Wild horses in a ‘European wilderness’: imagining sustainable development in the post-Communist countryside

When the Soviet Union and its satellite regimes collapsed, they bequeathed to successor states an unexpected dual legacy: an outsized, backward agrarian sector on the one hand and a wealth of undeveloped nature, rich in biological diversity, on the other. Popular perceptions of the region centre on nightmarish images of environmental devastation, but environmentalists on both sides of the former ‘Iron Curtain’ are increasingly recognizing the unintended benefits to nature of Communist underdevelopment. Eight of the post-Communist states have now consummated their long-awaited ‘return to Europe’, but as they begin a new era as European Union members, they confront a critical developmental challenge. Faced with declining agricultural prospects and growing Western interest in Eastern nature, what to do with a large and underemployed rural population and an everexpanding area of marginal farmland? This article contributes to a growing literature on the political ecology of post-Communist transformation in the ‘Second World’ through a case study from Latvia. At Lake Pape, the Latvian program office of WWF International has implemented a Western-funded project in ecosystem restoration and eco-tourism promotion involving introduction of wild horses in a remote but ecologically rich coastal wetland area. I explore diverse Latvian responses to the polysemic Western narratives of sustainable rural development and biodiversity conservation that have been borne into Eastern Europe along with Western aid monies. Local mediation of these narratives is shaped by the struggle between competing ‘agrarian’ and ‘internationalist’ understandings of national geography, identity and developmental destiny that have structured cultural and political discourse since the emergence of Latvian nationalism 150 years ago

Reserve-building as a buffer for depression among individuals living with disability: a longitudinal study of current activities related to brain health

AimsThis study examined whether reserve-building activities are associated with attenuated reported depression among people who were disabled from work due to a medical condition as compared to employed, retired, and unemployed participants.MethodsThis secondary analysis included 771 individuals who provided data at three time points: baseline (late Spring 2020), follow-up 1 (Spring 2021), and follow-up 2 (Fall 2021). The DeltaQuest Reserve-Building Measure assessed current activities related to brain health. An analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficients assessed group differences in reserve-building activity scores. Classification and regression tree (CART) modeling investigated factors associated with higher and lower reported depression by employment group. The random effects (RE) models tested two buffering hypotheses: (1) comparing all groups to the employed group and (2) examining within-group effects.ResultsEngaging in outdoor activities, exercise, and religious/spiritual activities was associated with reduced depression over time in the overall sample. While disabled participants endorsed lower levels of being Active in the World, Outdoor activities, and Exercise and higher levels of Inner Life and Passive Media Consumption than the other employment groups, more reserve-building activities distinguished depression levels in the disabled group's CART models compared to the others. Among the disabled, unemployed, and retired participants, engaging in any reserve-building activities was also associated with lower depression scores, which was distinct from the employed participants. In the RE models that used the employed group as the reference category, only the disabled group's level of depression was buffered by engaging in creative activities. In the within-group RE models, the disabled group's engagement in Religious/Spiritual, Outdoors, and Games was associated with substantially reduced within-group depression, which was different from the other employment groups. In contrast, reserve-building activities were not implicated at all as buffers for employed participants.ConclusionThis study revealed a beneficial effect of reserve-building activities on buffering depression over time during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for disabled people. It documented that even if such individuals engaged in lesser amounts of such activities as compared to other employment groups, the buffering effect was substantial. Given the low-cost and accessible nature of reserve-building activities, it would be worthwhile to encourage such activities for disabled individuals

mRNA, rRNA and DNA Quantitative Stable Isotope Probing with H218O Indicates Use of Old rRNA among Soil Thaumarchaeota

RNA is considered to be a short-lived molecule, indicative of cellular metabolic activity, whereas DNA is thoughtto turn over more slowly because living cells do not always grow and divide. To explore differences in the ratesof synthesis of these nucleic acids, we used H218O quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP) to measure theincorporation of18O into 16S rRNA, the 16S rDNA,amoAmRNA and theamoAgene of soil Thaumarchaeota.Incorporation of18O into the thaumarchaealamoAmRNA pool was faster than into the 16S rRNA pool,suggesting that Thaumarchaea were metabolically active while using rRNA molecules that were likely synthe-tized prior to H218O addition. Assimilation rates of18O into 16S rDNA andamoAgenes were similar, which wasexpected because both genes are present in the same thaumarchaeal genome. The Thaumarchaea had sig-nificantly higher rRNA to rDNA ratios than bacteria, though the18O isotopic signature of thaumarchaeal rRNAwas lower than that of bacterial rRNA, further suggesting preservation of old non-labeled rRNA. Through qSIP ofsoil with H218O, we showed that18O incorporation into thaumarchaeal nucleic acids was generally low, in-dicating slower turnover rates compared to bacteria, and potentially suggesting thaumarchaeal capability forpreservation and efficient reuse of biomolecules

Special Issue on the Economics of Security and Privacy: Guest Editors’ Introduction

This editorial introduces the special issue on the economics of security and privacy. The global adoption of the Internet has transformed economies and societies. However, Internet technologies have also resulted in heightened societal concerns about information security and privacy. Insufficient safeguards—actual or perceived—have become a barrier to certain economic activity, and a source of downside risk to growth and sustainability, with possible systemic impact. Scholars have long realized that choices pertaining to security and privacy affect the world in ways that are not captured within the narrow modeling of engineering systems. In essence, these choices are strategic decisions. Thus, the analysis that is performed should incorporate the models and methods developed in economics and, where applicable, in the behavioral sciences

Committing to ecological restoration: Efforts around the globe need legal and policy clarification

At the September 2014 United Nations Climate Summit, governments rallied around an international agreement—the New York Declaration on Forests—that underscored restoration of degraded ecosystems as an auspicious solution to climate change. Ethiopia committed to restore more than one-sixth of its land. Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, and Colombia pledged to restore huge areas within their borders. In total, parties committed to restore a staggering 350 million hectares by 2030.Fil: Suding, Kathering. State University Of Colorado-boulder; Estados UnidosFil: Higgs, Eric. University Of Victoria; CanadáFil: Palmer, Margaret. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Callicott, J. Baird. University Of North Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Anderson, Christopher Brian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Baker, Matthew. University Of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Gutrich, John J.. Southern Oregon University; Estados UnidosFil: Hondula, Kelly L.. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Lafevor, Matthew C.. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Larson, Brendon M. H.. University Of Waterloo; CanadáFil: Randall, Alan. Ohio State University; Estados Unidos. University Of Sidney; AustraliaFil: Ruhl, J. B.. Vanderbilt University; Estados UnidosFil: Schwartz, Katrina Z. S.. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Estados Unido

Characterization of superconducting through-silicon vias as capacitive elements in quantum circuits

The large physical size of superconducting qubits and their associated on-chip control structures presents a practical challenge towards building a large-scale quantum computer. In particular, transmons require a high-quality-factor shunting capacitance that is typically achieved by using a large coplanar capacitor. Other components, such as superconducting microwave resonators used for qubit state readout, are typically constructed from coplanar waveguides which are millimeters in length. Here we use compact superconducting through-silicon vias to realize lumped element capacitors in both qubits and readout resonators to significantly reduce the on-chip footprint of both of these circuit elements. We measure two types of devices to show that TSVs are of sufficient quality to be used as capacitive circuit elements and provide a significant reductions in size over existing approaches

Clinical and radiologic factors associated with adnexal torsion in premenarchal and menarchal children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Adnexal torsion is a gynecologic emergency in children and adolescents but remains a challenging diagnosis, with no consistent clinical or radiologic diagnostic criteria. Our objective was to identify risk factors associated with adnexal torsion in premenarchal and menarchal patients with surgically confirmed torsion compared with those without torsion. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients who underwent surgery between January 2016 and December 2019 for possible adnexal torsion. Data on demographics, clinical characteristics, radiologic variables, and operative findings were compared using descriptive statistics. Independent predictors of torsion were then examined in multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: Of the 291 patients who underwent surgery, 168 (57.7%) had torsion. Patients with torsion were younger than those without torsion (11.9 vs. 14.2 years, P \u3c .01). Vomiting was significantly associated with torsion for all patients (P \u3c .001). Large adnexal volume and absent arterial Doppler flow were associated with torsion for the total population and menarchal subgroup. A logistic regression model for the total population that controlled for age and menarchal status found that vomiting (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 5.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.87-12.22), highest adnexal volume category (aOR 4.92, 95% CI 2.25-10.75), and absent arterial Doppler flow (aOR 2.674, 95% CI 1.28-5.60) were associated with torsion. CONCLUSIONS: Vomiting, enlarged adnexal volume, and absent arterial Doppler flow were associated with adnexal torsion. However, no single risk factor accurately diagnosed torsion, and multiple factors should be interpreted together. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Study of Diagnostic Test, Level II

An International Multicenter Cohort Study on beta-Blockers for the Treatment of Symptomatic Children With Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia

Background: Symptomatic children with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) are at risk for recurrent arrhythmic events. β-Blockers decrease this risk, but studies comparing individual β-blockers in sizeable cohorts are lacking. We aimed to assess the association between risk for arrhythmic events and type of β-blocker in a large cohort of symptomatic children with CPVT.Methods: From 2 international registries of patients with CPVT, RYR2 variant–carrying symptomatic children (defined as syncope or sudden cardiac arrest before β-blocker initiation and age at start of β-blocker therapy &lt;18 years), treated with a β-blocker were included. Cox regression analyses with time-dependent covariates for β-blockers and potential confounders were used to assess the hazard ratio (HR). The primary outcome was the first occurrence of sudden cardiac death, sudden cardiac arrest, appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shock, or syncope. The secondary outcome was the first occurrence of any of the primary outcomes except syncope.Results: We included 329 patients (median age at diagnosis, 12 [interquartile range, 7–15] years, 35% females). Ninety-nine (30.1%) patients experienced the primary outcome and 74 (22.5%) experienced the secondary outcome during a median follow-up of 6.7 (interquartile range, 2.8–12.5) years. Two-hundred sixteen patients (66.0%) used a nonselective β-blocker (predominantly nadolol [n=140] or propranolol [n=70]) and 111 (33.7%) used a β1-selective β-blocker (predominantly atenolol [n=51], metoprolol [n=33], or bisoprolol [n=19]) as initial β-blocker. Baseline characteristics did not differ. The HRs for both the primary and secondary outcomes were higher for β1-selective compared with nonselective β-blockers (HR, 2.04 [95% CI, 1.31–3.17]; and HR, 1.99 [95% CI, 1.20–3.30], respectively). When assessed separately, the HR for the primary outcome was higher for atenolol (HR, 2.68 [95% CI, 1.44–4.99]), bisoprolol (HR, 3.24 [95% CI, 1.47–7.18]), and metoprolol (HR, 2.18 [95% CI, 1.08–4.40]) compared with nadolol, but did not differ from propranolol. The HR of the secondary outcome was only higher in atenolol compared with nadolol (HR, 2.68 [95% CI, 1.30–5.55]).Conclusions: β1-selective β-blockers were associated with a significantly higher risk for arrhythmic events in symptomatic children with CPVT compared with nonselective β-blockers, specifically nadolol. Nadolol, or propranolol if nadolol is unavailable, should be the preferred β-blocker for treating symptomatic children with CPVT.</p

Defining Natural History: Assessment of the Ability of College Students to Aid in Characterizing Clinical Progression of Niemann-Pick Disease, Type C

Niemann-Pick Disease, type C (NPC) is a fatal, neurodegenerative, lysosomal storage disorder. It is a rare disease with broad phenotypic spectrum and variable age of onset. These issues make it difficult to develop a universally accepted clinical outcome measure to assess urgently needed therapies. To this end, clinical investigators have defined emerging, disease severity scales. The average time from initial symptom to diagnosis is approximately 4 years. Further, some patients may not travel to specialized clinical centers even after diagnosis. We were therefore interested in investigating whether appropriately trained, community-based assessment of patient records could assist in defining disease progression using clinical severity scores. In this study we evolved a secure, step wise process to show that pre-existing medical records may be correctly assessed by non-clinical practitioners trained to quantify disease progression. Sixty-four undergraduate students at the University of Notre Dame were expertly trained in clinical disease assessment and recognition of major and minor symptoms of NPC. Seven clinical records, randomly selected from a total of thirty seven used to establish a leading clinical severity scale, were correctly assessed to show expected characteristics of linear disease progression. Student assessment of two new records donated by NPC families to our study also revealed linear progression of disease, but both showed accelerated disease progression, relative to the current severity scale, especially at the later stages. Together, these data suggest that college students may be trained in assessment of patient records, and thus provide insight into the natural history of a disease