Invasions and Extinctions as a Consequence of Climate Change

Invasions and extinctions are occurring at a rate that is unprecedented in historical time. These phenomena are a kind of biological extreme at each end of the spectrum, and both are responses related to landscape and environmental conditions, which also link to climate change. Research shows that species change their ranges in response to climate change and to general predictable trends, but individual responses seem to be idiosyncratic, said moderator Craig Allen. Because of this, there is a need to explicitly anticipate and think about ecological surprises and the unanticipated consequences of global change. Ecological systems often exhibit nonlinear threshold responses, so systems can change suddenly in response to a slow force such as climate change. The Platte River Basin can provide a focal point for the study of invasion and extinction and other effects on species related to changes in climate. The Platte River provides critical habitat for many species, including four threatened and endangered wildlife species: the least tern, piping plover, whooping crane and pallid sturgeon. The shallow riverine wetlands along a narrow 100-mile stretch of the central Platte River provide a crucial stop-over for whooping cranes and more than 500,000 sandhill cranes each spring during their northward migration. Approximately 300,000 shorebirds comprising more than 30 species migrate through the North American Migratory Flyway that transects Nebraska. At the other biological extreme, low water levels in the Platte induced by drought have led to invasive species problems. For example, the common reed Phragmites australis is choking the river channels and hindering habitat restoration efforts

Invasions and Extinctions as a Consequence of Climate Change

Invasions and extinctions are occurring at a rate that is unprecedented in historical time. These phenomena are a kind of biological extreme at each end of the spectrum, and both are responses related to landscape and environmental conditions, which also link to climate change. Research shows that species change their ranges in response to climate change and to general predictable trends, but individual responses seem to be idiosyncratic, said moderator Craig Allen. Because of this, there is a need to explicitly anticipate and think about ecological surprises and the unanticipated consequences of global change. Ecological systems often exhibit nonlinear threshold responses, so systems can change suddenly in response to a slow force such as climate change. The Platte River Basin can provide a focal point for the study of invasion and extinction and other effects on species related to changes in climate. The Platte River provides critical habitat for many species, including four threatened and endangered wildlife species: the least tern, piping plover, whooping crane and pallid sturgeon. The shallow riverine wetlands along a narrow 100-mile stretch of the central Platte River provide a crucial stop-over for whooping cranes and more than 500,000 sandhill cranes each spring during their northward migration. Approximately 300,000 shorebirds comprising more than 30 species migrate through the North American Migratory Flyway that transects Nebraska. At the other biological extreme, low water levels in the Platte induced by drought have led to invasive species problems. For example, the common reed Phragmites australis is choking the river channels and hindering habitat restoration efforts

Study within a trial (SWAT) protocol. Investigating the effect of personalised versus non - personalised study invitations on recruitment : An embedded randomised controlled recruitment trial

Introduction : Recruitment into clinical trials is a common challenge experienced by health care re searchers. Currently, there is little evidence regarding strategies to improve recruitment into clinical trials. However, preliminary research suggests the personalisation of study invitation letters may increase recruitment rates. As such, there is a need to investigate the effectiveness of personalisation strategies on trial recruitment rates. This study within a trial (SWAT) will investigate the effect of personalised versus non-personalised study invitation letters on recruitment rates into the host trial ENGAGE, a feasibility study of an internet - administered, guided, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based self-help intervention for parents of children previously treated for cancer. Methods : An embedded randomised controlled trial (RCT) will investigate the effectiveness of a personalised study invitation letter including the potential participant’s name and address compared with a standard, non-personalised letter without name or address, on participant recruitment rates into the ENGAGE study. The primary out come is differences in the proportion of participants recruited, examined using logistic regression. Results will be reported as adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Discussion : Even moderate effects of the personalisation of study invitation letters on recruitment rates could be of significant value by shortening study length, saving resources, and providing a faster answer to the clinical question posed by the study. This protocol can be used as a template for other researchers who wish to contribute to the evidence base for trial decision-making, by embedding a similar SWAT into their trial. Trial registration : IS RCTN 57233429; IS RCTN 18404129; SWAT 112, Northern Ire land Hub for Trials Methodology Re search SWAT repository (2018 OCT 1 1231)

Swimming with Predators and Pesticides: How Environmental Stressors Affect the Thermal Physiology of Tadpoles

To forecast biological responses to changing environments, we need to understand how a species’s physiology varies through space and time and assess how changes in physiological function due to environmental changes may interact with phenotypic changes caused by other types of environmental variation. Amphibian larvae are well known for expressing environmentally induced phenotypes, but relatively little is known about how these responses might interact with changing temperatures and their thermal physiology. To address this question, we studied the thermal physiology of grey treefrog tadpoles (Hyla versicolor) by determining whether exposures to predator cues and an herbicide (Roundup) can alter their critical maximum temperature (CTmax) and their swimming speed across a range of temperatures, which provides estimates of optimal temperature (Topt) for swimming speed and the shape of the thermal performance curve (TPC). We discovered that predator cues induced a 0.4uC higher CTmax value, whereas the herbicide had no effect. Tadpoles exposed to predator cues or the herbicide swam faster than control tadpoles and the increase in burst speed was higher near Topt. In regard to the shape of the TPC, exposure to predator cues increased Topt by 1.5uC, while exposure to the herbicide marginally lowered Topt by 0.4uC. Combining predator cues and the herbicide produced an intermediate Topt that was 0.5uC higher than the control. To our knowledge this is the first study to demonstrate a predator altering the thermal physiology of amphibian larvae (prey) by increasing CTmax, increasing the optimum temperature, and producing changes in the thermal performance curves. Furthermore, these plastic responses of CTmax and TPC to different inducing environments should be considered when forecasting biological responses to global warming.Peer reviewe

European Society of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Disease Statistics 2017

Background: The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Atlas has been compiled by the European Heart Agency to document cardiovascular disease (CVD) statistics of the 56 ESC member countries. A major aim of this 2017 data presentation has been to compare high income and middle income ESC member countries, in order to identify inequalities in disease burden, outcomes and service provision. Methods: The Atlas utilizes a variety of data sources, including the World Health Organization, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and the World Bank to document risk factors, prevalence and mortality of cardiovascular disease and national economic indicators. It also includes novel ESC sponsored survey data of health infrastructure and cardiovascular service provision provided by the national societies of the ESC member countries. Data presentation is descriptive with no attempt to attach statistical significance to differences observed in stratified analyses. Results: Important differences were identified between the high income and middle income member countries of the ESC with regard to CVD risk factors, disease incidence and mortality. For both women and men, the age-standardised prevalence of hypertension was lower in high income countries (18.3% and 27.3%) compared with middle income countries (23.5% and 30.3%). Smoking prevalence in men (not women) was also lower (26% vs 41.3%), and together these inequalities are likely to have contributed to the higher CVD mortality in middle income countries. Declines in CVD mortality have seen cancer becoming a more common cause of death in a number of high income member countries, but in middle income countries declines in CVD mortality have been less consistent where CVD remains the leading cause of death. Inequalities in CVD mortality are emphasised by the smaller contribution they make to potential years of life lost in high income compared with middle income countries both for women (13% vs. 23%) and men (20% vs. 27%). The downward mortality trends for CVD may, however, be threatened by the emerging obesity epidemic that is seeing rates of diabetes increasing across all ESC member countries. Survey data from the National Cardiac Societies (n=41) showed that rates of cardiac catheterization and coronary artery bypass surgery, as well as the number of specialist centres required to deliver them, were greatest in the high income member countries of the ESC. The Atlas confirmed that these ESC member countries, where the facilities for the contemporary treatment of coronary disease were best developed, were often those in which declines in coronary mortality have been most pronounced. Economic resources were not the only driver for delivery of equitable cardiovascular healthcare, as some middle income ESC member countries reported rates for interventional procedures and device implantations that matched or exceeded the rates in wealthier member countries. Conclusion: In documenting national CVD statistics, the Atlas provides valuable insights into the inequalities in risk factors, healthcare delivery and outcomes of CVD across ESC member countries. The availability of these data will underpin the ESC’s ambitious mission “to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease” not only in its member countries, but also in nation states around the world

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Design, planning and implementation lessons learnt from a surgical multi-centre randomised controlled trial

Background Increasingly, pragmatic randomised controlled trials are being used to evaluate surgical interventions, although they present particular difficulties in regards to recruitment and retention. Methods Procedures and processes related to implementation of a multi-centre pragmatic surgical randomised controlled trial are discussed. In this surgical trial, forecasting of consent rates based on similar trials and micro-costing of study activities with research partners were undertaken and a video was produced targeting recruiting staff with the aim of aiding recruitment. The baseline assessments were reviewed to ensure the timing did not impact on the outcome. Attrition due to procedure waiting time was monitored and data were triangulated for the primary outcome to ensure adequate follow-up data. Results Forecasting and costing ensured that the recruitment window was of adequate length and adequate resource was available for study procedures at multiple clinics in each hospital. Recruiting staff found the recruitment video useful. The comparison of patient-reported data collected prior to randomisation and prior to treatment provided confidence in the baseline data. Knowledge of participant dropout due to delays in treatment meant we were able to increase the recruitment target in a timely fashion, and along with the triangulation of data sources, this ensured adequate follow-up of randomised participants. Conclusions This paper provides a range of evidence-based and experience-based approaches which, collectively, resulted in meeting our study objectives and from which lessons may be transferable