Scientists on Twitter: Preaching to the Choir or Singing from the Rooftops?

There have been strong calls for scientists to share their discoveries with society. Some scientists have heeded these calls through social media platforms such as Twitter. Here, we ask whether Twitter allows scientists to promote their findings primarily to other scientists (“inreach”), or whether it can help them reach broader, non-scientific audiences (“outreach”). We analyzed the Twitter followers of more than 100 faculty members in ecology and evolutionary biology and found that their followers are, on average, predominantly (∼55%) other scientists. However, beyond a threshold of ∼1000 followers, the range of follower types became more diverse and included research and educational organizations, media, members of the public with no stated association with science, and a small number of decision-makers. This varied audience was, in turn, followed by more people, resulting in an exponential increase in the social media reach of tweeting academic scientists. Tweeting, therefore, has the potential to disseminate scientific information widely after initial efforts to gain followers. These results should encourage scientists to invest in building a social media presence for scientific outreach. &nbsp

Charting the value and limits of other effective conservation measures (OECMs) for marine conservation: A Delphi study

Other effective conservation measures (OECMs) will play an important role in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework as a way for governments to achieve “30 × 30” (30% protection of land and oceans by 2030). However, the policy tool remains relatively new, is expanding from multiple perspectives, and requires clarification. We conducted a Delphi study – a structured technique designed to elicit the insights of a panel of experts – to chart the value and limits of OECMs for marine conservation. Results of the Delphi reveal a high degree of consensus on several core areas of this emerging policy tool. Experts agreed that OECMs can advance equitable and effective conservation. Realizing these opportunities will require strengthening local and Indigenous rights and prioritizing principles of social equity. The panel also agreed on five key challenges, ranging from ensuring that the burden to prove effectiveness does not fall to local communities to securing adequate resources to support OECMs. In contrast, no consensus was reached on how to measure the effectiveness of OECMs, highlighting the need to develop shared monitoring guidelines. Taken together, these findings outline a clear policy and research agenda to support the contributions of OECMs towards equitable, effective, and enduring conservation

Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

Identifying locations of refugia from the thermal stresses of climate change for coral reefs and better managing them is one of the key recommendations for climate change adaptation. We review and summarize approximately 30 years of applied research focused on identifying climate refugia to prioritize the conservation actions for coral reefs under rapid climate change. We found that currently proposed climate refugia and the locations predicted to avoid future coral losses are highly reliant on excess heat metrics, such as degree heating weeks. However, many existing alternative environmental, ecological, and life-history variables could be used to identify other types of refugia that lead to the desired diversified portfolio for coral reef conservation. To improve conservation priorities for coral reefs, there is a need to evaluate and validate the predictions of climate refugia with long-term field data on coral abundance, diversity, and functioning. There is also the need to identify and safeguard locations displaying resistance toprolonged exposure to heat waves and the ability to recover quickly after thermal exposure. We recommend using more metrics to identify a portfolio of potential refugia sites for coral reefs that can avoid, resist, and recover from exposure to high ocean temperatures and the consequences of climate change, thereby shifting past efforts focused on avoidance to a diversified risk-spreading portfolio that can be used to improve strategic coral reef conservation in a rapidly warming climate

The FLASH pilot survey: an HI absorption search against MRC 1-Jy radio sources

We report an ASKAP search for associated HI 21-cm absorption against bright radio sources from the Molonglo Reference Catalogue (MRC) 1-Jy sample. The search uses pilot survey data from the ASKAP First Large Absorption Survey in \hi (FLASH) covering the redshift range $0.42 < z < 1.00$. From a sample of 62 MRC 1-Jy radio galaxies and quasars in this redshift range we report three new detections of associated HI 21-cm absorption, yielding an overall detection fraction of $1.8\%^{+4.0\%}_{-1.5\%}$. The detected systems comprise two radio galaxies (MRC 2216$-$281 at $z=0.657$ and MRC 0531$-$237 at $z=0.851$) and one quasar (MRC 2156$-$245 at $z=0.862$). The MRC 0531$-$237 absorption system is the strongest found to date, with a velocity integrated optical depth of $\rm 143.8 \pm 0.4 \ km \ s^{-1}$. All three objects with detected HI 21-cm absorption are peaked-spectrum or compact steep-spectrum (CSS) radio sources, classified based on our SED fits to the spectra. Two of them show strong interplanetary scintillation at 162 MHz, implying that the radio continuum source is smaller than 1 arcsec in size even at low frequencies. Among the class of peaked-spectrum and compact steep-spectrum radio sources, the HI detection fraction is $23\%^{+22\%}_{-13\%}$. This is consistent within $1\sigma$ with a detection fraction of $\approx 42\%^{+21\%}_{-15\%}$ in earlier reported GPS and CSS samples at intermediate redshifts ($0.4 < z < 1.0$). All three detections have a high 1.4 GHz radio luminosity, with MRC 0531$-$237 and MRC 2216$-$281 having the highest values in the sample, $\rm > 27.5 \ W \ Hz^{-1}$. The preponderance of extended radio sources in our sample could partially explain the overall low detection fraction, while the effects of a redshift evolution in gas properties and AGN UV luminosity on the neutral gas absorption still need to be investigated.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures and 7 Tables. Submitted to MNRA

Highly Variable Taxa-specific Coral Bleaching Responses to Thermal Stresses

Complex histories of chronic and acute sea surface temperature (SST) stresses are expected to trigger taxon- and location-specific responses that will ultimately lead to novel coral communities. The 2016 El Niño-Southern Oscillation provided an opportunity to examine large- scale and recent environmental histories on emerging patterns in 226 coral communities distrib- uted across 12 countries from East Africa to Fiji. Six main coral communities were identified that largely varied across a gradient of Acropora to massive Porites dominance. Bleaching intensity was taxon-specific and was associated with complex interactions among the 20 environmental variables that we examined. Coral community structure was better aligned with the historical temperature patterns between 1985 and 2015 than the 2016 extreme temperature event. Addi- tionally, bleaching responses observed during 2016 differed from historical reports during past warm years. Consequently, coral communities present in 2016 are likely to have been reorganized by both long-term community change and acclimation mechanisms. For example, less disturbed sites with cooler baseline temperatures, higher mean historical SST background variability, and infrequent extreme warm temperature stresses were associated with Acropora-dominated communities, while more disturbed sites with lower historical SST background variability and frequent acute warm stress were dominated by stress-resistant massive Porites corals. Overall, the combination of taxon-specific responses, community-level reorganization over time, geographic variation, and multiple environmental stressors suggest complex responses and a diversity of future coral communities that can help contextualize management priorities and activities

Large Geographic Variability in the Resistance of Corals to Thermal Stress

Aim: Predictions for the future of coral reefs are largely based on thermal exposure and poorly account for potential geographic variation in biological sensitivity to ther- mal stress. Without accounting for complex sensitivity responses, simple climate ex- posure models and associated predictions may lead to poor estimates of future coral survival and lead to policies that fail to identify and implement the most appropri- ate interventions. To begin filling this gap, we evaluated a number of attributes of coral taxa and communities that are predicted to influence coral resistance to thermal stress over a large geographic range. Location: Western Indo-Pacific and Central Indo-Pacific Ocean Realms. Major taxa studied: Zooxanthellate Scleractinia – hard corals. Methods: We evaluated the geographic variability of coral resistance to thermal stress as the ratio of thermal exposure and sensitivity in 12 countries during the 2016 global-bleaching event. Thermal exposure was estimated by two metrics: (a) histori- cal excess summer heat (cumulative thermal anomaly, CTA), and (b) a multivariate index of sea-surface temperature (SST), light, and water flow (climate exposure, CE). Sensitivity was estimated for 226 sites using coordinated bleaching observations and underwater surveys of coral communities. We then evaluated coral resistance to ther- mal stress using 48 generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to compare the poten- tial influences of geography, historical SST variation, coral cover and coral richness. Results: Geographic faunal provinces and ecoregions were the strongest predic- tors of coral resistance to thermal stress, with sites in the Australian, Indonesian and Fiji-Caroline Islands coral provinces having higher resistance to thermal stress than Africa-India and Japan-Vietnam provinces. Ecoregions also showed strong gradients in resistance with highest resistance to thermal stress in the western Pacific and Coral Triangle and lower resistance in the surrounding ecoregions. A more detailed evaluation of Coral Triangle and non-Coral Triangle sites found higher resistance to thermal stress within the Coral Triangle, associated with c. 2.5 times more recent historical thermal anomalies and more centralized, warmer, and cool-water skew SST distributions, than in non-Coral Triangle sites. Our findings identify the importance of environmental history and geographic context in future predictions of bleaching, and identify some potential drivers of coral resistance to thermal stress. Main conclusions: Simple threshold models of heat stress and coral acclimation are commonly used to predict the future of coral reefs. Here and elsewhere we show that large-scale responses of coral communities to heat stress are geographically variable and associated with differential environmental stresses and histories

Fast-growing pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma in a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Predictive genetic screening and regular screening programs in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 are intended to detect and treat malignant tumors at the earliest stage possible. Malignant neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors are the most frequent cause of death in these patients. However, the extent and intervals of screening in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 are controversial as neuroendocrine tumors are usually slow growing. Here we report the case of a patient who developed a fast-growing neuroendocrine carcinoma within 15 months of a laparoscopic distal pancreatic resection.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We followed a group of 45 patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 by an annual screening program in the Department of Visceral, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery at the University Hospital Marburg in cooperation with the Department of Radiology and the Division of Endocrinology. A man with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 who was diagnosed with a recurrent primary hyperparathyroidism underwent a distal pancreatic resection for a non-functional neuroendocrine tumor. In the context of our regular screening program, a large non-functional neuroendocrine tumor was diagnosed in the pancreatic head 15 months after the first pancreatic surgery. Therefore, we performed an enucleation and regional lymph node resection. At histology, the diagnosis of a neuroendocrine carcinoma with one lymph node metastasis was established. There was no evidence of recurrence 9 months after re-operation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Fast-growing neuroendocrine tumors are rare in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. The intervals, both postoperative and in newly diagnosed pancreatic lesions, in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 should be reduced to 6 months to establish the early diagnosis of rapidly progressive disease in a small subset of patients.</p

Doing more with less: Teacher professional learning communities in resource-constrained primary schools in rural China.

Teacher professional learning communities provide environments in which teachers engage in regular research and collaboration. They have been found effective as a means for connecting professional learning to the day-to-day realities faced by teachers in the classroom. In this article, the authors draw on survey data collected in primary schools serving 71 villages in rural Gansu Province as well as transcripts from in-depth interviews with 30 teachers. Findings indicate that professional learning communities penetrate to some of China’s most resource-constrained schools but that their nature and development are shaped by institutional supports, principal leadership, and teachers’ own initiative