Dual community assembly processes in dryland biocrust communities

1. Biocrusts are critical components of drylands where they regulate a wide range of ecosystem functions, however, their response to the world‐wide phenomenon of shrub encroachment and to livestock grazing, the most extensive land use in drylands, is not well studied. Grazing by livestock and increases in shrub cover could influence biocrust communities directly via trampling or shading, or indirectly, by altering biotic interactions amongst biocrust taxa. The extent of these changes in biocrust cover, diversity and composition are poorly known. 2. We used linear models and structural equation modelling to examine the direct effects of grazing and shrubs on biocrust community composition and the indirect effects mediated by changes in species interactions. 3. Biocrust richness and cover increased with increasing shrub cover at the site level. This pattern occurred despite the negative response we found (lower cover and richness) under shrub patches versus open areas, which was consistent irrespective of the grazing level. Functional diversity and evenness were similar between shrubs and open at low grazing intensity, but at high grazing functional diversity was greater in the open. Competition between biocrust species was an important driver of their community assembly irrespective of shrub cover, grazing intensity or patch type. Structural equation models showed that the effects of grazing and shrub cover on functional evenness, functional diversity and richness were controlled by biotic interactions within the shrub microsites. In the open, however, these effects were either direct or mediated by changes in cover. 4. Biocrust cover, species richness and functional diversity increase with shrub cover at the site scale, despite the negative effects at the microsite level. We demonstrate here that drivers of community assembly differ markedly at small spatial scales. Though biocrust communities were directly driven by environmental filtering in the open, biotic interactions played a fundamental role in their assembly when growing beneath shrubs.Both authors acknowledge support from the Hermon Slade Foundation Grant no. HSF13/1. S.S. was supported by the Spanish Government under the Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2016-20604)

(Mis)understanding trauma informed approaches in mental health

The Journal of Mental Health has a history of publishing articles that explore the ways traumatic experiences lead to mental distress, and the experiences of trauma survivors (Cooke, 2016; Harper, Stalker, Palmer, & Gadbois, 2008; Karatzias, Ferguson, Gullone, & Cosgrove, 2016; Kucharska, 2017; Mueser & Rosenberg, 2003; Salter & Richters 2012; Xie, Jiuping, & Zhibin, 2017). These articles join other evi- dence demonstrating that large numbers of people in con- tact with mental health services have experienced traumatic events (Khalifeh et al., 2015), that these experiences are causal in the development of mental distress (Felitti et al., 1998; Morrison, Frame, & Larkin, 2003) and that there is a relationship between the severity, frequency and range of adverse experiences, and the subsequent impact on mental health (Dillon, Johnstone, & Longden, 2012). For instance, there is evidence of a strong link between childhood trauma and adulthood psychosis (Varese et al., 2012), and intimate partner violence and depression (Devries et al., 2013). It is also argued that social factors such as poverty and racism can be considered forms of trauma and that traumatic expe- riences are more common within ethnic minority and socially disadvantaged groups (Hatch & Dohrenwend, 2007; Paradies, 2006). This, coupled with evidence of iatrogenic harm in psychiatric services, has led to the development of trauma-informed approaches. Despite growing international interest, trauma-informed approaches can seem fuzzy, complex, something that service providers already do, or a theorised call for practitioners to “be nicer.” However, writing as trauma survivors and aca- demics/clinician, the more we learn about trauma-informed approaches, the more we argue that these approaches have the potential to lead to a fundamental shift in how mental health services are organised and delivered, meaning that they are better able to meet the needs of service users. In this editorial, we will explore the central drivers for trauma- informed approaches, outline the key principles of the approach, discuss some common misconceptions and high- light some of the dangers associated with trauma-informed practices. We conclude by arguing for the need for survivor organisations to have a key role in shaping the agenda

Genome-Wide Transcript Profiling of Endosperm without Paternal Contribution Identifies Parent-of-Origin–Dependent Regulation of AGAMOUS-LIKE36

Seed development in angiosperms is dependent on the interplay among different transcriptional programs operating in the embryo, the endosperm, and the maternally-derived seed coat. In angiosperms, the embryo and the endosperm are products of double fertilization during which the two pollen sperm cells fuse with the egg cell and the central cell of the female gametophyte. In Arabidopsis, analyses of mutants in the cell-cycle regulator CYCLIN DEPENDENT KINASE A;1 (CKDA;1) have revealed the importance of a paternal genome for the effective development of the endosperm and ultimately the seed. Here we have exploited cdka;1 fertilization as a novel tool for the identification of seed regulators and factors involved in parent-of-origin–specific regulation during seed development. We have generated genome-wide transcription profiles of cdka;1 fertilized seeds and identified approximately 600 genes that are downregulated in the absence of a paternal genome. Among those, AGAMOUS-LIKE (AGL) genes encoding Type-I MADS-box transcription factors were significantly overrepresented. Here, AGL36 was chosen for an in-depth study and shown to be imprinted. We demonstrate that AGL36 parent-of-origin–dependent expression is controlled by the activity of METHYLTRANSFERASE1 (MET1) maintenance DNA methyltransferase and DEMETER (DME) DNA glycosylase. Interestingly, our data also show that the active maternal allele of AGL36 is regulated throughout endosperm development by components of the FIS Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), revealing a new type of dual epigenetic regulation in seeds

Optimism and commitment: An elementary theory of bargaining and war

We propose an elementary theory of wars fought by fully rational contenders. Two parties play a Markov game that combines stages of bargaining with stages where one side has the ability to impose surrender on the other. Under uncertainty and incomplete information, in the unique equilibrium of the game, long confrontations occur: war arises when reality disappoints initial (rational) optimism, and it persist longer when both agents are optimists but reality proves both wrong. Bargaining proposals that are rejected initially might eventually be accepted after several periods of confrontation. We provide an explicit computation of the equilibrium, evaluating the probability of war, and its expected losses as a function of i) the costs of confrontation, ii) the asymmetry of the split imposed under surrender, and iii) the strengths of contenders at attack and defense. Changes in these parameters display non-monotonic effects

Active surveillance for prostate cancer: a narrative review of clinical guidelines

In the past decade active surveillance (AS) of men with localized prostate cancer has become an increasingly popular management option, and a range of clinical guidelines have been published on this topic. Existing guidelines regarding AS for prostate cancer vary widely, but predominantly state that the most suitable patients for AS are those with pretreatment clinical stage T1c or T2 tumours, serum PSA levels <10 ng/ml, biopsy Gleason scores of 6 or less, a maximum of one or two tumour-positive biopsy core samples and/or a maximum of 50% of cancer per core sample. Following initiation of an AS programme, most guidelines recommend serial serum PSA measurements, digital rectal examinations and surveillance biopsies to check for and identify pathological indications of tumour progression. Definitions of disease reclassification and progression differ among guidelines and multiple criteria for initiation of definitive treatment are proposed. The variety of descriptions of criteria for clinically insignificant prostate cancer indicates a lack of consensus on optimal AS and intervention thresholds. A single set of guidelines are needed in order to reduce variations in clinical practice and to optimize clinical decision-making. To enable truly evidence-based guidelines, further research that combines existing evidence, while also gathering information from more long-term studies is needed.This study is linked to a larger project, the Movember Foundation's Global Action Plan on active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer (GAP3), which is collaboration between institutions, hospitals and research centres in Australia, Canada, France, Finland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, UK and the USA. The Movember Foundation has invested €1,664,950 in the GAP3 project in order to create the largest centralized database on AS in men with prostate cancer to date, comprising around 40% of all global patient data on AS. The funder did not play any role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of data, or in the drafting of this paper

The Movember Foundation's GAP3 cohort: a profile of the largest global prostate cancer active surveillance database to date

OBJECTIVES: The Movember Foundation launched the Global Action Plan Prostate Cancer Active Surveillance (GAP3) initiative to create a global consensus on the selection and monitoring of men with low‐risk prostate cancer (PCa) on active surveillance (AS). The aim of this study is to present data on inclusion and follow‐up for AS in this unique global AS database. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 2014 and 2016, the database was created by combining patient data from 25 established AS cohorts worldwide (USA, Canada, Australasia, UK and Europe). Data on a total of 15 101 patients were included. Descriptive statistics were used to report patients' clinical and demographic characteristics at the time of PCa diagnosis, clinical follow‐up, discontinuation of AS and subsequent treatment. Cumulative incidence curves were used to report discontinuation rates over time. RESULTS: At diagnosis, the median (interquartile range [IQR]) patient age was 65 (60–70) years and the median prostate‐specific antigen level was 5.4 (4.0–7.3) ng/mL. Most patients had clinical stage T1 disease (71.8%), a biopsy Gleason score of 6 (88.8%) and one tumour‐positive biopsy core (60.3%). Patients on AS had a median follow‐up time of 2.2 (1.0–5.0) years. After 5, 10 and 15 years of follow‐up, respectively, 58%, 39% and 23% of patients were still on AS. The current version of GAP3 has limited data on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), quality of life and genomic testing. CONCLUSIONS: GAP3 is the largest worldwide collaboration integrating patient data from men with PCa on AS. The results will allow individual patients and clinicians to have greater confidence in the personalized decision to either delay or proceed with active treatment. Longer follow‐up and the evaluation of MRI, new genomic markers and patient‐related outcomes will result in even more valuable data and eventually in better patient outcomes