flooding in Kotzebue Sound: landfast ice mass balance during two anomalously warm winters and implications for marine mammals and subsistence hunting

The inaugural data from the first systematic program of sea ice observations in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, in 2018 coincided with the first winter in living memory when the Sound was not choked with ice. The following winter of 2018-19 was even warmer and characterized by even less ice. Here we discuss the mass balance of landfast ice near Kotzebue (Qikiktagruk) during these two anomalously warm winters. We use in-situ observations and a 1-D thermodynamic model to address three research questions developed in partnership with an Indigenous Advisory Council. In doing so, we improve our understanding of connections between landfast ice mass balance, marine mammals, and subsistence hunting. Specifically, we show: i) Ice growth stopped unusually early due to strong vertical ocean heat flux, which also likely contributed to early start to bearded seal hunting; ii) Unusually thin ice contributed to widespread surface flooding. The associated snow ice formation partly offset the reduced ice growth, but the flooding likely had a negative impact on ringed seal habitat; iii) Sea ice near Kotzebue during the winters of 2017-18 and 2018-19 was likely the thinnest since at least 1945, driven by a combination of warm air temperatures and a persistent ocean heat flux.

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Compassion: a scoping review of the healthcare literature

BACKGROUND: Recent concerns about suboptimal patient care and a lack of compassion have prompted policymakers to question the preparedness of clinicians for the challenging environment in which they practice. Compassionate care is expected by patients and is a professional obligation of clinicians; however, little is known about the state of research on clinical compassion. The purpose of this scoping review was to map the literature on compassion in clinical healthcare. METHODS: Searches of eight electronic databases and the grey literature were conducted to identify empirical studies published over the last 25 years. Eligible studies explored perceptions or interventions of compassionate care in clinical populations, healthcare professionals, and healthcare students. Following the title and abstract review, two reviewers independently screened full-texts articles, and extracted study data. A narrative approach to synthesizing and mapping the literature was used. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Of 36,637 records, 648 studies were retrieved and 44 studies were included in the review. Less than one third of studies included patients. Six themes emerged from studies that explored perceptions of compassionate care: nature of compassion, development of compassion, interpersonal factors related to compassion, action and practical compassion, barriers and enablers of compassion, and outcomes of compassion. Intervention studies included two compassionate care trials with patients and eight educational programs that aimed to improve compassionate care in clinicians and students. CONCLUSIONS: This review identifies the limited empirical understanding of compassion in healthcare, highlighting the lack of patient and family voices in compassion research. A deeper understanding of the key behaviors and attitudes that lead to improved patient-reported outcomes through compassionate care is necessary

Minstrels, Morris Dancers, and Players: Tracing the Routes of Travelling Performers in Early Modern Cornwall

Minstrels, morris dancers, and players participated in the lively social intercourse of Cornwall in the early modern period, providing entertainment for local festivals and celebrations in exchange for monetary reward. Because many of these groups were locally sponsored by their home parish, town, or village rather than by named patrons, we can determine the troupes' points of origin and begin to assess the routes they may have taken to their destinations. Fifteen record entries in extant documents spanning the years from 1506 to 1596 record twenty-three instances of travel by locally sponsored performers from specifically named locations in Cornwall and Devon. These references provide ample evidence for us to begin tracing the routes taken by local performers from site to site. In order to trace the performers' routes, this essay situates the documentary evidence within the general context of travel in early modern Cornwall, reconstructed from early modern maps, personal diaries, travel itineraries, and studies of Cornish geography, roads, and bridges. Several conclusions emerge from such a study. First, performance venues in sixteenth-century Cornwall fell, roughly, into three playing regions, and performers typically entertained in their own regions of the county. Second, while economic incentives may have influenced a group&rsquo;s decision to perform, they did not necessarily drive a group to perform farther from home in search of greater reward. Third, and finally, some groups utilized Cornwall's highways to range far from their homes, while others followed the county's many minor roads and tracks to travel shorter distances to nearby parishes. Though little evidence indicates that regularly scheduled performances occurred along 'touring circuits' in Cornwall, this study substanitates other findings of research on touring in medieval and early modern Britain, adding new detail to the picture of who travelled where in Cornwall, what routes they took, and why they performed