Balancing conservation with national development: a socio-economic case study of the alternatives to the Serengeti Road

Developing countries often have rich natural resources but poor infrastructure to capitalize on them, which leads to significant challenges in terms of balancing poverty alleviation with conservation. The underlying premise in development strategies is to increase the socio-economic welfare of the people while simultaneously ensuring environmental sustainability, however these objectives are often in direct conflict. National progress is dependent on developing infrastructure such as effective transportation networks, however roads can be ecologically catastrophic in terms of disrupting habitat connectivity and facilitating illegal activity. How can national development and conservation be balanced? The proposed Serengeti road epitomizes the conflict between poverty alleviation on one hand, and the conservation of a critical ecosystem on the other. We use the Serengeti as an exemplar case-study in which the relative economic and social benefits of a road can be assessed against the ecological impacts. Specifically, we compare three possible transportation routes and ask which route maximizes the socio-economic returns for the people while minimizing the ecological costs. The findings suggest that one route in particular that circumnavigates the Serengeti links the greatest number of small and medium sized entrepreneurial businesses to the largest labour force in the region. Furthermore, this route connects the most children to schools, provisions the greatest access to hospitals, and opens the most fertile crop and livestock production areas, and does not compromise the ecology and tourism revenue of the Serengeti. This route would improve Tanzania’s food security and self-reliance and would facilitate future infrastructure development which would not be possible if the road were to pass through the Serengeti. This case study provides a compelling example of how a detailed spatial analysis can balance the national objectives of poverty alleviation while maintaining ecological integrity

Probability of US Heat Waves Affected by a Subseasonal Planetary Wave Pattern

Heat waves are thought to result from subseasonal atmospheric variability. Atmospheric phenomena driven by tropical convection, such as the Asian monsoon, have been considered potential sources of predictability on subseasonal timescales. Mid-latitude atmospheric dynamics have been considered too chaotic to allow significant prediction skill of lead times beyond the typical 10-day range of weather forecasts. Here we use a 12,000-year integration of an atmospheric general circulation model to identify a pattern of subseasonal atmospheric variability that can help improve forecast skill for heat waves in the United States. We find that heat waves tend to be preceded by 15-20 days by a pattern of anomalous atmospheric planetary waves with a wavenumber of 5. This circulation pattern can arise as a result of internal atmospheric dynamics and is not necessarily linked to tropical heating.We conclude that some mid-latitude circulation anomalies that increase the probability of heat waves are predictable beyond the typical weather forecast range

Parent perceptions of early prognostic encounters following children’s severe traumatic brain injury: ‘Locked up in this cage of absolute horror’

Little guidance exists for discussing prognosis in early acute care with parents following children’s severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Providers’ beliefs about truth-telling can shape what is said, how it is said, and how providers respond to parents

It’s a small world for parasites: evidence supporting the North American invasion of European Echinococcus multilocularis

Echinococcus multilocularis (Em), the causative agent of human alveolar echinococcosis (AE), is present in the Holarctic region as several genetic variants deemed to have differential infectivity and pathogenicity. An unprecedented outbreak of human AE cases in Western Canada infected with a European-like strain circulating in wild hosts warranted assessment of whether this strain was derived from a recent invasion or was endemic but undetected. Using nuclear and mitochondrial markers, we investigated the genetic diversity of Em in wild coyotes and red foxes from Western Canada, compared the genetic variants identified to global isolates, and assessed spatial distribution to infer possible invasion dynamics. Genetic variants from Western Canada were closely related to the original European clade, with lesser genetic diversity than that expected for a long-established strain and spatial genetic discontinuities within the study area, supporting the hypothesis of a relatively recent invasion with various founder events

Foreign-Body Reaction Mimicking Postneurosurgical Infection After Cranioplasty

The case of a 57-year-old woman who suffered a fall is presented. After a polymethyl malacrylate revision cranioplasty, she presented with signs, symptoms, and intraoperative findings consistent with postneurosurgical infection. Dural foreign-body reaction was diagnosed, and parenteral antibiotic therapy was discontinued successfully

Padded Helmet Shell Covers in American Football: A Comprehensive Laboratory Evaluation with Preliminary On-Field Findings

Protective headgear effects measured in the laboratory may not always translate to the field. In this study, we evaluated the impact attenuation capabilities of a commercially available padded helmet shell cover in the laboratory and field. In the laboratory, we evaluated the efficacy of the padded helmet shell cover in attenuating impact magnitude across six impact locations and three impact velocities when equipped to three different helmet models. In a preliminary on-field investigation, we used instrumented mouthguards to monitor head impact magnitude in collegiate linebackers during practice sessions while not wearing the padded helmet shell covers (i.e., bare helmets) for one season and whilst wearing the padded helmet shell covers for another season. The addition of the padded helmet shell cover was effective in attenuating the magnitude of angular head accelerations and two brain injury risk metrics (DAMAGE, HARM) across most laboratory impact conditions, but did not significantly attenuate linear head accelerations for all helmets. Overall, HARM values were reduced in laboratory impact tests by an average of 25% at 3.5 m/s (range: 9.7 - 39.6%), 18% at 5.5 m/s (range: -5.5 - 40.5%), and 10% at 7.4 m/s (range: -6.0 - 31.0%). However, on the field, no significant differences in any measure of head impact magnitude were observed between the bare helmet impacts and padded helmet impacts. Further laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the ability of the padded helmet shell cover to maintain its performance after exposure to repeated, successive impacts and across a range of temperatures. This research provides a detailed assessment of padded helmet shell covers and supports the continuation of in vivo helmet research to validate laboratory testing results.Comment: 49 references, 8 figure

Spatiotemporal changes in along-tract profilometry of cerebellar peduncles in cerebellar mutism syndrome

Cerebellar mutism syndrome, characterised by mutism, emotional lability and cerebellar motor signs, occurs in up to 39% of children following resection of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant posterior fossa tumour of childhood. Its pathophysiology remains unclear, but prior studies have implicated damage to the superior cerebellar peduncles. In this study, the objective was to conduct high-resolution spatial profilometry of the cerebellar peduncles and identify anatomic biomarkers of cerebellar mutism syndrome. In this retrospective study, twenty-eight children with medulloblastoma (mean age 8.8 ± 3.8 years) underwent diffusion MRI at four timepoints over one year. Forty-nine healthy children (9.0 ± 4.2 years), scanned at a single timepoint, served as age- and sex-matched controls. Automated Fibre Quantification was used to segment cerebellar peduncles and compute fractional anisotropy (FA) at 30 nodes along each tract. Thirteen patients developed cerebellar mutism syndrome. FA was significantly lower in the distal third of the left superior cerebellar peduncle pre-operatively in all patients compared to controls (FA in proximal third 0.228, middle and distal thirds 0.270, p = 0.01, Cohen's d = 0.927). Pre-operative differences in FA did not predict cerebellar mutism syndrome. However, post-operative reductions in FA were highly specific to the distal left superior cerebellar peduncle, and were most pronounced in children with cerebellar mutism syndrome compared to those without at the 1–4 month follow up (0.325 vs 0.512, p = 0.042, d = 1.36) and at the 1-year follow up (0.342, vs 0.484, p = 0.038, d = 1.12). High spatial resolution cerebellar profilometry indicated a site-specific alteration of the distal segment of the superior cerebellar peduncle seen in cerebellar mutism syndrome which may have important surgical implications in the treatment of these devastating tumours of childhood

Nbs1 Flexibly Tethers Ctp1 and Mre11-Rad50 to Coordinate DNA Double-Strand Break Processing and Repair

SummaryThe Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (Nbs1) subunit of the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex protects genome integrity by coordinating double-strand break (DSB) repair and checkpoint signaling through undefined interactions with ATM, MDC1, and Sae2/Ctp1/CtIP. Here, fission yeast and human Nbs1 structures defined by X-ray crystallography and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) reveal Nbs1 cardinal features: fused, extended, FHA-BRCT1-BRCT2 domains flexibly linked to C-terminal Mre11- and ATM-binding motifs. Genetic, biochemical, and structural analyses of an Nbs1-Ctp1 complex show Nbs1 recruits phosphorylated Ctp1 to DSBs via binding of the Nbs1 FHA domain to a Ctp1 pThr-Asp motif. Nbs1 structures further identify an extensive FHA-BRCT interface, a bipartite MDC1-binding scaffold, an extended conformational switch, and the molecular consequences associated with cancer predisposing Nijmegen breakage syndrome mutations. Tethering of Ctp1 to a flexible Nbs1 arm suggests a mechanism for restricting DNA end processing and homologous recombination activities of Sae2/Ctp1/CtIP to the immediate vicinity of DSBs

Associations between neuropsychiatric and health status outcomes in individuals with probable mTBI

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common occurrence, and may impact distal outcomes in a subgroup of individuals. Improved characterization of health outcomes and identification of factors associated with poor outcomes is needed to better understand the impact of mTBI, particularly in those with co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants in a data repository of the Injury and Traumatic Stress (INTRuST) Clinical Consortium (n = 625) completed functional disability [FD] and health-related quality of life [HRQOL] questionnaires, and a subset completed a neuropsychological assessment. FD and HRQOL were compared among participants with probable mTBI (mTBI), probable mTBI with PTSD (mTBI/PTSD), and health comparison participants (HC). Associations between symptoms, neuropsychological performance, and health outcomes were examined in those with probable mTBI with and without PTSD (n = 316). Individuals in the mTBI/PTSD group endorsed poorer health outcomes than those in the mTBI group, who endorsed poorer outcomes than those in the HC group. Individuals in either mTBI group performed worse than those in the HC on verbal learning and memory and psychomotor speed. Health outcomes were correlated with mental health and postconcussive symptoms, as well as neuropsychological variables. mTBI may adversely impact self-reported health, with the greatest effect observed in individuals with co-occurring mTBI/PTSD