Definition of favourable conservation status for hedgerows

An output of Natural England’s Defining Favourable Conservation Status (DFCS) project. Hedgerows are a widespread Priority Habitat (i.e. a habitat of principal importance for biodiversity conservation), providing key semi-natural habitat for a broad range of biodiversity, including many threatened species. They occur predominantly in lowland farmland but also in urban areas. The distribution of hedgerows reflects historic and current agricultural and social practices, and underlying biophysical variables. Hedgerows are largely man-made features, which historically were created through the planting of woody species for the specific purpose of dividing up rural land and preventing the movement of stock between land parcels. In urban areas, hedgerows have mainly been planted to create boundaries between properties, for aesthetic or wildlife reasons within gardens and parks. The length of hedgerows in England needs to increase substantially in order to support thriving biodiversity and to achieve Favourable Conservation Status (FCS). There is a moderate amount of evidence supporting the recommended level of increase in hedgerow, but the evidence that is available overwhelmingly supports an increase in length for a range of taxa. Overall confidence in an increase in hedgerow length being required is high. Higher average density of hedgerows (in suitable habitats) due to increased length will result in improvements in the provision of hedgerow habitat for wildlife and in landscape connectivity. The use of hedgerows by mobile species for daily movement (e.g. foraging) is well supported by available evidence, across a range of taxa. There is less evidence for the role of hedgerows for population dispersal or migration, despite their strong potential to support connectivity and the likely importance of this in the context of climate change. Since hedgerows consist primarily of shrubs and trees, their distribution is associated with that of shrubby and/or woodland habitats. There is strong evidence that to achieve Favourable Conservation Status the national distribution of hedgerows is likely to remain broadly unchanged. However, increases in extent will alter the smaller scale distribution of hedgerows in parts of the current range. Evidence about the specific types of landscapes in which additional hedgerows may best be placed to optimise support to biodiversity is limited. The quality of hedgerows, defined through a series of structural and functional attributes, strongly determines how well hedgerows support biodiversity across a broad range of taxa. Hedgerow height and width, the provision of flowers (pollen and nectar resources for pollinators) and berries (for overwintering wildlife), the presence of mature trees, and the density and structural diversity of the hedgerow network are all examples of quality attributes which affect how well hedgerows can support wildlife. Detailed recommendations and thresholds for these quality attributes are given in this document, based both on current hedgerow condition criteria and additional attributes for which good evidence is available. Overall, the evidence for the requirement that hedgerows need to be of good quality (as defined here) to support thriving biodiversity is strong. Currently, the majority of hedgerows in England are not in good condition, which poses a considerable threat to achieving FCS for hedgerows

Improving and expanding hedgerows - recommendations for a semi-natural habitat in agricultural landscapes

•1. Hedgerows provide habitat, shelter and resources for many species including functionally important taxa and threatened species. Hedgerows store carbon both above- and below-ground and provide a range of other ecosystem services. Policies incentivizing increases in the extent and quality of hedgerows require evidence to determine how these increases may best support a wide range of taxa and to improve hedgerow habitat quality. •2. Here, available evidence for increasing hedgerow extent and improving their quality is discussed in the context of current conservation policy. Moderate evidence supports a substantial increase in average hedgerow extent from 4.2 km/km2 to around 10 km/km2 in the United Kingdom, to optimize support for many wildlife taxa, habitat connectivity and carbon storage. •3. Evidence also supports the development of wider and structurally denser hedges with more diverse structures and management approaches, and hedgerow networks that are well connected with each other and with other semi-natural habitats. •4. However, barriers may hinder the implementation of hedgerow policies, and there remain substantive gaps in the evidence base. Knowledge gaps include the current quality or condition of UK hedges, understanding in which landscape contexts new hedges would best be planted to support biodiversity, the role of hedgerows in connectivity as species' ranges change under a future climate, and whether an increase in hedgerow extent might increase the spread of invasive species, tree pests or diseases. •5. These gaps must be filled if conservation policies, including future agri-environment schemes, are to ensure that hedgerows reach their considerable potential in aiding nature's recovery and addressing climate change

Sex-specific depressive symptoms as markers of pre-Alzheimer dementia: findings from the Three-City cohort study

International audienceLate-life depression, as a potential marker of pre-dementia, has seldom been explored by symptom dimension and sex, despite sexual dimorphic differences. This study aimed to examine whether specific depressive dimensions were associated with pre-Alzheimer's disease dementia (pre-AD), separately for women and men. Data were drawn from 5617 (58% women) community-dwellers aged 65+ recruited in 1999-2000 and followed at 2-year intervals for 12 years. We used Cox proportional hazard models to study associations between time-dependent Centre for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) symptom dimensions (namely somatic, depressed, positive affect, and interpersonal challenge) and pre-AD, defined retrospectively from validated diagnoses established 3.5 (IQR: 3.2-4.0) years onwards. Analyses were performed according to overall depressive symptomatology (DS+: CES-D score ≥ 16) and antidepressant/anxiolytic medication use (AA). Results indicated that in DS+ women only, all four dimensions were significantly associated with pre-AD in the AA-group, in particular somatic item 'Mind' and depressed affect items 'Depressed' and 'Blues'. The most depression-specific dimension, depressed affect, was also significantly associated with pre-AD in the DS-AA-women (HR:1.28, 95%CI: 1.12;1.47). In both sexes, in the DS-groups somatic affect was the most robust pre-AD marker, irrespective of treatment (women: HR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.08;1.38; men: HR = 1.30, 95%CI: 1.14;1.48). Our findings highlight sex-specific associations between depressive symptom dimensions and pre-AD, modulated by depressive symptomatology and treatment. Assessment of specific symptom dimensions taking into account overall symptomatology and treatment could help identify and target high-risk AD-dementia profiles for interventions

Occupational impacts of early inflammatory arthritis : results from the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit

Peer reviewe

Diagnostic delay is common for patients with axial spondyloarthritis: Results from the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit

OBJECTIVES: Updated guidelines for patients with axial SpA (axSpA) have sought to reduce diagnostic delay by raising awareness among clinicians. We used the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit (NEIAA) to describe baseline characteristics and time to diagnosis for newly referred patients with axSpA in England and Wales. METHODS: Analyses were performed on sociodemographic and clinical metrics, including time to referral and assessment, for axSpA patients (n = 784) recruited to the NEIAA between May 2018 and March 2020. Comparators were patients recruited to the NEIAA with RA (n = 9270) or mechanical back pain (MBP; n = 370) in the same period. RESULTS: Symptom duration prior to initial rheumatology assessment was longer in axSpA than RA patients (P 6 months, compared with 33.7% of RA patients and 76.0% of MBP patients. Following referral, the median time to initial rheumatology assessment was longer for axSpA than RA patients (36 vs 24 days; P < 0.001) and similar to MBP patients (39 days; P = 0.30). Of the subset of patients deemed eligible for early inflammatory arthritis pathway follow-up, fewer axSpA than RA patients had disease education provided (77.5% vs 97.8%) and RA patients reported a better understanding of their condition and treatment. CONCLUSION: Diagnostic delay in axSpA remains a major challenge despite improved disease understanding and updated referral guidelines. Disease education is provided to fewer axSpA than RA patients, highlighting the need for specialist clinics and support programmes for axSpA patients

GPI spectra of HR 8799 c, d, and e from 1.5 to 2.4μ\mum with KLIP Forward Modeling

We explore KLIP forward modeling spectral extraction on Gemini Planet Imager coronagraphic data of HR 8799, using PyKLIP and show algorithm stability with varying KLIP parameters. We report new and re-reduced spectrophotometry of HR 8799 c, d, and e in H & K bands. We discuss a strategy for choosing optimal KLIP PSF subtraction parameters by injecting simulated sources and recovering them over a range of parameters. The K1/K2 spectra for HR 8799 c and d are similar to previously published results from the same dataset. We also present a K band spectrum of HR 8799 e for the first time and show that our H-band spectra agree well with previously published spectra from the VLT/SPHERE instrument. We show that HR 8799 c and d show significant differences in their H & K spectra, but do not find any conclusive differences between d and e or c and e, likely due to large error bars in the recovered spectrum of e. Compared to M, L, and T-type field brown dwarfs, all three planets are most consistent with mid and late L spectral types. All objects are consistent with low gravity but a lack of standard spectra for low gravity limit the ability to fit the best spectral type. We discuss how dedicated modeling efforts can better fit HR 8799 planets' near-IR flux and discuss how differences between the properties of these planets can be further explored.Comment: Accepted to AJ, 25 pages, 16 Figure

Gout incidence and management during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, UK: a nationwide observational study using OpenSAFELY

BackgroundGout is the most prevalent inflammatory arthritis, yet one of the worst managed. Our objective was to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted incidence and quality of care for people with gout in England, UK.MethodsWith the approval of National Health Service England, we did a population-level cohort study using primary care and hospital electronic health record data for 17·9 million adults registered with general practices using TPP health record software, via the OpenSAFELY platform. The study period was from March 1, 2015, to Feb 28, 2023. Individuals aged 18–110 years were defined as having incident gout if they were assigned index diagnostic codes for gout, were registered with TPP practices in England for at least 12 months before diagnosis, did not receive prescriptions for urate-lowering therapy more than 30 days before diagnosis, and had not been admitted to hospital or attended an emergency department for gout flares more than 30 days before diagnosis. Outcomes assessed were incidence and prevalence of people with recorded gout diagnoses, incidence of gout hospitalisations, initiation of urate-lowering therapy, and attainment of serum urate targets (≤360 μmol/L).FindingsFrom a reference population of 17 865 145 adults, 246 695 individuals were diagnosed with incident gout. The mean age of individuals with incident gout was 61·3 years (SD 16·2). 66 265 (26·9%) of 246 695 individuals were female, 180 430 (73·1%) were male, and 189 035 (90·9%) of 208 050 individuals with available ethnicity data were White. Incident gout diagnoses decreased by 30·9% in the year beginning March, 2020, compared with the preceding year (1·23 diagnoses vs 1·78 diagnoses per 1000 adults). Gout prevalence was 3·07% in 2015–16, and 3·21% in 2022–23. Gout hospitalisations decreased by 30·1% in the year commencing March, 2020, compared with the preceding year (9·6 admissions vs 13·7 admissions per 100 000 adults). Of 228 095 people with incident gout and available follow-up, 66 560 (29·2%) were prescribed urate-lowering therapy within 6 months. Of 65 305 individuals who initiated urate-lowering therapy with available follow-up, 16 790 (25·7%) attained a serum urate concentration of 360 μmol/L or less within 6 months of urate-lowering therapy initiation. In interrupted time-series analyses, urate-lowering therapy prescribing improved modestly during the pandemic, compared with pre-pandemic, whereas urate target attainment was similar.InterpretationUsing gout as an exemplar disease, we showed the complexity of how health care was impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed a reduction in gout diagnoses but no effect on treatment metrics. We showed how country-wide, routinely collected data can be used to map disease epidemiology and monitor care quality