Assessing watermilfoil invasion effects on native macrophyte communities in North American lakes using a novel approach for macrophyte sampling

Acknowledgements. The authors would like to thank the resident communities surrounding the lakes for their tolerance during the field season. They would also like to thank the White Memorial Conservation Center and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station for advice and assistance identifying specimens. We would also like to thank the UK Natural Environment Research Council for their support to FCK (program Oceans 2025–WP 4.5 and grants NE/D521522/1 and NE/J023094/1). This work also received support from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland pooling initiative. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

How Do You Move? Everyday stories of physical activity

Stories can be a powerful method of exploring complexity, and the factors affecting everyday physical activity within a modern urban setting are nothing if not complex. The first part of our How Do You Move? study focused on the communication of physical activity guidelines to under-served communities. A key finding was that adults especially wanted physical activity messages to come from ‘everyday people, people like us’. This finding also reflects a wider move to use more relatable imagery in health promotion campaigns. Using a portrait vignette approach to create monologues, we set out to explore the experiences of people from diverse backgrounds living in Bristol, all of whom took part in varied leisure time physical activities but would also be considered to lead ‘normal’ lives. We aim to demonstrate that stories of such ‘experts by experience’ can contribute to how physical activity is perceived and elucidate the complex interplay of barriers and enablers in everyday experiences of physical activity

How are nitrogen availability, fine-root mass, and nitrogen uptake related empirically? Implications for models and theory

We gratefully acknowledge funding from Loyola University Chicago; suggestions for improvement by David Robinson and anonymous peer reviewers; logistical support from K. Erickson; help with maintenance and harvests from O. Urbanski, L. Papaioannou, H. Roudebush, & V. Roudebush; and tissue and substrate analyses from Z. Zhu. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.Peer reviewedPostprin

“Let’s Talk about Physical Activity”:Understanding the Preferences of Under-Served Communities when Messaging Physical Activity Guidelines to the Public

Despite many countries having physical activity guidelines, there have been few concerted efforts to mobilize this information to the public. The aim of this study was to understand the preferences of under-served community groups about how the benefits of physical activity, and associated guidelines, can be better communicated to the public. Participatory workshops, co-developed between researchers, a local charity, and a community artist, were used to gather data from four groups in Bristol, UK: young people (n = 17); adults (n = 11); older adults (n = 5); and Somali women (n = 15). Workshop content was structured around the study aims. The community artist and/or the local charity delivered the workshops, with researchers gathering data via observation, photos, and audio-recordings, which were analysed using the framework method. All four groups noted that the benefits of physical activity should be included within any communications efforts, though not restricted to health-related benefits. Language used should be simple and jargon-free; terms such as "sedentary", "vigorous" and "intensity" were deemed inaccessible, however all groups liked the message "some is good, more is better". Views about preferred mechanisms, and messenger, for delivering physical activity messages varied both between, and within, groups. Recommendations for those working in physical activity communications, research, and policy are provided

A new hammer to crack an old nut : interspecific competitive resource capture by plants is regulated by nutrient supply, not climate

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Like gold dust these days’: domestic violence fact-finding hearings in child contact cases

Fact-finding hearings may be held to determine disputed allegations of domestic violence in child contact cases in England and Wales, and can play a vital role for mothers seeking protection and autonomy from violent fathers. Drawing on the author’s empirical study, this article examines the implications for the holding of fact-finding hearings of judges’ and professionals’ understandings of domestic violence and the extent to which they perceive it to be relevant to contact. While more judges and professionals are developing their understanding of domestic violence, the ambit of when and how it is considered relevant to contact has grown increasingly narrow, which suggests that many disputed allegations of domestic violence are disregarded and women and children continue to be put at risk from violent fathers. This bifurcated approach is likely to have significant implications for recent developments in this area of family law which are considered in this article

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

The fate of plant-derived carbon on a cutover peatland

Northern peatlands are important stores of carbon. Following mechanical harvesting, peatlands are often abandoned. The plant communities on cutover peatlands are species-poor and large parts of these sites can remain bare for long periods of time. We currently have little understanding of carbon dynamics in cutover peatlands. This thesis reports various experiments undertaken on a cutover peatland investigating rates of decomposition of different litter types at different water-tables; the influence of plant species on litter decomposition; fungal communities. associated with different litter types; pelow-ground fluxes of recent plant assimilate . and the fate of inputs of below-ground labile carbon. Inputs of carbon from plant litter were dominated by Gal/una vulgaris. Litter type was more important than depth to water-table in determining litter decomposition; over 18 months, there was no· difference between losses of carbon in the litter of four vascular plants, but Sphagnum auriculatum showed very little change in carbon content. Fungal community composition was also more influenced by litter type than water-table. Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus were all significant factors in explaining fungal community composition but over 75% of the variation was unexplained by these litter quality variables. Living plants did not effect rates of litter decomposition or community composition of fungi ,. colonising litter. ·Inputs of 13C. root extracts from different plant species were used equally by micro-organisms. The first use of in situ 13C pulse labelling on a peatland showed that most of the 13C pulse was lost via shoot respiration, with a third of 13C remaining in the shoot biomass after 2 months. Although there were no significant differences between the DOC associated with the three different plant species studied, there was considerable variation in the quantities and dynamics of carbon allocated to this pool. Fluxes of 13C from peat respiration were low in comparison with the other carbon pools. Key words: carbon; peat; cutover peatland; carbon dioxide; carbon flux; Gal/una vulgaris; Eriophorum angustifolium; Eriophorum vaginatum; Sphagnum auriculatum; decomposition; fungal community composition; 13C pulse labelling.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo