Eavesdropping on the Arctic: Automated bioacoustics reveal dynamics in songbird breeding phenology

Bioacoustic networks could vastly expand the coverage of wildlife monitoring to complement satellite observations of climate and vegetation. This approach would enable global-scale understanding of how climate change influences phenomena such as migratory timing of avian species. The enormous data sets that autonomous recorders typically generate demand automated analyses that remain largely undeveloped. We devised automated signal processing and machine learning approaches to estimate dates on which songbird communities arrived at arctic breeding grounds. Acoustically estimated dates agreed well with those determined via traditional surveys and were strongly related to the landscape’s snow-free dates. We found that environmental conditions heavily influenced daily variation in songbird vocal activity, especially before egg laying. Our novel approaches demonstrate that variation in avian migratory arrival can be detected autonomously. Large-scale deployment of this innovation in wildlife monitoring would enable the coverage necessary to assess and forecast changes in bird migration in the face of climate change

On the Functional Relationship Between Fluorescence and Photochemical Yields in Complex Evergreen Needleleaf Canopies

Recent advancements in understanding remotely sensed solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence often suggest a linear relationship with gross primary productivity at large spatial scales. However, the quantum yields of fluorescence and photochemistry are not linearly related, and this relationship is largely driven by irradiance. This raises questions about the mechanistic basis of observed linearity from complex canopies that experience heterogeneous irradiance regimes at subcanopy scales. We present empirical data from two evergreen forest sites that demonstrate a nonlinear relationship between needle‐scale observations of steady‐state fluorescence yield and photochemical yield under ambient irradiance. We show that accounting for subcanopy and diurnal patterns of irradiance can help identify the physiological constraints on needle‐scale fluorescence at 70–80% accuracy. Our findings are placed in the context of how solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence observations from spaceborne sensors relate to diurnal variation in canopy‐scale physiology

The degree of integration of non-dispensing pharmacists in primary care practice and the impact on health outcomes:A systematic review

BACKGROUND: A non-dispensing pharmacist conducts clinical pharmacy services aimed at optimizing patients individual pharmacotherapy. Embedding a non-dispensing pharmacist in primary care practice enables collaboration, probably enhancing patient care. The degree of integration of non-dispensing pharmacists into multidisciplinary health care teams varies strongly between settings. The degree of integration may be a determinant for its success. OBJECTIVES: This study investigates how the degree of integration of a non-dispensing pharmacist impacts medication related health outcomes in primary care. METHODS: In this literature review we searched two electronic databases and the reference list of published literature reviews for studies about clinical pharmacy services performed by non-dispensing pharmacists physically co-located in primary care practice. We assessed the degree of integration via key dimensions of integration based on the conceptual framework of Walshe and Smith. We included English language studies of any design that had a control group or baseline comparison published from 1966 to June 2016. Descriptive statistics were used to correlate the degree of integration to health outcomes. The analysis was stratified for disease-specific and patient-centered clinical pharmacy services. RESULTS: Eighty-nine health outcomes in 60 comparative studies contributed to the analysis. The accumulated evidence from these studies shows no impact of the degree of integration of non-dispensing pharmacists on health outcomes. For disease specific clinical pharmacy services the percentage of improved health outcomes for none, partial and fully integrated NDPs is respectively 75%, 63% and 59%. For patient-centered clinical pharmacy services the percentage of improved health outcomes for none, partial and fully integrated NDPs is respectively 55%, 57% and 70%. CONCLUSIONS: Full integration adds value to patient-centered clinical pharmacy services, but not to disease-specific clinical pharmacy services. To obtain maximum benefits of clinical pharmacy services for patients with multiple medications and comorbidities, full integration of non-dispensing pharmacists should be promoted

The effect of extreme spring weather on body condition and stress physiology in Lapland longspurs and white-crowned sparrows breeding in the Arctic

AbstractClimate change is causing rapid shifts in temperature while also increasing the frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme weather. In the northern hemisphere, the spring of 2013 was characterized as extreme due to record high snow cover and low temperatures. Studies that describe the effects of extreme weather on phenology across taxa are limited while morphological and physiological responses remain poorly understood. Stress physiology, as measured through baseline and stress-induced concentrations of cortisol or corticosterone, has often been studied to understand how organisms respond to environmental stressors. We compared body condition and stress physiology of two long-distance migrants breeding in low arctic Alaska – the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) and Lapland longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) – in 2013, an extreme weather year, with three more typical years (2011, 2012, and 2014). The extended snow cover in spring 2013 caused measureable changes in phenology, body condition and physiology. Arrival timing for both species was delayed 4–5days compared to the other three years. Lapland longspurs had reduced fat stores, pectoralis muscle profiles, body mass, and hematocrit levels, while stress-induced concentrations of corticosterone were increased. Similarly, white-crowned sparrows had reduced pectoralis muscle profiles and hematocrit levels, but in contrast to Lapland longspurs, had elevated fat stores and no difference in mass or stress physiology relative to other study years. An understanding of physiological mechanisms that regulate coping strategies is of critical importance for predicting how species will respond to the occurrence of extreme events in the future due to global climate change

Workshop on identification of future emerging technologies in the ocean energy sector

As part of the Commission's internal Low Carbon Energy Observatory (LCEO) project, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) is developing an inventory of Future Emerging Technologies (FET) relevant to energy supply. A key part of the LCEO initiative is the consultation of external experts, addressing both those with in-depth experience in specific fields and those with a broad perspective on relevant science and engineering aspects. In this context, on March 27, 2018 the JRC organised a Workshop on Identification of Future Emerging Technologies for Ocean Enery, on it premises in Ispra. The workshop was organized on the idea of a colloquium between international experts to discuss about future emerging technologies considering different aspects such as their technology readiness level (TRL) , the potential advantages and challenges affecting their development, and evaluating the possible speed of development . A number of different technological solutions were discussed, identified directly by the invited experts on the condition that they respected the following criteria: • To be a technology for energy supply/conversion in the field of ocean energy. • To be a radically new technology/concept, not achievable by incremental research on mainstream technologies (this should match the concept of the Future Emerging Technology in the Horizon 2020 work program http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/future-and-emerging-technologies). • To be in an early stage of development: their Technology Readiness Level should not be more than 3. Questionnaires were sent to experts for the identification of ocean energy FETs. The templates can be found in Appendix B. The structure of the workshop was builtupon the inputs received from the experts and on in-house analysis undertaken by the JRC. The aim of this document is to gather, organize and highlight all the knowledge and information, provided by the external and internal experts, which were discussed during the workshop.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio