Differences in Practitioner Experience, Practice Type, and Profession in Attitudes Toward Growing Contact Lens Practice

OBJECTIVE: To investigate eye care practitioners' attitudes and perceptions toward potential interventions that can enhance contact lens (CL) practice across the world, and how this is influenced by their practice setting. METHODS: A self-administered, anonymized survey was constructed in English and then forward and backward translated into six more languages. The survey was distributed online via social media platforms and mailing lists involving reputed international professional bodies. RESULTS: In total, 2,222 responses from 27 countries with sufficient responses were analyzed (53% females, median age- 37 years). Most of the respondents were optometrists (81.9%) and 47.6% were from stand-alone/independent practices. Median working experience in CL prescribing was 11.0 years (IQR: 18.0, 4-22 years). Over two-third of them declared themselves to be very hopeful (22.9%) or hopeful (45.1%) about the future of their CL practice. Among the potential interventions proposed, continuous update of knowledge and skills and competently managing CL-related complications were rated the most important (median score: 9/10 for each). Practitioners working in national/regional retail chains expressed higher proactivity in recommending CLs (9/10) than those in local chains, hospitals, and universities (for all 8/10, P <0.05). National differences were also identified in eye care practitioner attitudes and perceptions ( P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The study provided important information to delineate a variety of elements characterizing CL practice across the world. These insights can serve as a basis to design strategies at national and international levels

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

Organic Carbon Concentrations in High- and Low-Productivity Areas of the Sulu Sea

The sequestration of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the form of organic carbon and its eventual deposition in the sediments is an important component of the marine carbon cycle. In the Sulu Sea, Philippines, organic carbon contents in the sediments have been relatively well studied, but the processes that describe the organic carbon distributions in the water column have not been elucidated. Dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC, POC) concentrations were measured at several stations in the Sulu Sea during the northeast monsoon of 2007/2008 to understand the dynamics of organic carbon in this unique internal sea. Analyses of primary productivity estimates, beam attenuation coefficient (at 660 nm) profiles, and correlation coefficients among DOC, POC and other parameters (e.g., apparent oxygen utilization) at different layers of the water column indicate that surface primary productivity, upwelling, bottom intensified flows across sills, and ventilation from shallow sills, which may contain semi-labile DOC that is estimated to largely contribute to microbial respiration in the bathypelagic layer, are the major processes that affect the DOC and POC distributions in the Sulu Sea. The variability of these processes should be taken into consideration when assessing the sustainability of internal and marginal seas as carbon sinks

Nutrient load estimates for Manila Bay, Philippines using population data

A major source of nutrient load to periodically hypoxic Manila Bay is the urban nutrient waste water flow from humans and industries to surface water. In Manila alone, the population density is as high as 19,137 people/km2. A model based on a global point source model by Morée et al. (2013) was used to estimate the contribution of the population to nitrogen and phosphorus emissions which was then used in a water transport model to estimate the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads to Manila Bay. Seven scenarios for 2050 were tested, with varying degrees and amounts for extent of sewage treatment, and population growth rates were also included. In scenario 1, the sewage connection and treatment remains the same as 2010; in scenario 2, sewage connection is improved but the treatment is the same; in scenario 3, the sewage connection as well as treatment is improved (70% tertiary); and in scenario 4, a more realistic situation of 70% primary treatment achieved with 100% connection to pipes is tested. Scenarios 5, 6, and 7 have the same parameters as 1, 2, and 3 respectively, but with the population growth rate per province reduced to half of what was used in 1, 2, and 3. In all scenarios, a significant increase in N and P loads was observed (varying from 27% to 469% relative to 2010 values). This was found even in scenario 3 where 70% of the waste water undergoes tertiary treatment which removes 80% N and 90% P. However, the lowest increase in N and P load into the bay was achieved in scenarios 5 to 7 where population growth rate is reduced to half of 2010 values. The results suggest that aside from improving sewage treatment, the continued increase of the human population in Manila at current growth rates will be an important determinant of N and P load into Manila Bay

Diversity and community structure of marine microbes around the Benham Rise underwater plateau, northeastern Philippines

Microbes are central to the structuring and functioning of marine ecosystems. Given the remarkable diversity of the ocean microbiome, uncovering marine microbial taxa remains a fundamental challenge in microbial ecology. However, there has been little effort, thus far, to describe the diversity of marine microorganisms in the region of high marine biodiversity around the Philippines. Here, we present data on the taxonomic diversity of bacteria and archaea in Benham Rise, Philippines, Western Pacific Ocean, using 16S V4 rRNA gene sequencing. The major bacterial and archaeal phyla identified in the Benham Rise are Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Marinimicrobia, Thaumarchaeota and, Euryarchaeota. The upper mesopelagic layer exhibited greater microbial diversity and richness compared to surface waters. Vertical zonation of the microbial community is evident and may be attributed to physical stratification of the water column acting as a dispersal barrier. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) recapitulated previously known associations of taxa and physicochemical parameters in the environment, such as the association of oligotrophic clades with low nutrient surface water and deep water clades that have the capacity to oxidize ammonia or nitrite at the upper mesopelagic layer. These findings provide foundational information on the diversity of marine microbes in Philippine waters. Further studies are warranted to gain a more comprehensive picture of microbial diversity within the region

Nutrient load estimates for Manila Bay, Philippines using population data

A major source of nutrient load to periodically hypoxic Manila Bay is the urban nutrient waste water flow from humans and industries to surface water. In Manila alone, the population density is as high as 19,137 people/km2. A model based on a global point source model by Morée et al. (2013) was used to estimate the contribution of the population to nitrogen and phosphorus emissions which was then used in a water transport model to estimate the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads to Manila Bay. Seven scenarios for 2050 were tested, with varying degrees and amounts for extent of sewage treatment, and population growth rates were also included. In scenario 1, the sewage connection and treatment remains the same as 2010; in scenario 2, sewage connection is improved but the treatment is the same; in scenario 3, the sewage connection as well as treatment is improved (70% tertiary); and in scenario 4, a more realistic situation of 70% primary treatment achieved with 100% connection to pipes is tested. Scenarios 5, 6, and 7 have the same parameters as 1, 2, and 3 respectively, but with the population growth rate per province reduced to half of what was used in 1, 2, and 3. In all scenarios, a significant increase in N and P loads was observed (varying from 27% to 469% relative to 2010 values). This was found even in scenario 3 where 70% of the waste water undergoes tertiary treatment which removes 80% N and 90% P. However, the lowest increase in N and P load into the bay was achieved in scenarios 5 to 7 where population growth rate is reduced to half of 2010 values. The results suggest that aside from improving sewage treatment, the continued increase of the human population in Manila at current growth rates will be an important determinant of N and P load into Manila Bay

Ir reflectante spectra of Antartic carbonaceous chondrites to better characterize the surfaces of asteroids targetted by sample return missions

Undifferentiated carbonaceous asteroids have experienced complex collisional histories, and a significant number are fragments of larger bodies. Meteorites arrived from these asteroids exhibit an amazing reflectance spectra diversity [1-3]. These asteroids are now in the focus of several sample return missions due to the astrobiological relevance of their exploration [4, 5]. In meteorite collections the rocks delivered from these fascinating asteroids are called carbonaceous chondrites (hereafter CCs). Impacts on these asteroids mixed together materials with different compositions and alteration histories. Due to their low bulk densities and porous nature the collisions with other bodies resulted in heavy fragmentation and brecciation of their surfaces. In fact, it is now being recognized that most of the identified CCs in terrestrial collections are breccias characterized by having clasts of different lithologies [6]. Carbonaceous asteroids delivered to the NEO region by dynamic resonances, as the selected targets of Marco Polo-R and Osiris-Rex missions, cannot be considered an exception. They evolved through the Main Belt as a consequence of non-gravitational effects, and in their long journey until becoming a NEO could have experienced space weathering processes changing significantly their reflectance properties. Chemical evidence indicates that the number of carbonaceous asteroids sampled is lower than twenty. Among them, some are represented by ungrouped and extremely rare CCs that are only available thanks to the Antarctic recovery effort made by different teams during the last decades. Due to this we have started a project to increase the number of high resolution reflectance spectra of CCs, with three main goals: 1) To identify the main features that could be used for remote characterization of their parent bodies; 2) To analyze the relevance of grain size in the reflectance spectra and exemplify its influence in regolithcovered carbonaceous asteroids, and 3) To perform experiments to simulate space weathering processes and their influence in the reflectance properties of primitive bodie