Restoration of seagrass habitat leads to rapid recovery of coastal ecosystem services

There have been increasing attempts to reverse habitat degradation through active restoration, but few largescale successes are reported to guide these efforts. Here, we report outcomes from a unique and very successful seagrass restoration project: Since 1999, over 70 million seeds of a marine angiosperm, eelgrass (Zostera marina), have been broadcast into mid-western Atlantic coastal lagoons, leading to recovery of 3612 ha of seagrass. Well-developed meadows now foster productive and diverse animal communities, sequester substantial stocks of carbon and nitrogen, and have prompted a parallel restoration for bay scallops (Argopecten irradians). Restored ecosystem services are approaching historic levels, but we also note that managers value services differently today than they did nine decades ago, emphasizing regulating in addition to provisioning services. Thus, this study serves as a blueprint for restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems to safeguard multiple benefits, including co-benefits that may emerge as management priorities over time

Invaders in hot water: a simple decontamination method to prevent the accidental spread of aquatic invasive non-native species.

Watersports equipment can act as a vector for the introduction and spread of invasive non native species (INNS) in freshwater environments. To support advice given to recreational water users under the UK Government’s Check Clean Dry biosecurity campaign and ensure its effectiveness at killing a range of aquatic INNS, we conducted a survival experiment on seven INNS which pose a high risk to UK freshwaters. The efficacy of exposure to hot water (45 °C, 15 min) was tested as a method by which waters users could ‘clean’ their equipment and was compared to drying and a control group (no treatment). Hot water had caused 99 % mortality across all species 1 h after treatment and was more effective than drying at all time points (1 h: χ2 = 117.24, p < 0.001; 1 day χ2 = 95.68, p < 0.001; 8 days χ2 = 12.16, p < 0.001 and 16 days χ2 = 7.58, p < 0.001). Drying caused significantly higher mortality than the control (no action) from day 4 (χ2 = 8.49, p < 0.01) onwards. In the absence of hot water or drying, 6/7 of these species survived for 16 days, highlighting the importance of good biosecurity practice to reduce the risk of accidental spread. In an additional experiment the minimum lethal temperature and exposure time in hot water to cause 100 % mortality in American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus), was determined to be 5 min at 40 °C. Hot water provides a simple, rapid and effective method to clean equipment. We recommend that it is advocated in future biosecurity awareness campaigns

A Ceratopsian Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Western North America, and the Biogeography of Neoceratopsia

Competing interests: Andrew A. Farke has read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Andrew A. Farke is a volunteer section editor and academic editor for PLOS ONE. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.Acknowledgments It is a pleasure to offer our most heartfelt thanks to Scott K. Madsen, who found OMNH 34557 and prepared it with consummate skill. We are grateful to James Taylor, Jack Owen, the Keebler family, and the Montana Bureau of Land Management for access to outcrops of the Cloverly Formation. We thank Xu Xing (IVPP) and Hai-Lu You (formerly CAGS-IG) for facilitating access to specimens, Mark Loewen, Joseph Frederickson, Darren Naish, and Leonardo Maiorino for productive discussion and comments, and Roger Burkhalter for assistance in photography. Gary Wisser, from the scientific visualization center at Western University of Health Sciences, is gratefully acknowledged for the high resolution scan of the cranium. Reviews by Peter Makovicky, Hai-Lu You, and editor Peter Wilf improved the manuscript.Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: AAF WDM RLC. Performed the experiments: AAF WDM RLC. Analyzed the data: AAF WDM RLC MJW. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AAF WDM RLC MJW. Wrote the paper: AAF WDM RLC MJW.The fossil record for neoceratopsian (horned) dinosaurs in the Lower Cretaceous of North America primarily comprises isolated teeth and postcrania of limited taxonomic resolution, hampering previous efforts to reconstruct the early evolution of this group in North America. An associated cranium and lower jaw from the Cloverly Formation (?middle–late Albian, between 104 and 109 million years old) of southern Montana is designated as the holotype for Aquilops americanus gen. et sp. nov. Aquilops americanus is distinguished by several autapomorphies, including a strongly hooked rostral bone with a midline boss and an elongate and sharply pointed antorbital fossa. The skull in the only known specimen is comparatively small, measuring 84 mm between the tips of the rostral and jugal. The taxon is interpreted as a basal neoceratopsian closely related to Early Cretaceous Asian taxa, such as Liaoceratops and Auroraceratops. Biogeographically, A. americanus probably originated via a dispersal from Asia into North America; the exact route of this dispersal is ambiguous, although a Beringian rather than European route seems more likely in light of the absence of ceratopsians in the Early Cretaceous of Europe. Other amniote clades show similar biogeographic patterns, supporting an intercontinental migratory event between Asia and North America during the late Early Cretaceous. The temporal and geographic distribution of Upper Cretaceous neoceratopsians (leptoceratopsids and ceratopsoids) suggests at least intermittent connections between North America and Asia through the early Late Cretaceous, likely followed by an interval of isolation and finally reconnection during the latest Cretaceous.Funding was received from the National Science Foundation (DEB 9401094, 9870173, http://www.nsf.gov); National Geographic Society (5918-97, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/); and American Chemical Society (PRF #38572-AC8, http://www.acs.org). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Yeshttp://www.plosone.org/static/editorial#pee

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis acquire sustainable skills for home monitoring: a prospective dual-country cohort study (ELECTOR clinical trial I)

Objective: In an eHealth setting, to investigate intra- and interrater reliability and agreement of joint assessments and Disease Activity Score using C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and test the effect of repeated joint assessment training. Methods: Patients with DAS28-CRP ≤ 5.1 were included in a prospective cohort study (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02317939). Intrarater reliability and agreement of patient-performed joint counts were assessed through completion of 5 joint assessments over a 2-month period. All patients received training on joint assessment at baseline; only half of the patients received repeated training. A subset of patients was included in an appraisal of interrater reliability and agreement comparing joint assessments completed by patients, healthcare professionals (HCP), and ultrasonography. Cohen’s κ coefficients and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used for quantifying of reliability of joint assessments and DAS28-CRP. Agreement was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. Results: Intrarater reliability was excellent with ICC of 0.87 (95% CI 0.83–0.90) and minimal detectable change of 1.13. ICC for interrater reliability ranged between 0.69 and 0.90 (good to excellent). Patients tended to rate DAS28-CRP slightly higher than HCP. In patients receiving repeated training, a mean difference in DAS28-CRP of –0.08 was observed (limits of agreements of –1.06 and 0.90). After 2 months, reliability between patients and HCP was similar between groups receiving single or repeated training. Conclusion: Patient-performed assessments of joints and DAS28-CRP in an eHealth home-monitoring solution were reliable and comparable with HCP. Patients can acquire the necessary skills to conduct a correct joint assessment after initial and thorough training. [clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02317939)]</p

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis acquire sustainable skills for home monitoring: a prospective dual-country cohort study (ELECTOR clinical trial I)

OBJECTIVE:In an eHealth setting, to investigate intra- and inter-rater reliability and agreement of joint assessments and disease activity score (DAS28CRP) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and test the effect of repeated joint assessment training. METHODS:Patients with DAS28CRP ≤5.1 were included in a prospective cohort study (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02317939). Intra-rater reliability and agreement of patient-performed joint counts were assessed through completion of five joint assessments over a two-month period. All patients received training on joint assessment at baseline, only half of the patients received repeated training. A subset of patients was included in an appraisal of inter-rater reliability and agreement comparing joint assessments completed by patients, healthcare professionals (HCPs), and ultrasonography. Cohen's Kappa coefficients and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used for quantifying of reliability of joint assessments and DAS28CRP. Agreement was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. RESULTS:Intra-rater reliability was excellent with ICC of 0.87 (95%CI: 0.83 to 0.90) and minimal detectable change of 1.13. ICCs for inter-rater reliability ranged between 0.69 and 0.90 (good to excellent). Patients tended to rate DAS28CRP slightly higher than HCPs. In patient receiving repeated training, a mean difference in DAS28CRP of -0.08 was observed (limits of agreements of -1.06 and 0.90). After 2 months, reliability between patients and HCPs was similar between groups receiving single or repeated training. CONCLUSION:Patient-performed assessments of joints and DAS28CRP in an eHealth home-monitoring solution were reliable and comparable with HCPs. Patients can acquire the necessary skills to conduct a correct joint assessment after initial and thorough training

Role of carbonate burial in Blue Carbon budgets

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Altres ajuts: "Obra Social la Caixa" fellowship (LCF/BQ/ES14/10320004)Calcium carbonates (CaCO3) often accumulate in mangrove and seagrass sediments. As CaCO3 production emits CO2, there is concern that this may partially offset the role of Blue Carbon ecosystems as CO2 sinks through the burial of organic carbon (Corg). A global collection of data on inorganic carbon burial rates (Cinorg, 12% of CaCO3 mass) revealed global rates of 0.8TgCinorg yr−1 and 15-62TgCinorg yr−1 in mangrove and seagrass ecosystems, respectively. In seagrass, CaCO3 burial may correspond to an offset of 30% of the net CO2 sequestration. However, a mass balance assessment highlights that the Cinorg burial is mainly supported by inputs from adjacent ecosystems rather than by local calcification, and that Blue Carbon ecosystems are sites of net CaCO3 dissolution. Hence, CaCO3 burial in Blue Carbon ecosystems contribute to seabed elevation and therefore buffers sea-level rise, without undermining their role as CO2 sinks