Future of Winter in Northeastern North America: Climate Indicators Portray Warming and Snow Loss that will Impact Ecosystems and Communities

Winters in northeastern North America have warmed faster than summers, with impacts on ecosystems and society. Global climate models (GCMs) indicate that winters will continue to warm and lose snow in the future, but uncertainty remains regarding the magnitude of warming. Here, we project future trends in winter indicators under lower and higher climate-warming scenarios based on emission levels across northeastern North America at a fine spatial scale (1/16°) relevant to climate-related decision making. Under both climate scenarios, winters continue to warm with coincident increases in days above freezing, decreases in days with snow cover, and fewer nights below freezing. Deep snowpacks become increasingly short-lived, decreasing from a historical baseline of 2 months of subnivium habitat to warmer, higher-emissions climate scenario. Warmer winter temperatures allow invasive pests such as Adelges tsugae (Hemlock Woolly Adelgid) and Dendroctonus frontalis (Southern Pine Beetle) to expand their range northward due to reduced overwinter mortality. The higher elevations remain more resilient to winter warming compared to more southerly and coastal regions. Decreases in natural snowpack and warmer temperatures point toward a need for adaptation and mitigation in the multi-million-dollar winter-recreation and forest-management economies

Prevalence and characteristics of progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease in a prospective registry

Rationale Progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease (PF-ILD) is characterized by progressive physiologic, symptomatic, and/or radiographic worsening. The real-world prevalence and characteristics of PF-ILD remain uncertain. Methods Patients were enrolled from the Canadian Registry for Pulmonary Fibrosis between 2015-2020. PF-ILD was defined as a relative forced vital capacity (FVC) decline ≥10%, death, lung transplantation, or any 2 of: relative FVC decline ≥5 and <10%, worsening respiratory symptoms, or worsening fibrosis on computed tomography of the chest, all within 24 months of diagnosis. Time-to-event analysis compared progression between key diagnostic subgroups. Characteristics associated with progression were determined by multivariable regression. Results Of 2,746 patients with fibrotic ILD (mean age 65±12 years, 51% female), 1,376 (50%) met PFILD criteria in the first 24 months of follow-up. PF-ILD occurred in 427 (59%) patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), 125 (58%) with fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), 281 (51%) with unclassifiable ILD (U-ILD), and 402 (45%) with connective tissue diseaseassociated ILD (CTD-ILD). Compared to IPF, time to progression was similar in patients with HP (hazard ratio [HR] 0.96, 95% confidence interval, CI 0.79-1.17), but was delayed in patients with U-ILD (HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71-0.96) and CTD-ILD (HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.56-0.74). Background treatment varied across diagnostic subtypes with 66% of IPF patients receiving antifibrotic therapy, while immunomodulatory therapy was utilized in 49%, 61%, and 37% of patients with CHP, CTD-ILD, and U-ILD respectively. Increasing age, male sex, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and lower baseline pulmonary function were independently associated with progression. Interpretation Progression is common in patients with fibrotic ILD, and is similarly prevalent in HP and IPF. Routinely collected variables help identify patients at risk for progression and may guide therapeutic strategie

Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Science Foundation grant #1940692 for financial support for this workshop, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and its staff for logistical support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Science Foundation grant #1940692 for financial support for this workshop, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and its staff for logistical support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

CryoLife-O'Brien Stentless Valve: 10-Year Results of 402 Implants

Background This truly stentless porcine valve is composite, without Dacron and implanted supra-annularly. Ten year analysis with magnetic resonance imaging is presented. Methods From 1992 to 2002, 402 patients (mean 73.5 yrs) had aortic valve replacement. Associated procedures were required in 252 patients (63%). Serial echoes provided 1340 studies. Clinical follow-up was 100%. Magnetic Resonance Imaging focused on aortic annulus extensibility. Results The 30 day mortality was 0.99% (4 deaths). Morbidity comprised (a) thromboembolism (40 patients including 18 patients with permanent strokes); (b) endocarditis (nine patients); (c) re-operation (nine patients) - peri-prosthetic leak (2), endocarditis (5), technical needle damage (1) and structural degeneration (1). Of 402 valves over 10 years, five valves were explanted, one only for structural failure. Except for endocarditis (2), no late deaths (69 pts, 1.5 months – 5.7 yrs) were valve related. Echocardiography demonstrated low gradients with good orifice areas, excellent ventricular regression (p = 0.0001 pre and post-operative comparisons) and late incompetence - mild (45 pts) and moderate (nine pts). No living patient has severe incompetence. Magnetic Resonance Imaging demonstrated the annulus ‘expanding and relaxing’ throughout the cardiac cycle, the mean increase in cross-sectional area being 37%, resembling normal aortic root dynamics. Conclusion Elderly patients received this hemodynamically acceptable valve with its simple, supra-annular implantation and satisfactory mid-term morbid-free lifestyle to 10 years maximum follow-up. With only one structural failure, restoration of valve annular extensibility may have a favourable influence on long-term durability

Binding of Filamentous Actin to Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 Decreases Its Association with Protective Antigen

ANTXR1 is a type I membrane protein that binds the protective antigen (PA) component of anthrax toxin. The cytosolic domain of ANTXR1 has a novel actin-binding region that influences the interaction of the ectodomain with PA. Here, we have investigated features of the cytosolic domain of ANTXR1 that reduce the association of the receptor with PA. We mutated a stretch of conserved acidic amino acids adjacent to the actin-binding region and found that the mutation increased the affinity for monomeric actin in vitro. ANTXR1 bearing this mutation exhibited increased association with the cytoskeleton and bound less PA compared to the wild-type receptor, confirming the inverse correlation between the two interactions. To determine whether binding of actin is sufficient to regulate the ectodomain, we replaced the actin-binding region of ANTXR1 with that from the yeast protein abp140 and with the WH2 domain of WAVE2. Although both of these domains bound monomeric actin in vitro, only the sequence from abp140 reduced binding of PA to a hybrid receptor. The actin binding regions of ANTXR1 and abp140, but not the WH2 domain, colocalized with actin stress fibers, which suggested that filamentous actin regulates ANTXR1. Consistent with this notion, disruption of actin filaments using latrunculin A increased the amount of PA bound to cells. This work provides evidence that cytoskeletal dynamics regulate ANTXR1 function

Co-creating an action-oriented agenda for biodiversity research in Vermont

In June 2016, we assembled a group of scientists, practitioners, and policy-makers who are involved professionally with biodiversity conservation and charged them with the task of co-creating a research agenda for biodiversity conservation in Vermont. Participants were asked to answer two questions in particular: what are the key threats to biodiversity in Vermont, and what knowledge do we need to address these threats? By bringing together this diverse group of stakeholders and asking them to discuss these questions together, we sought to narrow the divides among science, policy, and action that have at times hindered development and implementation of effective biodiversity-conservation strategies. As Vermont enters an era of potentially rapid change in land use and land cover, brought about by large-scale processes including climate change and demographic and economic shifts that favor developed lands over wild or working lands, the need for unified conservation strategies that draw on the strengths of all stakeholders will become increasingly critical. Addressing this need requires dismantling the silos that separate scientists, conservation practitioners, and decision-makers. This dialogue event was a preliminary effort at doing so