Upland Habitat Quality and Historic Landscape Composition Influence Genetic Variation of a Pond-Breeding Salamander

Understanding the temporal and spatial scale at which habitat alteration impacts populations is important for conservation and management. Amphibians have declined more than other vertebrates, and pond-breeding species are particularly susceptible to habitat loss and fragmentation because they have terrestrial and aquatic life stages. One approach to management of pond-breeding species is protection of core upland habitat surrounding the breeding pond. We used genetic variation as an indicator of population status in a common amphibian species, spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), to determine how amount of suitable upland habitat relates to population status in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina, USA metropolitan area. We developed candidate models to evaluate the relative influence of historical and contemporary forested habitat availability on population genetic variation at two spatial scales of upland area (164 m and 2000 m) at four time intervals over the past seven decades (1938, 1978, 1993, 2005). We found that historical land cover best predicted contemporary allelic richness. Inbreeding coefficient and observed heterozygosity were not effectively predicted by forest cover at either spatial or temporal scales. Allelic richness was best predicted at the smaller spatial scale in the 1993 time interval. Predicting and understanding how future landscape configuration affects genetic variation of common and rare species is imperative for the conservation of amphibian and other wildlife populations

Synthesis and structure of metallated macrocycle-bearing cyclophophazenes. - Part I : The (Li, Mg, Zn)/SPIR0(30203) derivatives

Syntheses and molecular structures of three metallated (Li, Zn, Mg) derivatives of the macrocycle-bearing cyclophosphazene N3P3Cl4 [HN---(CH2)3---O---(CH2)2---O---(CH2)3---NH] (coded as SPIRO 30203, 1) are reported. These three molecular structures reveal three different patterns of metal coordination. In compound 2 one of the two hydrogen atoms in SPIRO 3O2O3 is substituted by lithium generating a dimeric structure with pentacoordinated lithium centers. This structure is further stabilized by N---H hydrogen bonds. In 3 both hydrogen atoms of the macrocyclic loop are replaced by two zinc atoms through a cross-link metallation leading again to a dimeric molecule. In this compound the Zn atom is found to be in a trigonal bipyramidal environment with one very long N---Zn interaction. The origin of the dimerization of the magnesium compound 4 is analogous to 3. Magnesium is in the center of a distorted octahedron, coordinated with the O- and N-donors of the macrocyclic loop and also one nitrogen atom of the N3P3 ring. 4 is the first example of a metallic center coordinated by a neutral phosphazene ligand. Typical metal-N and metal-O distances are (in Å): Li-O, 2.05—2.07; Li-N, 2.07—2.36; Zn-O, 2.08—2.14; Zn---N, 1.94—1.95 (2.49); Mg---O, 2.09—2.14; Mg---N, 2.07—2.31

Synthesis and structure of metallated macrocycle-bearing cyclophophazenes. - Part II : The (Al) /SPIRO (30203) derivatives

Synthesis and molecular structures of two metallated (aluminium) derivatives, [C9H19Cl4AlN5O2P3]· 1.5C7H8 and [C8H16Cl5AiN5O2P3] · 1.5C7H8, of the macrocycle-bearingcyclophosphazene N3P3Cl4 [HN--- (CH2)3---O---(CH2)2---O---(CH2)3-NH] (coded as SPIRO 30203) are reported. These two molecular structures reveal the same pattern of metal coordination where the two hydrogen atoms in SPIRO 30203 are substituted by aluminium generating monomeric structures with pentacoordinated aluminium centres in the inner cavities. In the first compound the exocyclic ligand at aluminium is a methyl group, in the second a chlorine atom. Typical Al---N, Al---O and Al-X distances are (Å):1.84-1.89, 1.97-2.04 and 1.93 in the former, 1.81-1.86, 1.93-2.01 and 2.12 in the latter, respectively

Estimating the Effect of Palliative Care Interventions and Advance Care Planning on ICU Utilization: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a systematic review to answer three questions: 1) Do advance care planning and palliative care interventions lead to a reduction in ICU admissions for adult patients with life-limiting illnesses? 2) Do these interventions reduce ICU length of stay? and 3) Is it possible to provide estimates of the magnitude of these effects? DATA SOURCES: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Clinical Trials, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases from 1995 through March 2014. STUDY SELECTION: We included studies that reported controlled trials (randomized and nonrandomized) assessing the impact of advance care planning and both primary and specialty palliative care interventions on ICU admissions and ICU length of stay for critically ill adult patients. DATA EXTRACTION: Nine randomized controlled trials and 13 nonrandomized controlled trials were selected from 216 references. DATA SYNTHESIS: Nineteen of these studies were used to provide estimates of the magnitude of effect of palliative care interventions and advance care planning on ICU admission and length of stay. Three studies reporting on ICU admissions suggest that advance care planning interventions reduce the relative risk of ICU admission for patients at high risk of death by 37% (SD, 23%). For trials evaluating palliative care interventions in the ICU setting, we found a 26% (SD, 23%) relative risk reduction in length of stay with these interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Despite wide variation in study type and quality, patients who received advance care planning or palliative care interventions consistently showed a pattern toward decreased ICU admissions and reduced ICU length of stay. Although SDs are wide and study quality varied, the magnitude of the effect is possible to estimate and provides a basis for modeling impact on healthcare costs

Residential radon-222 exposure and lung cancer: exposure assessment methodology

Although occupational epidemiological studies and animal experimentation provide strong evidence that radon-222 (222Rn) progeny exposure causes lung cancer, residential epidemiological studies have not confirmed this association. Past residential epidemiological studies have yielded contradictory findings. Exposure misclassification has seriously compromised the ability of these studies to detect whether an association exists between 222Rn exposure and lung cancer. Misclassification of 222Rn exposure has arisen primarily from: 1) detector measurement error; 2) failure to consider temporal and spatial 222Rn variations within a home; 3) missing data from previously occupied homes that currently are inaccessible; 4) failure to link 222Rn concentrations with subject mobility; and 5) measuring 222Rn gas concentration as a surrogate for 222Rn progeny exposure. This paper examines these methodological dosimetry problems and addresses how we are accounting for them in an ongoing, population-based, case-control study of 222Rn and lung cancer in Iowa

What doesn’t kill me ... : adversity-related experiences are vital in the development of superior Olympic performance

Objectives: Recent research suggests that experiencing some adversity can have beneficial outcomes for human growth and development. The purpose of this paper was to explore the adversities that the world’s best athletes encounter and the perceived role that these experiences play in their psychological and performance development. Design: A qualitative design was employed because detailed information of rich quality was required to better understand adversity-related experiences in the world’s best athletes. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 Olympic gold medalists from a variety of sports. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The findings indicate that the participants encountered a range of sport- and non-sport adversities that they considered were essential for winning their gold medals, including repeated non-selection, significant sporting failure, serious injury, political unrest, and the death of a family member. The participants described the role that these experiences played in their psychological and performance development, specifically focusing on their resultant trauma, motivation, and learning. Conclusions: Adversity-related experiences were deemed to be vital in the psychological and performance development of Olympic champions. In the future, researchers should conduct more in-depth comparative studies of Olympic athletes’ adversity- and growth-related experiences, and draw on existing and alternative theoretical explanations of the growth-performance relationship. For professional practitioners, adversity-related experiences offer potential developmental opportunities if they are carefully and purposely harnessed

Translocation of Threatened New Zealand Falcons to Vineyards Increases Nest Attendance, Brooding and Feeding Rates

Anthropogenic landscapes can be rich in resources, and may in some cases provide potential habitat for species whose natural habitat has declined. We used remote videography to assess whether reintroducing individuals of the threatened New Zealand falcon Falco novaeseelandiae into a highly modified agricultural habitat affected the feeding rates of breeding falcons or related breeding behavior such as nest attendance and brooding rates. Over 2,800 recording hours of footage were used to compare the behavior of falcons living in six natural nests (in unmanaged, hilly terrain between 4 km and 20 km from the nearest vineyard), with that of four breeding falcon pairs that had been transported into vineyards and nested within 500 m of the nearest vineyard. Falcons in vineyard nests had higher feeding rates, higher nest attendance, and higher brooding rates. As chick age increased, parents in vineyard nests fed chicks a greater amount of total prey and larger prey items on average than did parents in hill nests. Parents with larger broods brought in larger prey items and a greater total sum of prey biomass. Nevertheless, chicks in nests containing siblings received less daily biomass per individual than single chicks. Some of these results can be attributed to the supplementary feeding of falcons in vineyards. However, even after removing supplementary food from our analysis, falcons in vineyards still fed larger prey items to chicks than did parents in hill nests, suggesting that the anthropogenic habitat may be a viable source of quality food. Although agricultural regions globally are rarely associated with raptor conservation, these results suggest that translocating New Zealand falcons into vineyards has potential for the conservation of this species