WETLANDS AND COASTAL SYSTEMS: PROTECTING AND RESTORING VALUABLE ECOSYSTEMS

Wetlands and coastal systems are unique, highly productive, and often threatened landscapes that provide a host of services to both humans and the environment. This article introduces a five-article Wetlands and Coastal Systems Special Collection that evolved from a featured session at the 2015 ASABE Annual International Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Collection provides perspectives on tools and techniques for enhancing the protection and restoration of wetlands and coastal systems with emphasis on vegetation, hydrology, water quality, and planning. Topics span the Florida Everglades (two articles) and Virginia floodplain (one article) wetland systems and include remote sensing (one article) and geographic information system-based (one article) modeling tools developed to address wetland planning and analysis issues. The Special Collection provides valuable information to engineers, scientists, planners, and other specialists working on large-scale and small-scale wetlands and coastal systems

Effects of fluoxetine on functional outcomes after acute stroke (FOCUS): a pragmatic, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial

Background Results of small trials indicate that fluoxetine might improve functional outcomes after stroke. The FOCUS trial aimed to provide a precise estimate of these effects. Methods FOCUS was a pragmatic, multicentre, parallel group, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial done at 103 hospitals in the UK. Patients were eligible if they were aged 18 years or older, had a clinical stroke diagnosis, were enrolled and randomly assigned between 2 days and 15 days after onset, and had focal neurological deficits. Patients were randomly allocated fluoxetine 20 mg or matching placebo orally once daily for 6 months via a web-based system by use of a minimisation algorithm. The primary outcome was functional status, measured with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), at 6 months. Patients, carers, health-care staff, and the trial team were masked to treatment allocation. Functional status was assessed at 6 months and 12 months after randomisation. Patients were analysed according to their treatment allocation. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN83290762. Findings Between Sept 10, 2012, and March 31, 2017, 3127 patients were recruited. 1564 patients were allocated fluoxetine and 1563 allocated placebo. mRS data at 6 months were available for 1553 (99·3%) patients in each treatment group. The distribution across mRS categories at 6 months was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (common odds ratio adjusted for minimisation variables 0·951 [95% CI 0·839–1·079]; p=0·439). Patients allocated fluoxetine were less likely than those allocated placebo to develop new depression by 6 months (210 [13·43%] patients vs 269 [17·21%]; difference 3·78% [95% CI 1·26–6·30]; p=0·0033), but they had more bone fractures (45 [2·88%] vs 23 [1·47%]; difference 1·41% [95% CI 0·38–2·43]; p=0·0070). There were no significant differences in any other event at 6 or 12 months. Interpretation Fluoxetine 20 mg given daily for 6 months after acute stroke does not seem to improve functional outcomes. Although the treatment reduced the occurrence of depression, it increased the frequency of bone fractures. These results do not support the routine use of fluoxetine either for the prevention of post-stroke depression or to promote recovery of function. Funding UK Stroke Association and NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme

ADVANCES IN FOREST HYDROLOGY�: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

ABSTRACT. Forests are an integral component of the landscape, and maintaining their functional integrity is fundamental for the sustainability of ecosystems and societies alike. Tools, innovations, and practices, analogous to those developed to improve agricultural production and quantify environmental impacts, are needed to ensure the sustainability of these forested landscapes as well as the ecosystem goods and services they produce. This article introduces ten technical articles on critical ecohydrologic processes, protection and restoration, and the effects of management practices on the hydrology and water quality of forests and forested wetlands, using both monitoring and modeling approaches. Prepared by experts in forest science, forest and agricultural hydrology, and water management, the studies reported in this special collection are concentrated in the Atlantic Coastal plain and focus on forests with shallow water tables. Experimental studies describe the effects of riparian vegetation harvest, human disturbance, and future climatic change on groundwater, the significance of emergent vegetation after harvest, and long‐term hydrologic water balance of a managed pine forest. Modeling studies use the SWAT model to predict streamflow dynamics of a less disturbed, coastal forested watershed, and DRAINMOD to determine the impacts of minor silvicultural drainage on wetland hydrology and to improve wetland restoration. Finally, a study describes potential uncertainties associated with infrequent water sampling of nutrient loads from drained forested watersheds. This introductory article summarizes these studies of shallow water table forests and relates them to the broader field of forest hydrology, including its challenges and opportunities, while identifying pressing issues of land use and climat