Progress towards the experimental reintroduction of woodland caribou to Minnesota and adjacent Ontario

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are native to Minnesota but started to decline in the mid 1800s and disappeared from the state by 1940. Their demise had been attributed to extensive timber harvest and ovethunting; but more recently mortality from the meningeal worm, Parelaphostrongylus tenuis, carried by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and increased prédation by timber wolves (Canis lupus) and black bears (Ursus americanus) have been suggested as additional causes. We describe a current initiative to explore feasibility of restoring caribou to the boundary waters region of Minnesota and Ontario. Feasibility studies have been conducted under the guidance of the North Central Catibou Corporation (NCCC), a non-governmental organization with representation from relevant state, federal, Native American, and Canadian agencies. Results indicate a) Within Minnesota the most suitable site for woodland caribou lies within the eastern sector of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), and this is contiguous with a similarly suitable sector of Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park: Together these comprise the recommended 1300-km2 Boundary Waters Caribou Region (BWCR); b) Vegetation in the BWCR has changed little since the 1920s when caribou were last present other than effects of fire suppression; c) Level of white-tailed deer, hence the meningeal worm, is so low in the BWCR that this factor is unlikely to impede survival of re-introduced caribou; d) While wolf numbers within the wider region are relatively high, their impacts may be minimized if caribou are released in small, widely scattered groups; in addition, an abundance of lakes with islands affords good summer-time prédation security; e) Threat to calves from black bears, probably more numerous than in earlier times, appears lessened by the security of lakeshores and islands; and f) A simulation model, combining knowledge from elsewhere with the BWCR assessment, suggests that released animals have a 0.2 to 0.8 chance of increasing in numbers during the first 20 years post-release. Strategies for maximizing success are identified. NCCC has concluded that the only practical approach that remains for determining restoration feasibility is through experimental releases or caribou. While promise of eventual success appears only moderate, the NCCC feels that costs and uncertainties associated with the experiment are justified by the environmental benefits from a success. Even if the effort fails, valuable knowledge would accrue for conservation biologists in general. An action plan is outlined, and progress and problems in selling the caribou initiative are discussed

Stochastic modeling and financial viability of mollusk aquaculture

Compared to finfish and crustaceans, limited attention has been given to the economic modeling and production risk analysis of mollusk aquaculture. Given mollusk aquaculture's sensitivity to environmental factors, understanding production risk and its relationship to production technology and location is critical to firm viability. We modeled production as a function of random elements and performed stochastic risk analysis utilizing Monte Carlo simulation in conjunction with sensitivity analysis and scenario comparison. We applied these methods to compare different equipment systems and production strategies. This paper provides a framework for shellfish risk research that can be applied to various regions and species.publishedVersio

Reducing Risky Driving Behavior: The Impact of an Adolescent Driver Intervention Program With and Without Mandatory Parental Attendance

The United States is a vehicle-dependent society and allows adolescents to obtain driver’s licenses at age 16 or younger. This study examined the impacts of a driver intervention program on reducing risky driving behaviors among youths who had received their first traffic citation, as well as parental management of driving practices. Participants consisted of 243 youths ages 16 and 17 who were court-ordered to attend the Ohio 4-H CARTEENS (CAR = Caution and Responsibility and TEENS = Teens who volunteer as teachers) program with and without parents. Results indicated that risky driving behavior decreased significantly for both groups after the intervention program. Parental management practices, however, increased only for youths attending without parents. Regression analysis indicated that risky driving behavior at Time 1 and levels of parental management (parental control) at Time 2 predicted risky driving behavior after completion of the program. Implications of this study include the importance of adolescent driver intervention and prevention programs to teach youths about unsafe driving practices before licensure

Different hydrogen-bonded chains in the crystal structures of three alkyl N-[(E )-1-(2-benzylidene-1-methylhydrazinyl)-3- hydroxy-1-oxopropan-2-yl]carbamates

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A Comparative Study of the ReCell® Device and Autologous Spit-Thickness Meshed Skin Graft in the Treatment of Acute Burn Injuries.

Early excision and autografting are standard care for deeper burns. However, donor sites are a source of significant morbidity. To address this, the ReCell® Autologous Cell Harvesting Device (ReCell) was designed for use at the point-of-care to prepare a noncultured, autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) capable of epidermal regeneration using minimal donor skin. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the clinical performance of ReCell vs meshed split-thickness skin grafts (STSG, Control) for the treatment of deep partial-thickness burns. Effectiveness measures were assessed to 1 year for both ASCS and Control treatment sites and donor sites, including the incidence of healing, scarring, and pain. At 4 weeks, 98% of the ASCS-treated sites were healed compared with 100% of the Controls. Pain and assessments of scarring at the treatment sites were reported to be similar between groups. Significant differences were observed between ReCell and Control donor sites. The mean ReCell donor area was approximately 40 times smaller than that of the Control (P < .0001), and after 1 week, significantly more ReCell donor sites were healed than Controls (P = .04). Over the first 16 weeks, patients reported significantly less pain at the ReCell donor sites compared with Controls (P ≤ .05 at each time point). Long-term patients reported higher satisfaction with ReCell donor site outcomes compared with the Controls. This study provides evidence that the treatment of deep partial-thickness burns with ASCS results in comparable healing, with significantly reduced donor site size and pain and improved appearance relative to STSG

An exploratory survey on the awareness and usage of clinical practice guidelines among clinical pharmacists

Background: The NHLBI has not developed clinical practice guidelines since 2007. As a result, multiple organizations have released competing guidelines. This has created confusion and debate among clinicians as to which recommendations are most applicable for practice. Objectives: To explore preliminary attitudes, awareness, and usage of clinical practice guidelines in practice and teaching for hypertension, dyslipidemia and asthma among clinical pharmacists. Methods: Clinical pharmacists across the US were surveyed electronically over a two week period in Spring 2019 regarding utilization and knowledge of practice guidelines for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and asthma. Clinical cases were included to evaluate application of guidelines. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square analysis, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were conducted. Statistical significance level was set to 0.01 to account for multiple tests conducted on the same survey participants. Results: Forty-eight, 34, and 28 pharmacists voluntarily completed hypertension, dyslipidemia, and asthma survey questions, respectively. Interactions by disease state (p \u3c 0.001) revealed more pharmacists (93%) reporting to have ≤50% patient load in managing asthma and more pharmacists (95%) had read the full summary/report of the most recent hypertension guideline. Primary reasons why the most recent guideline was not selected were also significantly different by disease state (interaction; p \u3c 0.001). For dyslipidemia and asthma, pharmacists had a higher mean rating of agreement (p \u3c0.007) in having the most confidence in the most recent as compared to older guidelines. Proportionally more clinical cases were answered correctly (interaction; p \u3c0.001) when pharmacists applied the most recent guideline for hypertension (84%), while the opposite outcome was found for asthma (27%). Conclusion: While more pharmacists selected the most recent guideline for practice and teaching, there was inconsistent application of guidelines to clinical cases. Further studies with a larger representation of pharmacists are warranted to more definitively determine factors influencing guideline preference and usage

Assessing Oromotor Capacity in ALS: The Effect of a Fixed-Target Task on Lip Biomechanics

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Alternating motion rate (AMR) is a standard measure often included in neurological examinations to assess orofacial neuromuscular integrity. AMR is typically derived from recordings of patients producing repetitions of a single syllable as fast and clear as possible on one breath. Because the task places high demands on oromotor performance, particularly articulatory speed, AMRs are widely considered to be tests of maximum performance and, therefore, likely to reveal underlying neurologic deficits. Despite decades of widespread use, biomechanical studies have shown that speakers often circumvent the presumed speed challenge of the standard AMR task. Specifically, speakers are likely to manipulate their displacements (movement amplitude) instead of speed because this strategy requires less motor effort. The current study examined the effectiveness of a novel fixed-target paradigm for minimizing the truncation of articulatory excursions and maximizing motor effort. We compared the standard AMR task to that of a fixed-target AMR task and focused specifically on the tasks' potential to detect decrements in lip motor performance in persons with dysarthria due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Our participants were 14 healthy controls and 17 individuals with ALS. For the standard AMR task, participants were instructed to produce the syllable /bα/ as quickly and accurately as possible on one breath. For the fixed-target AMR task, participants were given the same instructions, but were also required to strike a physical target placed under the jaw during the opening phase of each syllable. Lip kinematic data were obtained using 3D electromagnetic articulography. 16 kinematic features were extracted using an algorithmic approach. Findings revealed that compared to the standard task, the fixed-target AMR task placed increased motor demands on the oromotor system by eliciting larger excursions, faster speeds, and greater spatiotemporal variability. In addition, participants with ALS exhibited limited ability to adapt to the higher articulatory demands of the fixed-target task. Between the two AMR tasks, the maximum speed during the fixed-target task showed a moderate association with the ALSFRS-R bulbar subscore. Employment of both standard and fixed-target AMR tasks is, however, needed for comprehensive assessment of oromotor function and for elucidating profiles of task adaptation