Quantifying physiological influences on otolith microchemistry

Trace element concentrations in fish earstones (‘otoliths’) are widely used to discriminate spatially discrete populations or individuals of marine fish, based on a commonly held assumption that physiological influences on otolith composition are minor, and thus variations in otolith elemental chemistry primarily reflect changes in ambient water chemistry. We carried out a long-term (1-year) experiment, serially sampling seawater, blood plasma and otoliths of mature and immature European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) to test relationships between otolith chemistry and environmental and physiological variables. Seasonal variations in otolith elemental composition did not track seawater concentrations, but instead reflected physiological controls on metal transport and biokinetics, which are likely moderated by ambient temperature. The influence of physiological factors on otolith composition was particularly evident in Sr/Ca ratios, the most widely used elemental marker in applied otolith microchemistry studies. Reproduction also triggered specific variations in otolith and blood plasma metal chemistry, especially Zn/Ca ratios in female fish, which could potentially serve as retrospective spawning indicators. The influence of physiology on the trace metal composition of otoliths may explain the success of microchemical stock discrimination in relatively homogenous marine environments, but could complicate alternative uses for trace element compositions in biominerals of higher organism

Adaptive sampling method to monitor low-risk pathways with limited surveillance resources

The rise of globalisation has led to a sharp increase in international trade, with high volumes of containers, goods and items moving across the world. Unfortunately, these trade pathways also facilitate the movement of unwanted pests, weeds, diseases, and pathogens. Each item could contain biosecurity risk material, but it is impractical to inspect every item. Instead, inspection efforts typically focus on high risk items. However, low risk does not imply no risk. It is crucial to monitor the low risk pathways to ensure that they are and remain low risk. To do so, many approaches would seek to estimate the risk to some precision, but the lower the risk, the more samples needed to estimate the risk. On a low-risk pathway that can be afforded more limited inspection resources, it makes more sense to assign fewer samples to the lower risk activities. We approach the problem by introducing two thresholds. Our method focuses on letting us know whether the risk is below certain thresholds, rather than estimating the risk precisely. This method also allows us to detect a significant change in risk. Our approach typically requires less sampling than previous methods, while still providing evidence to regulators to help them efficiently and effectively allocate inspection effort.Comment: 12 + 2 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

Realising governmentality: pastoral power, governmental discourse and the (re)constitution of subjectivities

Michel Foucault’s concept of governmentality has been hugely influential in sociology and other disciplinary fields. However, its application has been criticised by those who suggest it neglects agency, and gives overwhelming power to governmental discourses in constituting subjectivities, determining behaviour, and reproducing social reality. Drawing on posthumously translated lecture transcripts, we suggest that Foucault’s nascent concept of pastoral power offers a route to a better conceptualisation of the relationship between discourse, subjectivity and agency, and a means of understanding the (contested, non-determinate, social) process through which governmental discourses are shaped, disseminated, and translated into action. We offer empirical examples from our work in healthcare of how this process takes place, present a model of the key mechanisms through which contemporary pastoral power operates, and suggest future research avenues for refining, developing or contesting this model

Oystershell Scale: An Invasive Threat to Aspen Conservation

Aspen decline is an acute and chronic problem in Arizona, where high levels of overstory mortality and a lack of recruitment continue to be observed. Oystershell scale (Lepidosaphes ulmi; OSS), an invasive sapsucking insect, has recently become widespread in native aspen stands in the southwestern U.S., further contributing to aspen mortality. Damage is severe in lower elevation stands and within ungulate exclosures created to conserve aspen. Young recruiting aspen that are rare on the landscape incur high levels of OSS-caused mortality when infested (Fig. 1). OSS has only recently become a pest of concern in the Southwest and Intermountain West, and thus, mitigation strategies are lacking for OSS in natural forest settings. OSS is also polyphagous and affects several woody hosts with thin bark, adding to management complexity. Collaborative efforts have been initiated to address OSS biology, natural predators, and management strategies

Conditional inactivation of the Men1 gene leads to pancreatic and pituitary tumorigenesis but does not affect normal development of these tissues

Mutations of the MEN1 gene, encoding the tumor suppressor menin, predispose individuals to the cancer syndrome multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, characterized by the development of tumors of the endocrine pancreas and anterior pituitary and parathyroid glands. We have targeted the murine Men1 gene by using Cre recombinase-loxP technology to develop both total and tissue-specific knockouts of the gene. Conditional homozygous inactivation of the Men1 gene in the pituitary gland and endocrine pancreas bypasses the embryonic lethality associated with a constitutional Men1(-/-) genotype and leads to beta-cell hyperplasia in less than 4 months and insulinomas and prolactinomas starting at 9 months. The pituitary gland and pancreas develop normally in the conditional absence of menin, but loss of this transcriptional cofactor is sufficient to cause beta-cell hyperplasia in some islets; however, such loss is not sufficient to initiate pituitary gland tumorigenesis, suggesting that additional genetic events are necessary for the latter

Structure from motion photogrammetry in ecology: Does the choice of software matter?

This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Data available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q7c400k (Forsmoo et al., 2019).Image‐based modeling, and more precisely, Structure from Motion (SfM) and Multi‐View Stereo (MVS), is emerging as a flexible, self‐service, remote sensing tool for generating fine‐grained digital surface models (DSMs) in the Earth sciences and ecology. However, drone‐based SfM + MVS applications have developed at a rapid pace over the past decade and there are now many software options available for data processing. Consequently, understanding of reproducibility issues caused by variations in software choice and their influence on data quality is relatively poorly understood. This understanding is crucial for the development of SfM + MVS if it is to fulfill a role as a new quantitative remote sensing tool to inform management frameworks and species conservation schemes. To address this knowledge gap, a lightweight multirotor drone carrying a Ricoh GR II consumer‐grade camera was used to capture replicate, centimeter‐resolution image datasets of a temperate, intensively managed grassland ecosystem. These data allowed the exploration of method reproducibility and the impact of SfM + MVS software choice on derived vegetation canopy height measurement accuracy. The quality of DSM height measurements derived from four different, yet widely used SfM‐MVS software—Photoscan, Pix4D, 3DFlow Zephyr, and MICMAC, was compared with in situ data captured on the same day as image capture. We used both traditional agronomic techniques for measuring sward height, and a high accuracy and precision differential GPS survey to generate independent measurements of the underlying ground surface elevation. Using the same replicate image dataset (n = 3) as input, we demonstrate that there are 1.7, 2.0, and 2.5 cm differences in RMSE (excluding one outlier) between the outputs from different SfM + MVS software using High, Medium, and Low quality settings, respectively. Furthermore, we show that there can be a significant difference, although of small overall magnitude between replicate image datasets (n = 3) processed using the same SfM + MVS software, following the same workflow, with a variance in RMSE of up to 1.3, 1.5, and 2.7 cm (excluding one outlier) for “High,” “Medium,” and “Low” quality settings, respectively. We conclude that SfM + MVS software choice does matter, although the differences between products processed using “High” and “Medium” quality settings are of small overall magnitude.James Hutton InstituteUniversity of Exete

Financialising acute kidney injury: From the practices of care to the numbers of improvement

Although sociological studies of quality and safety have identified competing epistemologies in the attempt to measure and improve care, there are gaps in our understanding of how finance and accounting practices are being used to organise this field. This analysis draws on what others have elsewhere called ‘financialisation’ in order to explore the quantification of qualitatively complex care practices. We make our argument using ethnographic data of a quality improvement program for acute kidney injury (AKI) in a publicly funded hospital in England. Our paper is thus concerned with tracing the effects of financialisation in the emergence and assembly of AKI as an object of concern within the hospital. We describe three linked mechanisms through which this occurs: (1) representing and intervening in kidney care; (2) making caring practices count; and, (3) decision-making using kidney numbers. Together these stages transform care practices first into risks and then from risks into costs. We argue that this calculative process reinforces a separation between practice, and organisational decision-making made on the basis of numbers. This elevates the status of numbers while diminishing the work of practitioners and managers. We conclude by signalling possible future avenues of research that can take up these processes

Networked information technologies and patient safety: a protocol for a realist synthesis.

BACKGROUND:There is a widespread belief that information technologies will improve diagnosis, treatment and care. Evidence about their effectiveness in health care is, however, mixed. It is not clear why this is the case, given the remarkable advances in hardware and software over the last 20 years. This review focuses on interoperable information technologies, which governments are currently advocating and funding. These link organisations across a health economy, with a view to enabling health and care professionals to coordinate their work with one another and to access patient data wherever it is stored. Given the mixed evidence about information technologies in general, and current policies and funding, there is a need to establish the value of investments in this class of system. The aim of this review is to establish how, why and in what circumstances interoperable systems affect patient safety. METHODS:A realist synthesis will be undertaken, to understand how and why inter-organisational systems reduce patients' clinical risks, or fail to do so. The review will follow the steps in most published realist syntheses, including (1) clarifying the scope of the review and identifying candidate programme and mid-range theories to evaluate, (2) searching for evidence, (3) appraising primary studies in terms of their rigour and relevance and extracting evidence, (4) synthesising evidence, (5) identifying recommendations, based on assessment of the extent to which findings can be generalised to other settings. DISCUSSION:The findings of this realist synthesis will shed light on how and why an important class of systems, that span organisations in a health economy, will contribute to changes in patients' clinical risks. We anticipate that the findings will be generalizable, in two ways. First, a refined mid-range theory will contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms that, for a range of information technologies, lead to changes in clinical practices and hence patients' risks (or not). Second, many governments are funding and implementing cross-organisational IT networks. The findings can inform policies on their design and implementation. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION:PROSPERO CRD42017073004

Contribution of Collaborative Work to Teacher Reflection and the Transformation of Pedagogical Practices of School and University Science Teachers // Contribución del trabajo colaborativo en la reflexión docente y en la transformación de las prácticas pedagógicas de profesores de ciencia escolares y universitarios

Poor results of science learning, both at school and university, have led us to acknowledge the need to transform our teaching. Currently, reflection and collaborative work with colleagues are conceived as being key factors in the process of the transformation of practices. Based on the experiences of a group of school and university science teachers working on action-research, we describe the contribution that collaborative work has on reflection for the transformation of practices. The main aspects are the recognition of strengths and weaknesses, listening to and learning from the experience of others, and the discussion of specific classroom practices. On the other hand, these reflections contribute to the transformation at different levels: the teacher, classroom teaching practices, and the school community. The fact that it is a diverse group that includes both school and university teachers generate enriching reflections that help to transform practices in both areas. These reflections not only benefit the school system, but also science teachers education, and provide insights on a new University-School relationship // Los deficientes resultados de aprendizaje en el área de las ciencias, tanto en el ámbito escolar como universitario, nos han llevado a la necesidad de transformar nuestra enseñanza. En la actualidad, la reflexión y el trabajo colaborativo con colegas se conciben como claves en el proceso de transformación de las prácticas. A partir de la experiencia de un grupo de docentes escolares y universitarios de ciencia que realiza una investigación-acción, describimos la contribución que tiene el trabajo colaborativo sobre la reflexión para la transformación de las prácticas. Destacan aspectos como el reconocimiento de debilidades y fortalezas, el escuchar y aprender de la experiencia de otros y la discusión de prácticas concretas de aula. Por otra parte, estas reflexiones contribuyen a la transformación en diferentes niveles: del profesor, de las prácticas del docente en el aula y de la comunidad escolar. El hecho de que sea un grupo diverso, que incluye a profesores tanto del sistema escolar como universitario, genera reflexiones enriquecedoras, que ayudan a transformar las prácticas en estos dos ámbitos, beneficiando no solo al sistema escolar, sino también a la formación de profesores de ciencia, y dando luces acerca de una nueva relación universidad-escuela

Effects of interorganisational information technology networks on patient safety: a realist synthesis

Objective: Health services in many countries are investing in interorganisational networks, linking patients’ records held in different organisations across a city or region. The aim of the systematic review was to establish how, why and in what circumstances these networks improve patient safety, fail to do so, or increase safety risks, for people living at home. Design: Realist synthesis, drawing on both quantitative and qualitative evidence, and including consultation with stakeholders in nominal groups and semistructured interviews. Eligibility criteria: The coordination of services for older people living at home, and medicine reconciliation for older patients returning home from hospital. Information sources: 17 sources including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ACM Digital Library, and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts. Outcomes: Changes in patients’ clinical risks. Results: We did not find any detailed accounts of the sequences of events that policymakers and others believe will lead from the deployment of interoperable networks to improved patient safety. We were, though, able to identify a substantial number of theory fragments, and these were used to develop programme theories. There is good evidence that there are problems with the coordination of services in general, and the reconciliation of medication lists in particular, and it indicates that most problems are social and organisational in nature. There is also good evidence that doctors and other professionals find interoperable networks difficult to use. There was limited high-quality evidence about safety-related outcomes associated with the deployment of interoperable networks. Conclusions: Empirical evidence does not currently justify claims about the beneficial effects of interoperable networks on patient safety. There appears to be a mismatch between technology-driven assumptions about the effects of networks and the sociotechnical nature of coordination problems. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42017073004