Natural resource exploitation in Western Sahara: new research directions

The authors wish to thank the Leverhulme Trust (through their Early Career scheme) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivity, (CSO2017-86986-P, AEI/FEDER, UE) for funding this research. We would also like to thank Patricia Lalonde for her translations and editorial work, as well as all participants of the 'Analysis of the Management and Exploitation of Natural Resources in Situations of Conflict: The Case of Western Sahara' project (funded by the aforementioned ministry), for their constructive comments on earlier iterations of this paper.This review article provides an overview of research to date with an explicit focus on natural resource exploitation in Western Sahara. It integrates findings from various perspectives and disciplines, and synthesises the research done with a view to revealing gaps and, therefore, potential new research directions. As the issue of natural resource exploitation in Western Sahara has been conceptualised in very different ways and from the perspectives of a variety of disciplines, the authors have opted for a semi-systematic review of the work done encompassing academic, non-academic, and activist backgrounds.Leverhulme TrustSpanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivity (AEI/FEDER, UE) CSO2017-86986-

Medical Therapies for Uterine Fibroids - A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND: Uterine fibroids are common, often symptomatic and a third of women need repeated time off work. Consequently 25% to 50% of women with fibroids receive surgical treatment, namely myomectomy or hysterectomy. Hysterectomy is the definitive treatment as fibroids are hormone dependent and frequently recurrent. Medical treatment aims to control symptoms in order to replace or delay surgery. This may improve the outcome of surgery and prevent recurrence. PURPOSE: To determine whether any medical treatment can be recommended in the treatment of women with fibroids about to undergo surgery and in those for whom surgery is not planned based on currently available evidence. STUDY SELECTION: Two authors independently identified randomised controlled trials (RCT) of all pharmacological treatments aimed at the treatment of fibroids from a list of references obtained by formal search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane library, Science Citation Index, and ClinicalTrials.gov until December 2013. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors independently extracted data from identified studies. DATA SYNTHESIS: A Bayesian network meta-analysis was performed following the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-Decision Support Unit guidelines. Odds ratios, rate ratios, or mean differences with 95% credible intervals (CrI) were calculated. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: A total of 75 RCT met the inclusion criteria, 47 of which were included in the network meta-analysis. The overall quality of evidence was very low. The network meta-analysis showed differing results for different outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: There is currently insufficient evidence to recommend any medical treatment in the management of fibroids. Certain treatments have future promise however further, well designed RCTs are needed

Genetic and ecological outcomes of Inga vera subsp. affinis (leguminosae) tree plantations in a fragmented tropical landscape

Planting of native trees for habitat restoration is a widespread practice, but the consequences for the retention and transmission of genetic diversity in planted and natural populations are unclear. Using Inga vera subsp. affinis as a model species, we genotyped five natural and five planted populations in the Atlantic forest of northeastern Brazil at polymorphic microsatellite loci. We studied the breeding system and population structure to test how much genetic diversity is retained in planted relative to natural populations. We then genotyped seedlings from these populations to test whether genetic diversity in planted populations is restored by outcrossing to natural populations of I. vera. The breeding system of natural I. vera populations was confirmed to be highly outcrossing (t = 0.92; FIS = -0.061, P = 0.04), with populations showing weak population substructure (FST = 0.028). Genetic diversity in planted populations was 50% less than that of natural populations (planted: AR = 14.9, HO = 0.865 and natural: AR = 30.8, HO = 0.655). However, seedlings from planted populations showed a 30% higher allelic richness relative to their parents (seedlings AR = 10.5, parents AR = 7.6). Understanding the processes and interactions that shape this system are necessary to provide ecologically sensible goals and successfully restore hyper-fragmented habitats. Future restoration plans for I. vera must consider the genetic diversity of planted populations and the potential for gene flow between natural populations in the landscape, in order to preserve ecological interactions (i.e. pollination), and promote opportunities for outcrossing

carpentries/lesson-transition: All Official Carpentries Lessons Transitioned

This represents the final milestone in the lesson transition. We have successfully completed the transition of all > 50 lessons and overview pages for The Carpentries. This additionally contains one new lesson that migrated to The Carpentries lab: https://github.com/carpentries-lab/good-enough-practice

carpentries/pegboard: pegboard 0.7.3

<h2>What's Changed</h2> <ul> <li>Add lesson object vignette by @zkamvar in https://github.com/carpentries/pegboard/pull/146</li> <li>release version 0.7.3 by @zkamvar in https://github.com/carpentries/pegboard/pull/147</li> </ul> <p><strong>Full Changelog</strong>: https://github.com/carpentries/pegboard/compare/0.7.2...0.7.3</p&gt

carpentries/varnish: varnish 0.4.0

<h2>What's Changed</h2> <ul> <li>Add a badge containing DOI for peer-reviewed lessons by @tobyhodges in https://github.com/carpentries/varnish/pull/97</li> <li>bump version to 0.4.0 by @zkamvar in https://github.com/carpentries/varnish/pull/106</li> </ul> <p><strong>Full Changelog</strong>: https://github.com/carpentries/varnish/compare/0.3.3...0.4.0</p&gt

carpentries/varnish: varnish 1.0.1

<h2>What's Changed</h2> <ul> <li>[bug fix] use rem units for callouts by @zkamvar in https://github.com/carpentries/varnish/pull/116</li> </ul> <p><strong>Full Changelog</strong>: https://github.com/carpentries/varnish/compare/1.0.0...1.0.1</p&gt