A quantitative synthesis of approaches, biases, successes, and failures in marine forest restoration, with considerations for future work

1. Marine forests is a term commonly used for coastal marine habitats formed by dense stands of brown macroalgae, typically consisting of kelp and fucoids. These habitats are highly productive, offer habitat to numerous marine organisms, and support a range of invaluable ecosystem services. Despite their importance, marine forests are declining in many regions around the world as a result of interacting global, regional, and local-scale stressors. Consequently, interest in restoration as a tool to mitigate these declines and reinstate marine forests is growing. 2. Recent reviews have provided insights into marine forest restoration; however, for the most part, a synthesis of restoration success is lacking. A meta-analysis and quantitative review of published marine forest restoration efforts was conducted to examine: (i) how restoration affects the abundance and morphology of marine forest species; and (ii) trends in marine forest restoration success. 3. The meta-analysis of 25 studies revealed that restoration positively influences the abundance and morphology of marine forest species. The quantitative review of 63 studies demonstrated that taxa and restoration technique were important factors influencing restoration success, and revealed a bias towards the monitoring and reporting of abundance and morphological response variables. The review also highlighted a lack of monitoring and/or reporting of environmental variables at restoration sites, and limited comparative research across environmental contexts and restored species. 4. It is shown that successful marine forest restoration is possible at experimental scales, but that better monitoring and reporting of restoration efforts, alongside increased project durations, could improve our understanding of restoration success at the ecosystem level. Considerations for future marine forest restoration efforts are also provided. It is hoped that the review will advance marine forest restoration efforts, allowing the preservation of these valuable ecosystems and their associated services

German volume training for health promotion: Acute vasopressor, pulmonary and metabolic responses.

Resistance training (RT) is increasingly recommended for incorporation into comprehensive fitness or “exercise as medicine” programs. However, the acute effects of RT, and especially its different sub-types, and how they impact health outcomes are not fully investigated. This study evaluated German Volume Training (GVT) (“10 set × 10 rep scheme”) for its efficacy for its use in health settings. This study utilized a randomized crossover design with subjects serving as their own controls to establish baseline values. Subjects were blinded to the study hypothesis. Subjects performed a single session of GVT or no exercise, in a randomised order separated by a 1-week washout period. Outcomes were assessed before and immediately post-exercise. GVT significantly (p < 0.05) decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP), but increased heart rate (HR), rate pressure product (RPP) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). No changes were found in the measured spirometry parameters. Increases were observed in carbon dioxide production (VCO2) and minute ventilation (VE), but not respiratory exchange ratio. Post hoc analysis demonstrated that post-GVT values were significantly lower for SBP (p = 0.017; d = 1.00), DBP (p = 0.013; d = 0.90), MAP (p = 0.024; d = 1.06), and VCO2 (p = 0.009; d = −1.32), and significantly higher for RPP (p = 0.001; d = −3.11), RPE (p = 0.001; d = −14.14), and HR (p = 0.001; d = −3.00). This study indicates that acute GVT promotes post-exercise hypotension and is of sufficient intensity to increase both objective HR and subjective RPE intensities appropriately for use in a variety of health promotion settings

Robot Wars: US Empire and geopolitics in the robotic age

How will the robot age transform warfare? What geopolitical futures are being imagined by the US military? This article constructs a robotic futurology to examine these crucial questions. Its central concern is how robots – driven by leaps in artificial intelligence and swarming – are rewiring the spaces and logics of US empire, warfare, and geopolitics. The article begins by building a more-than-human geopolitics to de-center the role of humans in conflict and foreground a worldly understanding of robots. The article then analyzes the idea of US empire, before speculating upon how and why robots are materializing new forms of proxy war. A three-part examination of the shifting spaces of US empire then follows: (1) Swarm Wars explores the implications of miniaturized drone swarming; (2) Roboworld investigates how robots are changing US military basing strategy and producing new topological spaces of violence; and (3) The Autogenic Battle-Site reveals how autonomous robots will produce emergent, technologically event-ful sites of security and violence – revolutionizing the battlespace. The conclusion reflects on the rise of a robotic US empire and its consequences for democracy

The Relationship Between HR Practices and Firm Performance: Examining Causal Order

Significant research attention has been devoted to examining the relationship between HR practices and firm performance, and the research support has assumed HR as the causal variable. Using data from 45 business units (with 62 data points), this study examines how measures of HR practices correlate with past, concurrent, and future operational performance measures. The results indicate that correlations with performance measures at all three times are both high and invariant, and that controlling for past or concurrent performance virtually eliminates the correlation of HR with future performance. Implications are discussed

Potential health impacts of heavy metals on HIV-infected population in USA.

Noninfectious comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases have become increasingly prevalent and occur earlier in life in persons with HIV infection. Despite the emerging body of literature linking environmental exposures to chronic disease outcomes in the general population, the impacts of environmental exposures have received little attention in HIV-infected population. The aim of this study is to investigate whether individuals living with HIV have elevated prevalence of heavy metals compared to non-HIV infected individuals in United States. We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010 to compare exposures to heavy metals including cadmium, lead, and total mercury in HIV infected and non-HIV infected subjects. In this cross-sectional study, we found that HIV-infected individuals had higher concentrations of all heavy metals than the non-HIV infected group. In a multivariate linear regression model, HIV status was significantly associated with increased blood cadmium (p=0.03) after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, poverty income ratio, and smoking. However, HIV status was not statistically associated with lead or mercury levels after adjusting for the same covariates. Our findings suggest that HIV-infected patients might be significantly more exposed to cadmium compared to non-HIV infected individuals which could contribute to higher prevalence of chronic diseases among HIV-infected subjects. Further research is warranted to identify sources of exposure and to understand more about specific health outcomes

Mapping SF-36 onto the EQ-5D index: how reliable is the relationship?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mapping from health status measures onto generic preference-based measures is becoming a common solution when health state utility values are not directly available for economic evaluation. However the accuracy and reliability of the models employed is largely untested, and there is little evidence of their suitability in patient datasets. This paper examines whether mapping approaches are reliable and accurate in terms of their predictions for a large and varied UK patient dataset.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>SF-36 dimension scores are mapped onto the EQ-5D index using a number of different model specifications. The predicted EQ-5D scores for subsets of the sample are compared across inpatient and outpatient settings and medical conditions. This paper compares the results to those obtained from existing mapping functions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The model including SF-36 dimensions, squared and interaction terms estimated using random effects GLS has the most accurate predictions of all models estimated here and existing mapping functions as indicated by MAE (0.127) and MSE (0.030). Mean absolute error in predictions by EQ-5D utility range increases with severity for our models (0.085 to 0.34) and for existing mapping functions (0.123 to 0.272).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that models mapping the SF-36 onto the EQ-5D have similar predictions across inpatient and outpatient setting and medical conditions. However, the models overpredict for more severe EQ-5D states; this problem is also present in the existing mapping functions.</p

Temporally consistent predominance and distribution of secondary malaria vectors in the Anopheles community of the upper Zambezi floodplain.

Regional optimisation of malaria vector control approaches requires detailed understanding both of the species composition of Anopheles mosquito communities, and how they vary over spatial and temporal scales. Knowledge of vector community dynamics is particularly important in settings where ecohydrological conditions fluctuate seasonally and inter-annually, such as the Barotse floodplain of the upper Zambezi river. DNA barcoding of anopheline larvae sampled in the 2019 wet season revealed the predominance of secondary vector species, with An. coustani comprising > 80% of sampled larvae and distributed ubiquitously across all ecological zones. Extensive larval sampling, plus a smaller survey of adult mosquitoes, identified geographic clusters of primary vectors, but represented only 2% of anopheline larvae. Comparisons with larval surveys in 2017/2018 and a contemporaneous independent 5-year dataset from adult trapping corroborated this paucity of primary vectors across years, and the consistent numerical dominance of An. coustani and other secondary vectors in both dry and wet seasons, despite substantial inter-annual variation in hydrological conditions. This marked temporal consistency of spatial distribution and anopheline community composition presents an opportunity to target predominant secondary vectors outdoors. Larval source management should be considered, alongside prevalent indoor-based approaches, amongst a diversification of vector control approaches to more effectively combat residual malaria transmission

Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis by Anti-Retrovirals Raltegravir and Maraviroc Protects against HIV-1 Vaginal Transmission in a Humanized Mouse Model

Sexual HIV-1 transmission by vaginal route is the most predominant mode of viral transmission, resulting in millions of new infections every year. In the absence of an effective vaccine, there is an urgent need to develop other alternative methods of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Many novel drugs that are currently approved for clinical use also show great potential to prevent viral sexual transmission when administered systemically. A small animal model that permits rapid preclinical evaluation of potential candidates for their systemic PrEP efficacy will greatly enhance progress in this area of investigation. We have previously shown that RAG-hu humanized mouse model permits HIV-1 mucosal transmission via both vaginal and rectal routes and displays CD4 T cell loss typical to that seen in the human. Thus far systemic PrEP studies have been primarily limited to RT inhibitors exemplified by tenofovir and emtricitabine. In these proof-of-concept studies we evaluated two new classes of clinically approved drugs with different modes of action namely, an integrase inhibitor raltegravir and a CCR5 inhibitor maraviroc as potential systemically administered chemo-prophylactics. Our results showed that oral administration of either of these drugs fully protects against vaginal HIV-1 challenge in the RAG-hu mouse model. Based on these results both these drugs show great promise for further development as orally administered PrEPs

Lack of effect of lowering LDL cholesterol on cancer: meta-analysis of individual data from 175,000 people in 27 randomised trials of statin therapy

&lt;p&gt;Background: Statin therapy reduces the risk of occlusive vascular events, but uncertainty remains about potential effects on cancer. We sought to provide a detailed assessment of any effects on cancer of lowering LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) with a statin using individual patient records from 175,000 patients in 27 large-scale statin trials.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods and Findings: Individual records of 134,537 participants in 22 randomised trials of statin versus control (median duration 4.8 years) and 39,612 participants in 5 trials of more intensive versus less intensive statin therapy (median duration 5.1 years) were obtained. Reducing LDL-C with a statin for about 5 years had no effect on newly diagnosed cancer or on death from such cancers in either the trials of statin versus control (cancer incidence: 3755 [1.4% per year [py]] versus 3738 [1.4% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.96-1.05]; cancer mortality: 1365 [0.5% py] versus 1358 [0.5% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.93–1.08]) or in the trials of more versus less statin (cancer incidence: 1466 [1.6% py] vs 1472 [1.6% py], RR 1.00 [95% CI 0.93–1.07]; cancer mortality: 447 [0.5% py] versus 481 [0.5% py], RR 0.93 [95% CI 0.82–1.06]). Moreover, there was no evidence of any effect of reducing LDL-C with statin therapy on cancer incidence or mortality at any of 23 individual categories of sites, with increasing years of treatment, for any individual statin, or in any given subgroup. In particular, among individuals with low baseline LDL-C (&#60;2 mmol/L), there was no evidence that further LDL-C reduction (from about 1.7 to 1.3 mmol/L) increased cancer risk (381 [1.6% py] versus 408 [1.7% py]; RR 0.92 [99% CI 0.76–1.10]).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions: In 27 randomised trials, a median of five years of statin therapy had no effect on the incidence of, or mortality from, any type of cancer (or the aggregate of all cancer).&lt;/p&gt