Factors Associated With Use of Preoperative Chemoradiation Therapy for Rectal Cancer in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium

Pre-operative (pre-op) chemoradiation therapy (CRT) improves local control and reduces toxicity more than post-operative (post-op) CRT for the treatment of stages II/III rectal cancer, but studies suggest many patients still receive post-op CRT. We examined patient beliefs, and clinical and provider characteristics associated with receipt of recommended therapy

Predictors of Long-Term Quality of Life for Survivors of Stage II/III Rectal Cancer in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium

Many patients do not receive guideline-recommended neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for resectable rectal cancer. Little is known regarding long-term quality of life (QOL) associated with various treatment approaches. Our objective was to determine patient characteristics and subsequent QOL associated with treatment approach

SNAPSHOT USA 2019 : a coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.With the accelerating pace of global change, it is imperative that we obtain rapid inventories of the status and distribution of wildlife for ecological inferences and conservation planning. To address this challenge, we launched the SNAPSHOT USA project, a collaborative survey of terrestrial wildlife populations using camera traps across the United States. For our first annual survey, we compiled data across all 50 states during a 14-week period (17 August - 24 November of 2019). We sampled wildlife at 1509 camera trap sites from 110 camera trap arrays covering 12 different ecoregions across four development zones. This effort resulted in 166,036 unique detections of 83 species of mammals and 17 species of birds. All images were processed through the Smithsonian's eMammal camera trap data repository and included an expert review phase to ensure taxonomic accuracy of data, resulting in each picture being reviewed at least twice. The results represent a timely and standardized camera trap survey of the USA. All of the 2019 survey data are made available herein. We are currently repeating surveys in fall 2020, opening up the opportunity to other institutions and cooperators to expand coverage of all the urban-wild gradients and ecophysiographic regions of the country. Future data will be available as the database is updated at eMammal.si.edu/snapshot-usa, as well as future data paper submissions. These data will be useful for local and macroecological research including the examination of community assembly, effects of environmental and anthropogenic landscape variables, effects of fragmentation and extinction debt dynamics, as well as species-specific population dynamics and conservation action plans. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this paper when using the data for publication.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape

Wildlife must adapt to human presence to survive in the Anthropocene, so it is critical to understand species responses to humans in different contexts. We used camera trapping as a lens to view mammal responses to changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 163 species sampled in 102 projects around the world, changes in the amount and timing of animal activity varied widely. Under higher human activity, mammals were less active in undeveloped areas but unexpectedly more active in developed areas while exhibiting greater nocturnality. Carnivores were most sensitive, showing the strongest decreases in activity and greatest increases in nocturnality. Wildlife managers must consider how habituation and uneven sensitivity across species may cause fundamental differences in human–wildlife interactions along gradients of human influence.Peer reviewe

A História da Alimentação: balizas historiográficas

Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da História da Alimentação, não como um novo ramo epistemológico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de práticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicações, associações, encontros acadêmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condições em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biológica, a econômica, a social, a cultural e a filosófica!, assim como da identificação das contribuições mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histórica, foi ela organizada segundo critérios morfológicos. A seguir, alguns tópicos importantes mereceram tratamento à parte: a fome, o alimento e o domínio religioso, as descobertas européias e a difusão mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rápido balanço crítico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema

Community Level Effects of Vegetation Architecture and Prey Availability: A Study of Ground-dwelling Arthropods in a Shrub-steppe Ecosystem

Changes to vegetation architecture within a natural habitat can have profound impacts upon ecological community function, but the relative influence of vegetation architecture itself and potential indirect influences of associated food resources are often difficult to disentangle. I present the results of a three-year study designed to address the community level impacts of changes in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) architecture and associated prey availability upon the ground-dwelling arthropod community. Three experimental sagebrush architecture treatments (low, intermediate, and high foliage density) and two levels of prey insect availability treatment (natural and baited/increased prey availability) were imposed in a sage-steppe ecosystem. The ground-dwelling spider (top predators) and insect (prey) response to all combinations of the six treatments were assessed through abundances in pitfall traps. Chapter 2 demonstrates that changes in a single shrub’s architecture did not markedly impact prey arthropod availability on the ground, though an overall increase in arthropod abundance was detected within baited shrubs. This indicates changes to vegetation architecture do not impact prey insect availability for ground-dwelling spiders. Thus, changes in shrub architecture and not the associated prey base directly alter the ground-dwelling spider community. Chapter 3 shows that architectural manipulation of a single sagebrush directly influences the ability of certain ground-dwelling spider guilds to persist beneath the shrub. Data within Chapters 2 and 3 support the conclusion that vegetation architecture directly affects ground-dwelling spider community structure and composition. Finally, Chapter 4 explores how the relative impacts of vegetation architecture and prey availability upon ecological communities can shift depending upon the spatial context in which the manipulations take place, given the differences in mobility of species within the grounddwelling spider and insect prey communities. Within this study, Diurnal and Nocturnal Wanderers responded to manipulations in prey availability at a larger spatial context (patches of 15 shrubs) while more stationary Trappers and Ambushers did not. Through simultaneous manipulation of vegetation architecture (Artemisia tridentata, big sagebrush) and associated insect prey base in different spatial contexts, this dissertation demonstrates that vegetation architecture directly affects ground-dwelling spider community organization at the species and guild levels of diversity. Shifts in spider (predator) functional diversity can ultimately impact arthropod decomposer and herbivore populations, influencing fundamental ecosystem processes such as decomposition and productivity

Factors Associated With Use of Preoperative Chemoradiation Therapy for Rectal Cancer in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium

PURPOSE: Pre-operative (pre-op) chemoradiation therapy (CRT) improves local control and reduces toxicity more than post-operative (post-op) CRT for the treatment of stages II/III rectal cancer, but studies suggest many patients still receive post-op CRT. We examined patient beliefs, and clinical and provider characteristics associated with receipt of recommended therapy. METHODS: We identified stage II/III rectal cancer patients who had primary site resection and CRT among subjects in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium, a population- and health system-based prospective cohort of newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients from 2003 to 2005. Patient surveys and abstracted medical records were used to construct variables and determine sequence of CRT and surgery. Logistic regression was used to model the association between predictors and receipt of pre-op CRT. RESULTS: Of the 201 patients, 66% received pre-op and 34% received post-op CRT. Those visiting a medical oncologist and/or radiation oncologist prior to a surgeon had a 96% (95% CI, 92% to 100%) predicted probability of receiving pre-op CRT, compared to 48% (95% CI, 41% to 55%) for those visiting a surgeon first. Among those visiting a surgeon first, documentation of recommended staging procedures was associated with receiving pre-op CRT. CONCLUSION: Sequence of provider visits and documentation of recommended staging procedures were important predictors of receiving pre-op CRT. Initial multidisciplinary evaluation led to better adherence to CRT guidelines. Further evaluation of provider characteristics, referral patterns and related health system processes should be undertaken to inform targeted interventions to reduce variation from recommended care

Predictors of Long-Term Quality of Life for Survivors of Stage II/III Rectal Cancer in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium

PURPOSE: Many patients do not receive guideline-recommended neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for resectable rectal cancer. Little is known regarding long-term quality of life (QOL) associated with various treatment approaches. Our objective was to determine patient characteristics and subsequent QOL associated with treatment approach. METHODS: Our study was a geographically diverse population- and health system–based cohort study that included adults age 21 years or older with newly diagnosed stage II/III rectal cancer who were recruited from 2003 to 2005. Eligible patients were contacted 1 to 4 months after diagnosis and asked to participate in a telephone survey and to consent to medical record review, with separate follow-up QOL surveys conducted 1 and 7 years after diagnosis. RESULTS: Two hundred thirty-nine patients with stage II/III rectal cancer were included in this analysis. Younger age (< 65 v ≥ 65 years: odds ratio, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.33 to 4.65) was significantly associated with increased odds of receiving neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. The adjuvant chemoradiotherapy group had significantly worse mean EuroQol-5D (range, 0 to 1) and Short Form-12 physical health component scores (standardized mean, 50) at 1-year follow-up than the neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy group (0.75 v 0.85; P = .002; 37.2 v 43.3; P = .01, respectively) and the group that received only one or neither form of treatment (0.75 v 0.85; P = .02; 37.2 v 45.1; P = .008, respectively). CONCLUSION: Neoadjuvant treatment may result in better QOL and functional status 1 year after diagnosis. Further evaluation of patient and provider reasons for not pursuing neoadjuvant therapy is necessary to determine how and where to target process improvement and/or education efforts to ensure that patients have access to recommended treatment options