Discovery of widely available abyssal rock patches reveals overlooked habitat type and prompts rethinking deep-sea biodiversity

Habitat heterogeneity and species diversity are often linked. On the deep seafloor, sediment variability and hard-substrate availability influence geographic patterns of species richness and turnover. The assumption of a generally homogeneous, sedimented abyssal seafloor is at odds with the fact that the faunal diversity in some abyssal regions exceeds that of shallow-water environments. Here we show, using a ground-truthed analysis of multibeam sonar data, that the deep seafloor may be much rockier than previously assumed. A combination of bathymetry data, ruggedness, and backscatter from a trans-Atlantic corridor along the Vema Fracture Zone, covering crustal ages from 0 to 100 Ma, show rock exposures occurring at all crustal ages. Extrapolating to the whole Atlantic, over 260,000 km2 of rock habitats potentially occur along Atlantic fracture zones alone, significantly increasing our knowledge about abyssal habitat heterogeneity. This implies that sampling campaigns need to be considerably more sophisticated than at present to capture the full deep-sea habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity

Experiences of Students Enrolled in Integrated Collaborative College/University Programs

Little is known about the student experience in collaborative college/university programs, where students are enrolled in two institutions simultaneously in integrated curriculum designs. This interpretive, descriptive, qualitative study explored these students’ perspectives. Sixty-eight participants enrolled in one of four collaborative programs from three different faculties engaged in student researcher-led focus groups. Results revealed that while all participants valued their respective academic programs, their day-to-day life experiences presented a different story. Some students had perceptions of belonging and thrived in a dual world. Others had perceptions of ambiguous belonging, which contributed to them perceiving themselves through a perpetual lens of being less than university-only students. Issues of how students are invited to engage in the university and college cultures, perceptions of power and control, and daily reminders of being different all contributed to positive or ambiguous student identities. The results raise preliminary questions for universities and colleges regarding how to enhance the student experience in these collaborative programs.  On en connaît peu sur l’expérience des étudiants dans les programmes collégiaux/universitaires collaboratifs, où les étudiants sont inscrits simultanément dans deux institutions dans un modèle de curriculum intégrés. Cette étude qualitative descriptive interprétative explore les perspectives de ces étudiants. Soixante-huit participants se sont inscrits dans l’un des quatre programmes collaboratifs de trois facultés différentes impliqués dans des groupes de discussion de chercheurs dirigés par les étudiants. Les résultats ont révélé que bien que tous les participants apprécient leurs programmes académiques respectifs, leurs expériences quotidiennes ont présenté une histoire différente. Certains étudiants ont eu la perception d’appartenance menant à prospérer dans un monde dual. D’autres ont eu la perception d’une appartenance ambiguë contribuant à percevoir à travers une lentille d’infériorité perpétuelle. Des problèmes sur la façon que les étudiants sont invités à participer dans les cultures universitaires et collégiales, les perceptions de pouvoir et de contrôle, et un rappel quotidien d’être différent ont tous contribué à l’identité positive ou ambiguë des étudiants. Les résultats soulèvent des questions préliminaires pour les universités et collèges sur la façon d’améliorer l’expérience des étudiants

The Lantern Vol. 39, No. 2, Spring 1973

• Days of Rain • Reflections On Clifton, New Jersey • Interlude • Window Scene • Eh! • Odyssey of Malcolm • Tuna on Toast • The Second Avenue Bus • Salutation of the Dawn • So Say Something • Mood • Moriarty\u27s Lament • I\u27ve Been a Lonely Gypsy • Change • Cool Ray • The Thinker • A Southern Sunsethttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1102/thumbnail.jp

Ocean Species Discoveries 1–12 — A primer for accelerating marine invertebrate taxonomy

Discoveries of new species often depend on one or a few specimens, leading to delays as researchers wait for additional context, sometimes for decades. There is currently little professional incentive for a single expert to publish a stand-alone species description. Additionally, while many journals accept taxonomic descriptions, even specialist journals expect insights beyond the descriptive work itself. The combination of these factors exacerbates the issue that only a small fraction of marine species are known and new discoveries are described at a slow pace, while they face increasing threats from accelerating global change. To tackle this challenge, this first compilation of Ocean Species Discoveries (OSD) presents a new collaborative framework to accelerate the description and naming of marine invertebrate taxa that can be extended across all phyla. Through a mode of publication that can be speedy, taxonomy-focused and generate higher citation rates, OSD aims to create an attractive home for single species descriptions. This Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA) approach emphasises thorough, but compact species descriptions and diagnoses, with supporting illustrations and with molecular data when available. Even basic species descriptions carry key data for distributions and ecological interactions (e.g., host-parasite relationships) besides universally valid species names; these are essential for downstream uses, such as conservation assessments and communicating biodiversity to the broader public

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570