Radial-Growth Response of Forest-Tundra Trees to Climate in the Western Hudson Bay Lowlands

The effects of climate on radial growth of Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, and Picea mariana (Mill) BSP were investigated in the Hudson Bay Lowlands of northern Manitoba. The objective was to characterize spatial and temporal variations in growth of trees across the forest-tundra ecotone. Along a 250 km transect, 299 trees were sampled in three zones: northern forest, central tundra, and southern forest. Ring-width indices were compared with climate through correlation- and response-function analyses. Numerous years of suppressed growth at the three locales resulted from cooling that followed major volcanic eruptions at much lower latitudes. Temperatures during July of the current year and autumn of the previous year were most limiting, particularly for L. laricina, which was temperature-sensitive across the region. A weakened growth response to temperature during the 1940–60 period was likely due to atmospheric circulation shifts. Most chronologies were intercorrelated, which suggests common environmental forcing, though environmental influences differed in the southern forest (particularly for P. mariana). The source of this disparity has yet to be determined.Les effets du climat sur la croissance radiale de Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch, de Picea glauca (Moench) Voss et de Picea mariana (Mill) BSP ont fait l’objet d’une étude dans les basses-terres de la baie d’Hudson, au nord du Manitoba. L’objectif de cette étude consistait à caractériser les variations spatiales et temporelles en matière de croissance des arbres à l’échelle de l’écotone de la toundra forestière. Le long d’un transect de 250 km, 299 arbres ont été échantillonnés dans trois zones : la forêt septentrionale, la toundra centrale et la forêt méridionale. Les indices de la largeur des cernes ont été comparés aux données climatiques au moyen d’analyses de corrélation et de fonction de réponse. De nombreuses années de croissance affaiblie aux trois endroits découlaient du refroidissement ayant suivi d’importantes éruptions volcaniques à des latitudes beaucoup moins élevées. Les températures enregistrées en juillet de l’année courante et à l’automne de l’année précédente étaient plus restrictives, particulièrement dans le cas de L. laricina, qui était sensible aux températures dans toute la région. La réponse de croissance affaiblie enregistrée par rapport aux températures au cours de la période allant de 1940 à 1960 était vraisemblablement attribuable aux décalages de circulation atmosphérique. La plupart des chronologies ont fait l’objet d’inter-corrélations, et celles-ci laissent entrevoir un forçage environnemental courant, bien que les influences environnementales différaient dans la forêt méridionale (particulièrement dans le cas de P. mariana). La source de cette disparité n’a toujours pas été déterminée. Mots clés : dendroclimatologie, toundra forestière, Churchill, largeur des cernes, Picea glauca, Picea mariana, Larix laricina, parc national Wapusk, fonction de réponse, basses-terres de la baie d’Hudso

Conversion of coal mine drainage ochre to water treatment reagent: Production, characterisation and application for P and Zn removal

Coal mine drainage ochre is a ferruginous precipitate that forms from mine water in impacted watercourses and during treatment. With thousands of tonnes per annum of such ochre arising from mine water treatment in the UK alone, management of these wastes is a substantive issue. This paper demonstrates that the ochre from both active and passive treatment of coal mine drainage can be transformed into an effective water treatment reagent by simple acid dissolution and that the reagent can be used for the removal of dissolved phosphorous from municipal wastewater and zinc from non-coal mine waters. Ochre is readily soluble in H2SO4 and HCl. Ochre is more soluble in HCl with solubilities of up to 100 g/L in 20% (w/w) HCl and 68 g/L in 10% (w/w) H2SO4. For four of the eight tested ochres solubility decreased in higher concentrations of H2SO4. Ochre compositional data demonstrate that the coal mine ochres tested are relatively free from problematic levels of elements seen by other authors from acid mine drainage-derived ochre. Comparison to British Standards for use of iron-based coagulants in drinking water treatment was used as an indicator of the acceptability of use of the ochre-derived reagents in terms of potentially problematic elements. The ochre-derived reagents were found to meet the ‘Grade 3’ specification, except for arsenic. Thus, for application in municipal wastewater and mine water treatment additional processing may not be required. There was little observed compositional difference between solutions prepared using H2SO4 or HCl. Ochre-derived reagents showed applicability for the removal of P and Zn with removals of up to 99% and 97% respectively measured for final pH 7–8, likely due to sorption/coprecipitation. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that applying a Fe dose in the form of liquid reagent leads to a better Fe:P and Fe:Zn removal ratio compared to ochre-based sorption media tested in the literature

Rapid global ocean-atmosphere response to Southern Ocean freshening during the last glacial

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record.Contrasting Greenland and Antarctic temperatures during the last glacial period (115,000 to 11,650 years ago) are thought to have been driven by imbalances in the rates of formation of North Atlantic and Antarctic Deep Water (the 'bipolar seesaw'). Here we exploit a bidecadally resolved (14)C data set obtained from New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) to undertake high-precision alignment of key climate data sets spanning iceberg-rafted debris event Heinrich 3 and Greenland Interstadial (GI) 5.1 in the North Atlantic (~30,400 to 28,400 years ago). We observe no divergence between the kauri and Atlantic marine sediment (14)C data sets, implying limited changes in deep water formation. However, a Southern Ocean (Atlantic-sector) iceberg rafted debris event appears to have occurred synchronously with GI-5.1 warming and decreased precipitation over the western equatorial Pacific and Atlantic. An ensemble of transient meltwater simulations shows that Antarctic-sourced salinity anomalies can generate climate changes that are propagated globally via an atmospheric Rossby wave train.A challenge for testing mechanisms of past climate change is the precise correlation of palaeoclimate records. Here, through climate modelling and the alignment of terrestrial, ice and marine (14)C and (10)Be records, the authors show that Southern Ocean freshwater hosing can trigger global change.This work was funded by the Australian Research Council (FL100100195, DP170104665 and SR140300001) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/H009922/1 and NE/H007865/1)

Using intervention mapping to develop evidence-based toolkits that provide mental wellbeing support to workers and their managers whilst on long-term sick leave and following return-to-work

Background Managing long-term sickness absence is challenging in countries where employers and managers have the main responsibility to provide return to work support, particularly for workers with poor mental health. Whilst long-term sick leave and return to work frameworks and guidance exist for employers, there are currently no structured return to work protocols for employers or for their workers encompassing best practice strategies to support a positive and timely return to work outcome. Purpose To utilise the intervention mapping (IM) protocol as a framework to develop return to work toolkits that are underpinned by relevant behaviour change theory targeting mental health to promote a positive return to work experience for workers on long-term sick leave. Methods This paper provides a worked example of intervention mapping (IM) to develop an intervention through a six-step process to combine theory and evidence in the development of two toolkits – one designed for managers and one to be used by workers on long-term sick leave. As part of this process, collaborative planning techniques were used to develop the intervention. A planning group was set up, through which researchers would work alongside employer, worker, and mental health professional representatives to develop the toolkits. Additionally, feedback on the toolkits were sought from the target populations of workers and managers and from wider employer stakeholders (e.g., human resource specialists). The implementation and evaluation of the toolkits as a workplace intervention were also planned. Results Two toolkits were designed following the six steps of intervention mapping. Feedback from the planning group (n = 5; psychologist, psychiatrist, person with previous experience of poor mental health, employer and charity worker) and participants (n = 14; employers = 3, wellbeing director = 1; human resources = 2, managers = 2, employees with previous experience of poor mental health = 5) target populations indicated that the toolkits were acceptable and much needed. Conclusion Using IM allowed the development of an evidence-based practical intervention, whilst incorporating the views of all the impacted stakeholder groups. The feasibility and acceptability of the toolkits and their supporting intervention components, implementation process and methods of assessment will be evaluated in a feasibility pilot randomised controlled trial

Contrast-agent-based perfusion MRI code repository and testing framework: ISMRM Open Science Initiative for Perfusion Imaging (OSIPI)

Purpose Software has a substantial impact on quantitative perfusion MRI values. The lack of generally accepted implementations, code sharing and transparent testing reduces reproducibility, hindering the use of perfusion MRI in clinical trials. To address these issues, the ISMRM Open Science Initiative for Perfusion Imaging (OSIPI) aimed to establish a community-led, centralized repository for sharing open-source code for processing contrast-based perfusion imaging, incorporating an open-source testing framework. Methods A repository was established on the OSIPI GitHub website. Python was chosen as the target software language. Calls for code contributions were made to OSIPI members, the ISMRM Perfusion Study Group, and publicly via OSIPI websites. An automated unit-testing framework was implemented to evaluate the output of code contributions, including visual representation of the results. Results The repository hosts 86 implementations of perfusion processing steps contributed by 12 individuals or teams. These cover all core aspects of DCE- and DSC-MRI processing, including multiple implementations of the same functionality. Tests were developed for 52 implementations, covering five analysis steps. For T1 mapping, signal-to-concentration conversion and population AIF functions, different implementations resulted in near-identical output values. For the five pharmacokinetic models tested (Tofts, extended Tofts-Kety, Patlak, two-compartment exchange, and two-compartment uptake), differences in output parameters were observed between contributions. Conclusions The OSIPI DCE-DSC code repository represents a novel community-led model for code sharing and testing. The repository facilitates the re-use of existing code and the benchmarking of new code, promoting enhanced reproducibility in quantitative perfusion imaging

Reproduction as a bottleneck to treeline advance across the circumarctic forest tundra ecotone

Published versionThe fundamental niche of many species is shifting with climate change, especially in sub-arctic ecosystems with pronounced recent warming. Ongoing warming in sub-arctic regions should lessen environmental constraints on tree growth and reproduction, leading to increased success of trees colonizing tundra. Nevertheless, variable responses of treeline ecotones have been documented in association with warming temperatures. One explanation for time lags between increasingly favourable environmental conditions and treeline ecotone movement is reproductive limitations caused by low seed availability. Our objective was to assess the reproductive constraints of the dominant tree species at the treeline ecotone in the circumpolar north. We sampled reproductive structures of trees (cones and catkins) and stand attributes across circumarctic treeline ecotones. We used generalized linear mixed models to estimate the sensitivity of seed production and the availability of viable seed to regional climate, stand structure, and species-specific characteristics. Both seed production and viability of available seed were strongly driven by specific, sequential seasonal climatic conditions, but in different ways. Seed production was greatest when growing seasons with more growing degree days coincided with years with high precipitation. Two consecutive years with more growing degree days and low precipitation resulted in low seed production. Seasonal climate effects on the viability of available seed depended on the physical characteristics of the reproductive structures. Large-coned and -seeded species take more time to develop mature embryos and were therefore more sensitive to increases in growing degree days in the year of flowering and embryo development. Our findings suggest that both moisture stress and abbreviated growing seasons can have a notable negative influence on the production and viability of available seed at treeline. Our synthesis revealed that constraints on pre-dispersal reproduction within the treeline ecotone might create a considerable time lag for range expansion of tree populations into tundra ecosystems

Dual-specific chimeric antigen receptor T cells and an indirect vaccine eradicate a variety of large solid tumors in an immunocompetent, self-antigen setting

Purpose: While adoptive transfer of T cells bearing a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) can eliminate substantial burdens of some leukemias, the ultimate challenge remains the eradication of large solid tumors for most cancers. We aimed to develop an immunotherapy approach effective against large tumors in an immunocompetent, self-antigen preclinical mouse model. Experimental Design: In this study, we generated dual-specific T cells expressing both a CAR specific for Her2 and a TCR specific for the melanocyte protein (gp100). We used a regimen of adoptive cell transfer incorporating vaccination (ACTIV), with recombinant vaccinia virus expressing gp100, to treat a range of tumors including orthotopic breast tumors and large liver tumors. Results: ACTIV therapy induced durable complete remission of a variety of Her2+ tumors, some in excess of 150 mm2, in immunocompetent mice expressing Her2 in normal tissues, including the breast and brain. Vaccinia virus induced extensive proliferation of T cells, leading to massive infiltration of T cells into tumors. Durable tumor responses required the chemokine receptor CXCR3 and exogenous IL-2, but were independent of IFN-gamma. Mice were resistant to tumor rechallenge, indicating immune memory involving epitope spreading. Evidence of limited neurologic toxicity was observed, associated with infiltration of cerebellum by T cells, but was only transient. Conclusions: This study supports a view that it is possible to design a highly effective combination immunotherapy for solid cancers, with acceptable transient toxicity, even when the target antigen is also expressed in vital tissuesThis work was supported by grants from the Cancer Council of Victoria, Australia (1066554), The Peter MacCallum Cancer Center Foundation, and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia (1103352). C.Y. Slaney and P. Beavis were supported by Postdoctoral Fellowships from the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia. A.J. Davenport and S. Mardiana received Postgraduate Scholarships from the Fight Cancer Foundation and University of Melbourne respectively. R.W. Johnstone and M.J. Smyth were supported by Senior Principal Research Fellowships from the NHMRC. M.H. Kershaw and P.K. Darcy were supported by Senior Research Fellowships from the NHMRC. S. Ellis was supported by a New Investigator Grant from the NHMR

Significant benefits of AIP testing and clinical screening in familial isolated and young-onset pituitary tumors

Context Germline mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein (AIP) gene are responsible for a subset of familial isolated pituitary adenoma (FIPA) cases and sporadic pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs). Objective To compare prospectively diagnosed AIP mutation-positive (AIPmut) PitNET patients with clinically presenting patients and to compare the clinical characteristics of AIPmut and AIPneg PitNET patients. Design 12-year prospective, observational study. Participants & Setting We studied probands and family members of FIPA kindreds and sporadic patients with disease onset ≤18 years or macroadenomas with onset ≤30 years (n = 1477). This was a collaborative study conducted at referral centers for pituitary diseases. Interventions & Outcome AIP testing and clinical screening for pituitary disease. Comparison of characteristics of prospectively diagnosed (n = 22) vs clinically presenting AIPmut PitNET patients (n = 145), and AIPmut (n = 167) vs AIPneg PitNET patients (n = 1310). Results Prospectively diagnosed AIPmut PitNET patients had smaller lesions with less suprasellar extension or cavernous sinus invasion and required fewer treatments with fewer operations and no radiotherapy compared with clinically presenting cases; there were fewer cases with active disease and hypopituitarism at last follow-up. When comparing AIPmut and AIPneg cases, AIPmut patients were more often males, younger, more often had GH excess, pituitary apoplexy, suprasellar extension, and more patients required multimodal therapy, including radiotherapy. AIPmut patients (n = 136) with GH excess were taller than AIPneg counterparts (n = 650). Conclusions Prospectively diagnosed AIPmut patients show better outcomes than clinically presenting cases, demonstrating the benefits of genetic and clinical screening. AIP-related pituitary disease has a wide spectrum ranging from aggressively growing lesions to stable or indolent disease course

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