Long-Term Landscape Changes in a Subalpine Spruce-Fir forest in Central Utah, USA

Background: In Western North America, increasing wildfire and outbreaks of native bark beetles have been mediated by warming climate conditions. Bioclimatic models forecast the loss of key high elevation species throughout the region. This study uses retrospective vegetation and fire history data to reconstruct the drivers of past disturbance and environmental change. Understanding the relationship among climate, antecedent disturbances, and the legacy effects of settlement-era logging can help identify the patterns and processes that create landscapes susceptible to bark beetle epidemics. Methods: Our analysis uses data from lake sediment cores, stand inventories, and historical records. Sediment cores were dated with radiometric techniques (14C and210Pb/137Cs) and subsampled for pollen and charcoal to maximize the temporal resolution during the historical period (1800 CE to present) and to provide environmental baseline data (last 10,500 years). Pollen data for spruce were calibrated to carbon biomass (C t/ha) using standard allometric equations and a transfer function. Charcoal samples were analyzed with statistical models to facilitate peak detection and determine fire recurrence intervals. Results: The Wasatch Plateau has been dominated by Engelmann spruce forests for the last ~10,500 years, with subalpine fir becoming more prominent since 6000 years ago. This landscape has experienced a dynamic fire regime, where burning events are more frequent and of higher magnitude during the last 3000 years. Two important disturbances have impacted Engelmann spruce in the historical period: 1) high-grade logging during the late 19th century; and (2) a high severity spruce beetle outbreak in the late 20th century that killed \u3e90 % of mature spruce (\u3e10 cm dbh). Conclusions: Our study shows that spruce-dominated forests in this region are resilient to a range of climate and disturbance regimes. Several lines of evidence suggest that 19th century logging promoted a legacy of simplified stand structure and composition such that, when climate became favorable for accelerated beetle population growth, the result was a landscape-scale spruce beetle outbreak. The lasting impacts of settlement-era landscape history from the Wasatch Plateau, UT may be relevant for other areas of western North America and Europe where sufficient host carrying capacity is important in managing for resistance and resilience to outbreaks

Bark Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Community Structure in Northeastern and Central Minnesota

Large-scale surveys of forest insects provide two distinct benefits: the detection of invasive and exotic species that cause millions of dollars of damage annually to forest and ornamental industries, and the addition of a wealth of species distribution and diversity information to the scientific community. We intensively surveyed the Northeast and East-central regions of Minnesota from 2006-2008 for invasive/exotic and native Scolytinae using Lindgren funnel traps baited with one of four lures (a/β-pinene, ultra-high-release ethanol [EtOH], EtOH+a-pinene, and Ips 3-part). We captured 16,841 scolytines (representing 25 genera) of which over 40% were Ips pini (Say) and Ips grandicollis (Eichhoff). We found two exotic Scolytinae, Scolytus multistriatus (Marsham) and Scolytus schevyrewi Semenov, both of which had previously been recorded in Minnesota. Two native species, Conophthorus coniperda (Schwarz) and Crypturgus pusillus (Gyllenhal), were reported for the first time in Minnesota. Non-metric multi- dimensional scaling and analysis of similarities indicate that lure types capture different Scolytinae communities, while year, weather pattern and region factors were not significant. We also report the seasonal phenology of the seven most abundantly captured species; Dendroctonus valens LeConte, Hylastes porculus Erichson, Hylurgops rugipennis pinifex (Fitch),I. grandicollis, I. pini, Orthotomicus caelatus (Eichhoff) and Pityophthorus spp. Eichhoff

Association between 5-Year clinical outcome in patients with nonmedically evacuated mild blast traumatic brain injury and clinical measures collected within 7 days postinjury in combat

Importance: Although previous work has examined clinical outcomes in combat-deployed veterans, questions remain regarding how symptoms evolve or resolve following mild blast traumatic brain injury (TBI) treated in theater and their association with long-term outcomes. Objective: To characterize 5-year outcome in patients with nonmedically evacuated blast concussion compared with combat-deployed controls and understand what clinical measures collected acutely in theater are associated with 5-year outcome. Design, Setting, and Participants: A prospective, longitudinal cohort study including 45 service members with mild blast TBI within 7 days of injury (mean 4 days) and 45 combat deployed nonconcussed controls was carried out. Enrollment occurred in Afghanistan at the point of injury with evaluation of 5-year outcome in the United States. The enrollment occurred from March to September 2012 with 5-year follow up completed from April 2017 to May 2018. Data analysis was completed from June to July 2018. Exposures: Concussive blast TBI. All patients were treated in theater, and none required medical evacuation. Main Outcomes and Measures: Clinical measures collected in theater included measures for concussion symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depression symptoms, balance performance, combat exposure intensity, cognitive performance, and demographics. Five-year outcome evaluation included measures for global disability, neurobehavioral impairment, PTSD symptoms, depression symptoms, and 10 domains of cognitive function. Forward selection multivariate regression was used to determine predictors of 5-year outcome for global disability, neurobehavior impairment, PTSD, and cognitive function. Results: Nonmedically evacuated patients with concussive blast injury (n = 45; 44 men, mean [SD] age, 31 [5] years) fared poorly at 5-year follow-up compared with combat-deployed controls (n = 45; 35 men; mean [SD] age, 34 [7] years) on global disability, neurobehavioral impairment, and psychiatric symptoms, whereas cognitive changes were unremarkable. Acute predictors of 5-year outcome consistently identified TBI diagnosis with contribution from acute concussion and mental health symptoms and select measures of cognitive performance depending on the model for 5-year global disability (area under the curve following bootstrap validation [AUCBV] = 0.79), neurobehavioral impairment (correlation following bootstrap validation [RBV] = 0.60), PTSD severity (RBV = 0.36), or cognitive performance (RBV = 0.34). Conclusions and Relevance: Service members with concussive blast injuries fared poorly at 5-year outcome. The results support a more focused acute screening of mental health following TBI diagnosis as strong indicators of poor long-term outcome. This extends prior work examining outcome in patients with concussive blast injury to the larger nonmedically evacuated population

A comparison of GC-FID and PTR-MS toluene measurements in ambient air under conditions of enhanced monoterpene loading

Toluene was measured using both a gas chromatographic system (GC), with a flame ionization detector (FID), and a proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) at the AIRMAP atmospheric monitoring station Thompson Farm (THF) in rural Durham, NH during the summer of 2004. Simultaneous measurements of monoterpenes, including alpha- and beta-pinene, camphene, Delta(3)-carene, and d-limonene, by GC-FID demonstrated large enhancements in monoterpene mixing ratios relative to toluene, with median and maximum enhancement ratios of similar to 2 and similar to 30, respectively. A detailed comparison between the GC-FID and PTR-MS toluene measurements was conducted to test the specificity of PTR-MS for atmospheric toluene measurements under conditions often dominated by biogenic emissions. We derived quantitative estimates of potential interferences in the PTR-MS toluene measurements related to sampling and analysis of monoterpenes, including fragmentation of the monoterpenes and some of their primary carbonyl oxidation products via reactions with H(3)O(+), O(2)(+) and NO(+) in the PTR-MS drift tube. The PTR-MS and GC-FID toluene measurements were in good quantitative agreement and the two systems tracked one another well from the instrumental limits of detection to maximum mixing ratios of similar to 0.5 ppbv. A correlation plot of the PTR-MS versus GC-FID toluene measurements was described by the least squares regression equation y=(1.13 +/- 0.02)x-(0.008 +/- 0.003) ppbv, suggesting a small similar to 13% positive bias in the PTR-MS measurements. The bias corresponded with a similar to 0.055 ppbv difference at the highest measured toluene level. The two systems agreed quantitatively within the combined 1 sigma measurement precisions for 60% of the measurements. Discrepancies in the measured mixing ratios were not well correlated with enhancements in the monoterpenes. Better quantitative agreement between the two systems was obtained by correcting the PTR-MS measurements for contributions from monoterpene fragmentation in the PTR-MS drift tube; however, the improvement was minor (\u3c10%). Interferences in the PTRMS measurements from fragmentation of the monoterpene oxidation products pinonaldehyde, caronaldehyde and alpha-pinene oxide were also likely negligible. A relatively large and variable toluene background in the PTR-MS instrument likely drove the measurement bias; however, the precise contribution was difficult to accurately quantify and thus was not corrected for in this analysis. The results from THF suggest that toluene can be reliably quantified by PTR-MS using our operating conditions (drift tube pressure, temperature and voltage of 2.0 mbar, 45 degrees C and 600V, respectively) under the ambient compositions probed. This work extends the range of field conditions under which PTR-MS validation studies have been conducted

The Effect of Electronic Cigarette User Modifications and E-liquid Adulteration on the Particle Size Profile of an Aerosolized Product

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are an alternate nicotine delivery system that generate a condensation aerosol to be inhaled by the user. The size of the droplets formed in the aerosol can vary and contributes to drug deposition and ultimate bioavailability in the lung. The growing popularity of e-cigarette products has caused an increase in internet sources promoting the use of drugs other than nicotine (DOTNs) in e-cigarettes. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of various e-cigarette and e-liquid modifications, such as coil resistance, battery voltage, and glycol and drug formulation, on the aerosol particle size. E-liquids containing 12 mg/mL nicotine prepared in glycol compositions of 100% propylene glycol (PG), 100% vegetable glycerin (VG), or 50:50 PG:VG were aerosolized at three voltages and three coil resistances. Methamphetamine and methadone e-liquids were prepared at 60 mg/mL in 50:50 PG:VG and all e-liquids were aerosolized onto a 10 stage Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor. Glycol deposition correlated with drug deposition, and the majority of particles centered between 0.172–0.5 μm in diameter, representing pulmonary deposition. The 100% PG e-liquid produced the largest aerosol particles and the 100% VG and 50:50 PG:VG e-liquids produced ultra-fine particles \u3c0.3 μm. The presence of ultrafine particles indicates that drugs can be aerosolized and reach the pulmonary alveolar regions, highlighting a potential for abuse and risk of overdose with DOTNs aerosolized in an e-cigarette system

Aboriginal Resource Access in Response to Criminal Victimization in an Urban Context

Arts, Education and LawNo Full Tex

Far-Term Exploration of Advanced Single-Aisle Subsonic Transport Aircraft Concepts

Far-term single-aisle class aircraft concepts for potential entry-into-service of 2045 were investigated using an Interactive Reconfigurable Matrix of Alternatives (IRMA) approach. The configurations identified through this design space exploration were then distilled into three advanced aircraft concepts best characterizing the prominent features identified through the IRMA exploration. These three aircraft concepts were then configured and sized for a 150-passenger capacity and a 3,500 nautical mile design mission. Mission block fuel burn was estimated and compared to a far-term conventional configuration baseline concept and a 2005 l. These comparisons suggest considerable potential improvements in fuel efficiency from the investigated advanced concepts

Natural variation in abiotic stress responsive gene expression and local adaptation to climate in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Gene expression varies widely in natural populations, yet the proximate and ultimate causes of this variation are poorly known. Understanding how variation in gene expression affects abiotic stress tolerance, fitness, and adaptation is central to the field of evolutionary genetics. We tested the hypothesis that genes with natural genetic variation in their expression responses to abiotic stress are likely to be involved in local adaptation to climate in Arabidopsis thaliana. Specifically, we compared genes with consistent expression responses to environmental stress (expression stress responsive, "eSR") to genes with genetically variable responses to abiotic stress (expression genotype-by-environment interaction, "eGEI"). We found that on average genes that exhibited eGEI in response to drought or cold had greater polymorphism in promoter regions and stronger associations with climate than those of eSR genes or genomic controls. We also found that transcription factor binding sites known to respond to environmental stressors, especially abscisic acid responsive elements, showed significantly higher polymorphism in drought eGEI genes in comparison to eSR genes. By contrast, eSR genes tended to exhibit relatively greater pairwise haplotype sharing, lower promoter diversity, and fewer nonsynonymous polymorphisms, suggesting purifying selection or selective sweeps. Our results indicate that cis-regulatory evolution and genetic variation in stress responsive gene expression may be important mechanisms of local adaptation to climatic selective gradients

Technical Challenges Associated with In-Air Wingtip Docking of Aircraft in Forward Flight

Autonomous in-air wingtip docking of aircraft offers significant opportunity for system level performance gains for numerous aircraft applications. Several of the technical challenges facing wingtip docking of fixed-wing aircraft are addressed in this paper, including: close proximity aerodynamic coupling; mechanisms and operations for robust docking; and relative state estimation methods. A simulation framework considering the aerodynamics, rigid-body dynamics, and vehicle controls is developed and used to perform docking sensitivity studies for a system of two 5.5% scale NASA Generic Transport Model aircraft. Additionally, proof of- concept testing of a candidate docking mechanism designed to move the primary wingtip vortex inboard suggests the viability of such an approach for achieving robust docking