Search

Study Design. Retrospective study. Objective. To compare the true cost between posterior cervical laminectomy and fusion and cervical laminoplasty using time driven activity-based costing methodology. Summary of Background Data. Cervical laminoplasty (LP) and posterior cervical laminectomy with fusion (LF) are effective procedures for treating cervical myelopathy. A comprehensive accounting of cost differences between LP versus LF is not available. Using time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC), we sought to compare the total facility costs in patients with cervical myelopathy undergoing LP versus LF. Materials and Methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 277 LP and 229 LF performed between 2019 and 2023. Total facility costs, which included personnel and supply costs, were assessed using TDABC. Separate analyses including and excluding implant costs were performed. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to assess the independent effect of LP compared with LF on facility costs, with all costs standardized using cost units (CUs). Results. Patients undergoing LP had lower total supply costs [672.5 vs. 765.0 CUs (0.88x), P < 0.001] and lower total personnel costs [330.0 vs. 830.0 CUs (0.40x), P < 0.001], resulting in a lower total facility cost both including [1003.8 vs. 1600.0 CUs (0.63x), P < 0.001] and excluding implant costs [770.0 vs. 875.0 CUs (0.88x), P < 0.001] (Table 1). After controlling for demographics and comorbidities, LF was associated with increased total facility costs, including (588.5 CUs, 95% CI: 517.1-659.9 CUs, P < 0.001) and excluding implant costs (104.3 CUs, 95% CI: 57.6-151.0 CUs, P < 0.001). Conclusions. Using time-driven activity-based costing, we found that total facility costs were lower in patients treated with laminoplasty. These findings suggest that laminoplasty may of fer a less costly and more efficient surgical option for treating cervical myelopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Iliopsoas tendinitis after total hip arthroplasty (THA) has become more prevalent with the increased use of large-diameter femoral heads impinging on native surrounding tissues. Anatomically contoured heads (ACH) are soft-tissue-friendly femoral heads created to minimise this issue. This retrospective study assesses iliopsoas tendinitis prevalence and re-operations in primary THAs with ACH, while determining the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) achievement and improvement with 5 patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 53 ACHs from January 2020 to July 2023. Patients who completed Hip Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score–Physical Function Short Form (HOOS-PS), Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function Short Form 10a (PF SF-10a), PROMIS Global Health (GH)-Mental, or PROMIS GH-Physical, and pain score questionnaires were identified. PROM scores were collected preoperatively and at 3-month and 1-year postoperative intervals. Comparisons using chi-square and ANOVA tests were applied. Results: The rates of achieving MCID and improvement within the first year were (69.2 vs. 76.9%) for PROMIS GH-Physical, (38.5 vs. 46.2%) for PROMIS GH-Mental, (71.4 vs. 92.9%) for HOOS-PS, (80.0 vs. 80.0%) for PROMIS PF SF-10a, and (74.0 vs. 91.7%) for pain scores. PROM scores at 3 months and 1 year significantly varied across all categories, except for PROMIS GH-Mental. No patients had iliopsoas tendinitis, dislocations, or re-operations. Discussion: ACH implants may alleviate anterior hip pain, while maintaining comparable strength and bio-compatibility to conventional femoral heads. This study underscores the early safety and potential of ACH implants in reducing iliopsoas tendinitis and impingement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'What is the good life?' Few empirical studies explore how American college students answer this important question. In this grounded theory study, we analysed the responses of 276 American college students in two phases. In the first phase, we examined responses from 109 students at 10 different universities. In the second phase, we added interviews with an additional 167 students at one of the universities. Based on our coding, we found students' visions of the good life were comprised of 24 unique ingredients; the most common being having a stable or passion-inspired career, being married, having children, continuing advanced learning, and being financially stable. We also discovered that eight distinct clusters of ingredients accounted for three-fourths of student responses. The clusters included American dreamers, happy strivers, comfort, and stability seekers, ECL (enjoy work, have comfort, limited family) students, family cultivators, singular career strivers, moral strivers, and God-followers. Plain Language Summary: 'What is the good life?' For thousands of years, authors have told us what the good life should be. Yet, if educators and other practitioners, such as student life personnel and youth workers, are going to help persuade students to develop a particular vision of the good life, respectable pedagogy requires that we first understand what students think the good life is. Unfortunately, few studies explore how American college students answer this important question. In this study, we analysed the responses of 276 American college students in two phases. In the first phase, we examined responses from 109 students at 10 different universities. In the second phase, we added interviews with an additional 167 students at one of the universities. Based on our analysis, we found students' visions of the good life were comprised of 24 unique good life 'ingredients'. An ingredient is simply one particular element of the good life that students mentioned. The most common ingredients were having a stable or passion-inspired career, being married, having children, continuing advanced learning, and being financially stable. We also discovered that eight distinct clusters of ingredients accounted for three-fourths of student responses. We named these clusters: American dreamers, happy strivers, comfort, and stability seekers, ECL (enjoy work, have comfort, limited family) students, family cultivators, singular career strivers, moral strivers, and God-followers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, Australian higher education has been statist, uniform, and secular. Indeed, up until 1989, even communist Poland had more Christian universities than Australia. Only in the last 3½ decades have eight different Christian universities and colleges emerged. This article first explores the origins of these new institutions and the historical factors that allowed for the emergence of Australian Christian higher education (CHE). It then employs the recently developed Operationalizing Christian Identity Guide (OCIG) to determine the extent to which these new Australian institutions use their Christian identity to guide administrative decisions. The OCIG identifies the number of publicly expressed markers that indicate whether and how Christian identity makes a difference in key administrative decisions regarding the life of the institution. These markers include things such as membership requirements for the board, president, faculty, and students; the institution's official rhetoric and mission; the number of required Christian courses; and the nature of co-curricular programming. An analysis of these institutions using the OCIG reveals that Australia's Christian institutions are observably distinct from their secular Australian counterparts in key areas such as mission, hiring practices, curricular requirements, co-curricular opportunities, and student conduct codes. All of these Christian institutions require core courses that extend beyond professional education. Within the Christian sector, significant diversity also exists regarding religious symbols, funding, and governance. A comparison of these Australian institutions to Christian institutions in the United States and Canada, however, finds that Australian institutions operationalize their Christian identities less than institutions in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most sources from which college students derive their sense of worth are contingent and, therefore, often unstable, especially for students in high-performance educational contexts. Thus, this qualitative study sought to identify the extent to which 142 undergraduate students from eight elite colleges or universities derived their worth from noncontingent, universal sources and the degree to which students had internalized these sources. Only 40 students (28%) identified universal worth as their source of worth, and many of these students struggled to maintain it. The particular institutional context was the major correlate of students' reliance on sources of universal worth. Contingent self-worth and contextual factors appeared to inhibit the formation of universal worth, providing educators with opportunities to intervene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns material art, the atmospheres they create, and the affects they engender in their audiences. It is about how the works of art at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (NMPJ) in Montgomery, Alabama, work to create an atmosphere that enrolls its visitors as empathetic witnesses to the lynchings documented throughout the memorial. The NMPJ is an affecting landscape where visitors learn of the ugly extralegal history of lethal violence against African Americans in the United States. Through a textual analysis of Web-posted Google reviews of the NMPJ, the affecting work that art performs on its viewers is revealed. The NMPJ compels its visitors to both feel and think about a brutal U.S. past and in so doing, it presences the absented victims of lynchings. The NMPJ is not only a place of remembering, but it is a place of re-membering—a reattaching of the lost dead into the narrative body of the U.S. story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and predicting turbulent flow phenomena remain a challenge for both theory and applications. The nonlinear and nonlocal character of small-scale turbulence can be comprehensively described in terms of the velocity gradients, which determine fundamental quantities like dissipation, enstrophy, and the small-scale topology of turbulence. The dynamical equation for the velocity gradient succinctly encapsulates the nonlinear physics of turbulence; it offers an intuitive description of a host of turbulence phenomena and enables establishing connections between turbulent dynamics, statistics, and flow structure. The consideration of filtered velocity gradients enriches this view to express the multiscale aspects of nonlinearity and flow structure in a formulation directly applicable to large-eddy simulations. Driven by theoretical advances together with growing computational and experimental capabilities, recent activities in this area have elucidated key aspects of turbulence physics and advanced modeling capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of platelet function indices—platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), plateletcrit (PCT), immature platelet fraction (IPF), and platelet mass index (PMI)—in psoriasis is uncertain. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association of these platelet biomarkers with both presence and severity of psoriasis. We searched MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), and the Cochrane Library from inception to November 2021. To evaluate the association of platelet function indices and psoriasis, we recorded mean differences (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) as well as correlation coefficients (r) for each included study, and generated summary estimates using random-effects inverse-variance modelling. We screened 1,079 unique studies, and included 33 studies with 6724 patients in the quantitative analyses. Compared with controls, patients with psoriasis had higher PLT (MD 12.86 × 109/L, 95% CI 6.34–19.39, p < 0.001), MPV (MD 0.61fL, 95% CI 0.31–0.92, p < 0.001), and PCT (MD 0.05%, 95% CI 0.01–0.09, p = 0.010), but similar PDW (MD 0.16%, 95% CI -0.46–0.79, p = 0.610). Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) was weakly correlated with PLT (r 0.17, 95% CI 0.06–0.28, p = 0.003), MPV (r 0.36, 95% CI 0.22–0.49, p < 0.001), and PDW (r 0.17, 95% CI 0.08–0.26, p < 0.001). Study numbers were insufficient to judge the relationship of IPF and PMI with psoriasis presence, or PCT, IPF, and PMI with psoriasis severity. In summary, PLT, MPV, and PCT are significantly elevated in patients with psoriasis, and PLT, MPV, and PDW are weakly correlated with PASI. Future studies are needed to evaluate the independent diagnostic and prognostic potentials of these biomarkers in patients with psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although higher education scholars have examined chaplaincy in college and university settings, we are not aware of any studies that have sought to examine chaplains who live and serve in residence halls. As such, we conducted a collective case study of three Protestant institutions with residential chaplain roles—Taylor University, Pepperdine University, and Baylor University. We present an overview of each institutional model employed for residential chaplains and provide comparative analysis. All of the models we analyzed utilized students as residential chaplains, provided joint residence life and spiritual life training, navigated tensions with other roles in the institution, and took advantage of institution-specific resources and contexts. However, these roles had slightly different foci, used students of different academic levels, and were compensated in different ways. In light of our findings, we believe institutions without residential chaplains should see potential options for incorporating such a role into their campus structure, and those who already have residential chaplains should continue thinking about the structure, strengths, and benefits of their current models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although scholars have often described faith‐based universities in America as "church‐related," we argue this classification tells us virtually nothing about how the Catholic identity influences the mission, rhetoric, curriculum, or policies of Catholic institutions. Although Morey and Piderit (2006, Catholic higher education: A culture in crisis) created a more sophisticated four‐part typology of Catholic institutions, we find that students, parents, administrators, and scholars, particularly scholars interested in institutional secularization, need a better means of empirical analysis to determine the degree to which the Catholic identity of an institution influences key administrative decisions of the university. Thus, we propose a method of content analysis that can quantify how the Catholic identity shapes key administrative, curricular, and cocurricular decisions and thereby places Catholic institutions upon a continuum. We then apply our new Operationalizing Faith Identity Guide (OFIG) to Catholic institutions in the United States to demonstrate the helpfulness of its application. Replication: The data needed to duplicate and replicate the findings in the paper will be made available immediately following publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faith-based colleges and universities in America have historically been described as "church-related." Unfortunately, this classification is too one-dimensional, revealing virtually nothing about how faith-based identity influences the mission, rhetoric, curriculum, or policies of institutions. Although scholars have advanced sophisticated typologies of Protestant and Catholic institutions, we propose that we still need a new means of empirical analysis to determine the degree to which the faith identity of an institution influences important administrative, curricular, and co-curricular decisions. We then apply our Operationalizing Faith Identity Guide (OFIG) to Protestant institutions in the United States to demonstrate the helpfulness of its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biallelic pathogenic TTN gene variants cause a form of congenital myopathy (TTN -CM) with mostly neonatal/paediatric onset. Natural history and markers of disease progression are not fully known. A natural history study for TTN -CM has been initiated at Great Ormond Street and Evelina Children's Hospitals (London, UK) in January 2024. One of its scopes is to investigate the role of muscle ultrasound (US) imaging as disease biomarker to aid diagnosis and monitor progression. For this, US will be performed on rectus femoris, vasti, sartorius, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus, tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus (EDL), peroneus, soleus, medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles in the lower limbs, and deltoid, biceps and triceps muscles in the upper arms, at baseline and 12-month visit. Here we present results of baseline US for 6 of 7 patients (age range 3-16 years; 3 females, 3 males) recruited so far. One patient did not have US due to external factors. Experienced raters graded available imaging using the modified Heckmatt scale. Analysis of US images showed variable, but consistent involvement of semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscles in all 6 patients (Heckmatt grade 2-3). Five patients showed sparing of biceps femoris. Mild involvement of lower leg anterior compartment muscles was also noted, with comparative sparing of EDL in 2 patients. Involvement of upper leg anterior, and lower leg posterior compartments was milder and variable. Triceps showed increased echogenicity in 3 patients. Results of further 10 patients, planned to be recruited by August 2024, and comparison with MRI, will also be presented. This preliminary data confirms feasibility of US in TTN -CM patients and highlights its role as a non-invasive diagnostic tool to provide imaging biomarkers. This is particularly helpful in younger patients, where muscle MRI may not always be possible, and to further support validation of unclear genetic findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars studying Christian higher education frequently suggest that faculty are the campus constituents with the most influence over the future of an institution's Christian mission. Thus, both faculty hiring and development are important elements for maintaining and strengthening the Christian identity of a university over time. Despite this importance, we do not know of a study that has surveyed the missional faculty-development processes of Christian colleges and universities. We utilized a survey research design to determine how Christian institutions educate faculty to integrate their Christian mission into their teaching, scholarship, and institutional service. We found that institutions tended to offer introductory trainings and workshops early in the career of faculty. After these early programs, the most effective faculty development resources identified were the conversations facilitated through discipline-specific academic journals and professional organizations. Moving forward, the institutions from which we heard hoped for increased resources and institutional prioritization for these conversations, especially at the advanced and senior faculty level. In conclusion, we suggest four opportunities for practical innovation to ensure future growth and engagement of faculty development for Christian mission: include a proactive approach to hiring practices, place a renewed emphasis on Christ-animated scholarship, continue to expand the conversation beyond the humanities, and introduce programming and incentives aimed at engaging senior faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many processes of biological diversification can simultaneously affect multiple evolutionary lineages. Examples include multiple members of a gene family diverging when a region of a chromosome is duplicated, multiple viral strains diverging at a "superspreading" event, and a geological event fragmenting whole communities of species. It is difficult to test for patterns of shared divergences predicted by such processes because all phylogenetic methods assume that lineages diverge independently. We introduce a Bayesian phylogenetic approach to relax the assumption of independent, bifurcating divergences by expanding the space of topologies to include trees with shared and multifurcating divergences. This allows us to jointly infer phylogenetic relationships, divergence times, and patterns of divergences predicted by processes of diversification that affect multiple evolutionary lineages simultaneously or lead to more than two descendant lineages. Using simulations, we find that the method accurately infers shared and multifurcating divergence events when they occur and performs as well as current phylogenetic methods when divergences are independent and bifurcating. We apply our approach to genomic data from two genera of geckos from across the Philippines to test if past changes to the islands' landscape caused bursts of speciation. Unlike previous analyses restricted to only pairs of gecko populations, we find evidence for patterns of shared divergences. By generalizing the space of phylogenetic trees in a way that is independent from the likelihood model, our approach opens many avenues for future research into processes of diversification across the life sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between faith-based institutions and students who identify as LGBTQ+ has attracted considerable attention of late. Most of this scholarly attention, however, has focused upon the students themselves. In this article, we examine the contemporary experience of 371 student affairs leaders (SALs) who serve as the primary mediators between the desires and demands of LGBTQ+ advocates, scholars, and students, and the policies of current administrators. This article reports on previously unexplored data from a larger grounded theory study on Christ-enlivened student affairs to answer the research question: How do SALs at Christian universities approach LGBTQ+ students in light of the Christian mission of their institutions? Data were collected using a qualitative questionnaire of 301 SALs, as well as extended interviews with 70 SALs. Participants' moral/theological responses included a collection of Christian virtues and rules. They indicated a range of helpful practices—including how they handled campus groups—but generally agreed on the dearth of training and education they had received on the topic. In our discussion, we compare our findings to the recommendations of previous scholars before elaborating our own list of recommendations. Our suggestions for Christian campuses include a re-imagined policy statement, a commitment to education rather than training, a focus on the spiritual needs of students, and some recommendations for LGBTQ+ campus groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 78-year-old woman with urinary tract infections (UTIs) who was brought to the emergency department (ED) because she had had been experiencing a change in mental status (confusion) for few days. It notes she had a past medical history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and osteopenia. The article discusses challenges in treating UTIs in older patients and references The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)'s 2019 Clinical Practice Guideline.

For Christian colleges and universities, students' spiritual formation and character development are important outcomes. However, unlike academic outcomes of retention and graduation, systematic efforts to measure outcomes of faith and character are far from ubiquitous. The purpose of this article is to report the efforts of Baylor University to address the gap between mission and measurement. Guided by prevailing theories, an interdisciplinary research team launched the Baylor Faith and Character Study in August 2018. Data collection for the broader project involved surveys and interviews at three points in time: a student's first semester at Baylor, a student's final semester at Baylor, and 10 years after degree completion. Preliminary, cross-sectional findings from survey data reveal that levels of religious belief and practice were nearly equivalent for first-year students, seniors, and alumni, while seniors exhibited stronger character in several areas than first-year students. A discussion of conclusions and implications closes the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We find that the historic first wintertime ascent of K2 in January 2021 by a Nepalese team was aided by weather that was anomalously favourable. For example, the combination of very low temperatures, high wind speeds, and reduced oxygen availability on Mt. Everest help explain why the South Pole was reached (1911) more than 40 years before the summit (1953). Although second in height to Mt. Everest, the summit of K2 is guarded by wind chill temperatures that plunge ~10 degC lower than those of the higher mountain. The latter reflects the coincidence of abnormally warm and calm conditions (Figure 3), which was particularly unusual given that air temperatures and wind speeds on K2 are positively correlated in winter (December-February, Pearson correlation = +0.27, I P < i 0.01). [Extracted from the article]

Scholarship about the concept of the conscience has languished in the past half century, although some recent works have sought to revive it. One recent attempt proposes that the key to reviving the concept is its secularisation, since this secularisation would make it less dogmatic and more useful to a wider audience. In this paper, I argue that this process already occurred in American collegiate moral education. Yet, when the moral conscience in America became separated from its religious roots and the functions inspired by those roots, it eventually lost its place in any general approach to collegiate moral education. The secularisation of the concept cut it off from the roots nourishing its earlier multi-faceted religious understanding and led it not to be reutilised for a broader audience but to it being replaced by a secularised form of reason. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic cheating has long been persistent and pervasive on college campuses. Informed by the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we studied how factors collectively influence academic cheating among undergraduate students. Consistent with prior research, we found a lack of self-control, attitude toward academic misconduct, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control relates to college student engagement in academic cheating. Notably, we found that attitude toward academic cheating not only directly relates to student academic cheating but mediates the relationship between lack of self-control and student academic cheating. Given that the attitude toward academic cheating is malleable, such findings have important implications for reducing academic misconduct among college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation in the outer tropical Andes is highly seasonal, exhibits considerable interannual variability, and is vital for regulating freshwater availability, flooding, glacier mass balance, and droughts. The primary driver of interannual variability is El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with most investigations reporting that the El Niño (La Niña) results in negative (positive) precipitation anomalies across the region. Recent investigations, however, have identified substantial spatiotemporal differences in ENSO‐precipitation relationships. Motivated by the dissimilarity of these findings, this study examines a carefully selected data set (≥ 90% completeness) of ground‐based precipitation observations from 75 high‐elevation (≥ 2,500 m above sea level) meteorological stations in the tropical Andes of southern Peru and Bolivia for the period 1972–2016. Distinct groups of stations and associated variability in precipitation characteristics (e.g., total seasonal precipitation, wet season onset, and wet season length) are identified. Using no spatial constraints, the K‐Means algorithm optimally grouped stations into five easily identifiable groups. The groups farthest from the Amazon basin had significant negative (positive) precipitation anomalies (p <.05) during El Niño (La Niña), aligning with the traditional view of ENSO‐precipitation relationships while groups closest to the Amazon had opposite relationships. Additionally, though studies have reported delays in the wet season, years characterized by El Niño had an earlier wet season onset in all five groups. These findings may aid in improving seasonal climate prediction and managing water resources, and could allow for improved interpretation of tropical Andean ice cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluid turbulence generates a chaotic soup of strongly nonlinear features that are hard to mathematically describe and model. A recent theoretical simplification brings fresh insight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the processes that underpin adaptive evolutionary shifts within major taxonomic groups has long been a research directive among many evolutionary biologists. Such phenomena are best studied in large monophyletic groups that occupy a broad range of habitats where repeated exposure to novel ecological opportunities has happened independently over time in different lineages. The gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus is just such a lineage with approximately 300 species that range from South Asia to Melanesia and occupy a vast array of habitats. Ancestral state reconstructions using a stochastic character mapping analysis of nine different habitat preferences were employed across a phylogeny composed of 76% of the known species of Cyrtodactylus. This was done in order to ascertain which habitat preference is the ancestral condition and from that condition, the transition frequency to more derived habitat preferences. The results indicate that a general habitat preference is the ancestral condition for Cyrtodactylus and the frequency of transitioning from a general habitat preference to anything more specialized occurs approximately four times more often than the reverse. Species showing extreme morphological and/or ecological specializations generally do not give rise to species bearing other habitat preferences. The evolution of different habitat preferences is generally restricted to clades that tend to occur in specific geographic regions. The largest radiations in the genus occur in rocky habitats (granite and karst), indicating that the transition from a general habitat preference to a granite or karst‐dwelling life style may be ecologically uncomplicated. Two large, unrelated clades of karst‐associated species are centered in northern Indochina and the largest clade of granite‐associated species occurs on the Thai‐Malay Peninsula. Smaller, independent radiations of clades bearing other habitat preferences occur throughout the tree and across the broad distribution of the genus. With the exception of a general habitat preference, the data show that karst‐associated species far out‐number all others (29.6% vs. 0.4%–10.2%, respectively) and the common reference to karstic regions as "imperiled arcs of biodiversity" is not only misleading but potentially dangerous. Karstic regions are not simply refugia harboring the remnants of local biodiversity but are foci of speciation that continue to generate the most speciose, independent, radiations across the genus. Unfortunately, karstic landscapes are some of the most imperiled and least protected habitats on the planet and these data continue to underscore the urgent need for their conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the highest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest is an iconic peak that offers an unrivalled natural platform for measuring ongoing climate change across the full elevation range of Asia's water towers. However, Everest's extreme environment challenges data collection, particularly on the mountain's upper slopes, where glaciers accumulate mass and mountaineers are most exposed. Weather stations have operated on Everest before, including the world's previous highest, but coverage has been sparse in space and time. Here we describe the installation of a network of five automatic weather stations (AWSs), including the two highest stations on Earth (8,430 and 7,945 m MSL) which greatly improves monitoring of this iconic mountain. We highlight sample applications of the new data, including an initial assessment of surface energy fluxes at Camp II (6,464 m MSL) and the South Col (7,945 m MSL), which suggest melt occurs at both sites, despite persistently below-freezing air temperatures. This analysis indicates that melt may even be possible at the 8,850 m MSL summit, and prompts a reevaluation of empirical temperature index models used to simulate glacier melt in the Himalayas that focus only on air temperature. We also provide the first evaluation of numerical weather forecasts at almost 8,000 m MSL and use of model output statistics to reduce forecast error, showcasing an important opportunity to improve climber safety on Everest. Looking forward, we emphasize the considerable potential of these freely available data for understanding weather and climate in the Himalayas and beyond, including tracking the behavior of upper-atmosphere winds, which the AWS network is uniquely positioned to monitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Posteromedial bowing of the tibia is an uncommon but recognized congenital lower extremity deformity in children that can lead to limb length discrepancy (LLD) and residual angulatory deformity. The purpose of this study is to report a series of children at a single institution with posteromedial bowing treated by lengthening. Methods: A retrospective review was carried out at our institution identifying 16 patients who were treated with limb lengthening for posteromedial bowing of the tibia and followed to skeletal maturity. Projected LLD was a mean of 7.7 cm (range 5.0 cm to 14.2 cm). Three patients were treated in a staged fashion with lengthening and deformity correction at age three to four years and subsequent definitive tibial lengthening. The remaining 13 patients were treated with limb lengthening approaching adolescence using circular external fixation. Results: All patients were pain free and ambulated without a limp at final follow-up. The mean final LLD was 0.3 cm short. In spite of correction of distal tibial shaft valgus in 11 of the 16 patients, eight of the 16 (50%) required later correction of persistent, symptomatic ankle valgus by either hemiepiphyseodesis (seven patients) or osteotomy (one patient). Conclusions: Children with posteromedial bowing of the tibial with projected LLD over 5cm can be effectively treated with lengthening. Patients with severe valgus of more than 30° of shaft valgus and difficulty ambulating at age three years can be successfully treated with a two-stage lengthening proce- dure. Attention should be paid in patients with posteromedial bowing to ankle valgus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty-eight percent of the 43 known species of the Bent-toed Geckos (Cyrtodactylus) from Myanmar are found only in karstic habitats in the Shan Plateau and Salween and Ayeyarwady basins. A stochastic character mapping analysis indicated that the occupation of karstic habitats evolved at least four times independently in Burmese lineages with both Sundaic and Indian origins. Karstic habitats not only serve as foci for speciation but are refugia for species extirpated from the surrounding forested habitats due to agricultural development. Despite the high levels of biodiversity and site-specific endemism in karstic habitats in Myanmar, they are some of the least protected ecosystems. The immense financial returns from unsustainable resource extraction (cement manufacturing) makes the challenge of legal karst conservation extremely difficult. Sadly, their continued exploitation for limestone shows no signs of abating. Until karst habitats in Myanmar are thoroughly investigated, a significant portion of this country's herpetological diversity will remain underestimated and unprotected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical accuracy of building taxonomies is improved when they are based on phylogenetic inference (i.e., the resultant classifications are less apt to misrepresent evolutionary history). In fact, taxonomies inferred from statistically significant diagnostic morphological characters in the absence of phylogenetic considerations, can contain non-monophyletic lineages. This is especially true at the species level where small amounts of gene flow may not preclude the evolution of localized adaptions in different geographic areas while underpinning the paraphyletic nature of each population with respect to the other. We illustrate this point by examining genetic and morphological variation among three putatively allopatric populations of the granite-dwelling Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus aequalis from hilly regions in southeastern Myanmar. In the absence of molecular phylogenetic inference, a compelling argument for three morphologically diagnosable species could be marshaled. However, when basing the morphological analyses of geographic variation on a molecular phylogeny, there is a more compelling argument that only one species should be recognized. We are cognizant of the fact however, that when dealing with rare species or specimens for which no molecular data are possible, judicious morphological analyses are the only option—and the desired option given the current worldwide biodiversity crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent does local variation exist in the expressed interests of planta- tion museum tourists? While the study of plantation museums is of growing importance in the tourism literature, these existing studies have tended to focus on a single site or a single region. This study examines data collected at several southern plantations across multiple smaller areas in the U.S. Southeast. Specifically, we are curious about tourists' interests in select topics, such as slavery and the role of women on the plantation, among others in three regions: River Road, Louisiana; Charleston, South Carolina; and James River, Virginia. We hypothesize that each region has absorbed different local identities and histories that constitute multiple Souths. Employing conditional inference trees on plantation museum tourist interest ratings and rankings, we find varying social representations by in these local communities, with interest in Enslaved playing an important role in the variation of these imaginings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are many reasons why one could consider current manifestations of general education a disaster area, this article focuses on its ethical failures. First, I will demonstrate the central importance of moral purposes to justifications for general education. Second, I will describe how the failure to connect the moral aims that originally animated general education to a complex understanding of our fundamental identity, alongside a general marginalization of moral discourse in the academy, has produced an inability to match the content of general education to the moral ends used to justify it. Rather than the incoherent approach to general education used today, I argue that general education should focus on the individual that the university is ultimately meant to serve—the student. Such a shift requires, as John Dewey noted, nothing short of a revolution. Higher education certainly provides students with tools but it provides students no direction as to what is worth building, I propose a general education that instructs students about, and cultivates capacities toward excellence in, the great human identities (e.g., neighbor, friend, citizen, family, steward of nature and culture, race, gender, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rock-dwelling gecko genus Cnemaspis is one of the most species-diverse genera of gekkonid in Thailand. Earlier studies relied on morphological data to identify species, but cryptic morphology often obscured species diversity in Cnemaspis. In this study, an integrative taxonomic approach based on morphological characters and sequences of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) gene were used to clarify current taxonomy of the Cnemaspis siamensis complex and delimit a new species from Lan Saka District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, southern Thailand. Cnemaspis lineatubercularis sp. nov. is distinguished from other congeneric species by the combination of morphological characters: (1) maximum snout-vent length (SVL) of 40.6 mm (mean 38.8 ± SD 1.4, N = 12) in adult males and maximum SVL of 41.8 mm (mean 39.5 ± SD 1.9, N = 7) in adult females; (2) 8-9 supralabial and infralabial scales; (3) gular, pectoral, abdominal, and subcaudal scales keeled; (4) rostral, interorbitals, supercilium, palmar scales, and ventral scales of brachia smooth; (5) 5-6 small, subconical spine-like tubercles present on flanks; (6) 19-21 paravertebral tubercles linearly arranged; (7) 27-29 subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe; (8) 4-7 pore-bearing precloacal scales, pores rounded arranged in chevron shape and separated only in males; (9) one postcloacal tubercles each side in males; (10) ventrolateral caudal tubercles present anteriorly; (11) caudal tubercles restricted to a single paravertebral row on each side; (12) single median row of subcaudal scales keeled and lacking enlarged median row; and (13) gular region, abdomen, limbs and subcaudal region yellowish only in males. Genetically, the uncorrected pairwise divergences between the new species and their congeners in the C. siamensis group were between 15.53-28.09%. The new species is currently known only from granitic rocky streams at Wang Mai Pak Waterfall in the Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range. Its discovery suggests that additional unrecognized species of Cnemaspis may still occur in unexplored areas of southern Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fracture liaison services (FLS) have been proven clinically effective and cost-effective in preventing subsequent fractures among patients with an existing fragility fracture. Little is known about their monetary benefits such as their return on investment (ROI). This systematic review aimed to investigate the ROI of FLS and identify the FLS characteristics with better ROI. Studies on the cost-effectiveness of FLS published between January 2000 and December 2022 were searched from MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, and Cochrane Central. Two independent reviewers conducted study selection and data extraction. ROI was calculated based on the difference between monetary benefits and FLS costs divided by the FLS costs. Subgroup analysis of ROI was performed across FLS types and FLS design details. A total of 23 FLS were included in this review. The majority of them were targeting patients aged over 50 years having fractures without identified sites. The mean ROI of these FLS was 10.49 (with a median ROI of 7.57), and 86.96% of FLS had positive ROI. FLS making treatment recommendations yielded the highest ROI (with a mean ROI of 18.39 and a median of 13.60). Incorporating primary care providers (with a mean ROI of 16.04 and a median of 13.20) or having them as program leaders (with a mean ROI of 12.07 and a median of 12.07) has demonstrated a high ROI. FLS for specific fracture sites had great monetary return. Intensive FLS such as type A and B FLS programs had higher ROI than non-intensive type C and D FLS. This review revealed a 10.49-fold monetary return of FLS. Identified characteristics contributing to greater economic return informed value-for-money FLS designs. Findings highlight the importance of FLS and the feasibility of expanding their contribution in mitigating the economic burden of osteoporotic fracture and are conducive to the promotion of FLS internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores a significant stream of theopoetics largely informed by Rubem Alves and the work of ARC: Arts | Religion | Culture. It considers some of the features that differentiate theopoetic engagement from the scholarship of 'Theology and The Arts' and reflects on the relationship between theopoetics and the academy more broadly. It also grapples with the impact of coloniality on theopoetics and the ways in which this may have influenced the aversion to ideas like 'rationalism' and 'objectivity' in the Alvesian stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout American history, scholars called Christian higher education by other names. They used terms such as "denominational," "sectarian," "church-related," "church-sponsored," "church-based," and "church-affiliated" higher education to describe Christian higher education. What these terms failed to include, however, were the increasing number of nondenominational institutions that began to emerge in the nineteenth century. In The Dying of the Light, James Burtchaell (1998) did include these institutions in his argument. He suggested that nondenominational colleges and universities had the same weakness as denominational institutions that abandoned their church connections. In fact, compared to institutions that kept their church ties, in Burtchaell's eyes, they appeared to be weaker institutions since they lacked direct denominational support. Apart from Burtchaell's one historical case study, very little empirical literature exists that supports this argument. This study explores this claim empirically, and compares faculty attitudes, theological beliefs, and religious behaviors at denominational and nondenominational institutions that are part of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). Respondents included 1,999 full-time faculty from 49 CCCU institutions. Contrary to what certain scholars claim, results demonstrated that faculty at nondenominational institutions did not significantly differ in their theological beliefs from their denominational counterparts. Further empirical research is needed to understand the reasons for this outcome, although we offer some possible hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of crocodile newt from populations on opposite sides of the Ayeyarwady Basin, Myanmar, previously referred to as Tylototriton cf. verrucosus, is described on the basis of colour pattern, morphology and phylogenetic data from the mitochondrial gene ND2. Tylototriton panwaensis sp. nov. is most closely related to T. verrucosus + T. shanjing but bears a unique suite of colour pattern and morphological characters separating it from T. verrucosus and T. shanjing as well as the other geographically proximate species T. ngarsuensis and T. shanorum. Molecular and morphological data presented herein (that have been used elsewhere) continue to fuel the issue of separate specific allocation (or not) to T. verrucosus and T. shanjing but go no further to resolve the controversy. The description of this new species adds to a rapidly growing database of newly described species of amphibians and reptiles from the upland, mountainous regions of eastern Myanmar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Located in the mid‐latitudes and exhibiting the greatest topographic relief in the eastern United States, the southern Appalachian Mountains (SAM) contain some of the most diverse climatological environments in the United States. This diversity is most pronounced in the winter season when temperature and snowfall can vary drastically across the region. In this study, we identify long‐term trends and variation of temperature and snowfall in the SAM of the southeastern United States during climatological winter (DJF) from 1910 to 2017. Along with recognizing statistically significant climatic trends, we also identify the influence of several teleconnection patterns, namely the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) that further scientific understanding of how this region has remained a climatic anomaly. Results of this study indicate the SAM have experienced a statistically significant long‐term cooling trend since the early 20th century, with recent decades suggesting a reversal towards a warming pattern. Snowfall exhibited high interannual variability, with the 1960s and 1970s producing anomalously high amounts of snowfall. Several atmospheric forcing couplings are identified that align with anomalous conditions in the region. Most notably, negative temperature anomalies and higher snowfall amounts were frequently found during El Niño and negative NAO seasons, with the opposite being true during La Niña and positive NAO winters. The influence of these teleconnection patterns was spatially dependent, with lower elevations and eastern‐facing slopes being highly dependent on the phase of ENSO for snowfall, whereas higher elevations and western‐facing slopes were more reliant on the NAO. The identification of pattern couplings is critical to improving understanding of the anomalous climate of the SAM, enhancing seasonal forecasting, and predicting future climate change in the region. In this study, we identify long‐term trends of temperature and snowfall in the southern Appalachian Mountains—a globally anomalous region—during climatological winter (DJF) from 1910 to 2017. Several atmospheric forcing couplings are identified that align with anomalous conditions in the region. Notably, negative temperature anomalies and higher snowfall amounts are frequently found during El Niño and negative North Atlantic Oscillation seasons. The identification of these couplings is critical to improving understanding of regional anomalies and predicting future climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the powerful influence that trauma can have on individuals and the ways in which this influence might be addressed in the development of adult religious education. It asks how we can facilitate deepening a person's relationship with God and others when trauma has damaged a person's capacity to relate. Suggestions are made for future work by integrating trauma analysis from Judith Herman and Bessel van der Kolk with theological insight from Mary Elizabeth Moore and Rebecca Chopp. Five qualities of a trauma-informed approach to adult religious education are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looks at the growing importance of film studies as an academic discipline with a distinct theoretical vision and suggests that Modern Language Association (MLA) should alter its database description to reflect this change. History of the film studies; Theory and problem of film studies; Source of film studies; Comparing MLA to other databases; Conclusions.

We present a genotypic analysis of 108 DMD/BMD patients from India (64), South Africa (41) and Brazil (3), recruited through the International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Diseases. 106/108 (98%) attained a genetic diagnosis (81 DMD, 23 BMD, 2 symptomatic females), through multiplex ligation probe amplification (91) or whole exome sequencing (WES) (15). 85 (80%) had deletions (del), 12 (11%) nonsense variants (NV), 7 (7%) duplications (dup), and 2 (2%) splice variants (SV). All BMD patients had in frame del/dup. The prevalence of different types of DMD variants varied significantly between India and South Africa (p=<0.001), with a higher prevalence of del in India (94% vs 60%). Two solved Brazilian patients had both a del and a NV. Exons 45-50 and 10-20 were del/dup hotspots, as a result of the recurrent intronic del/dup breakpoints 45 (29/92), 46 (10/92) and 48 (15/92). Cumulatively, introns 45-48 were breakpoints in 59% of 54 cases of del/dup. 74% of these were from India vs 24% from South Africa. We found a higher proportion of del/dup with 5' breakpoints (before exon 10) in the South African cohort (9/31), vs the Indian one (3/60). WES identified two novel pathogenic DMD variants (1 SV, 1 del). 52% of patients with del (33 Indian and 11 South African) are amenable to antisense oligonucleotide mediated exon skipping therapies (ASO), 29 amenable to licenced ASO targeting exons 45 (9 pts), 51 (14 pts) and 53 (5 pts); One patient had an exon 52 del amenable to exon 51 or 53 skipping. Of the remaining 15 patients, 40% would be amenable to skipping of exon 44, an ASO currently in clinical trials. Our data highlights potential genotypic differences between South African and Indian DMD/BMD cohorts and a notable lack of dup and lower proportion of 5' region del/dup in the Indian cohort. These findings may have implications for clinical trial and therapeutic eligibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The team arrived at the Everest Base Camp at approximately 0600 utc 17 April 2019 and immediately deployed the Micro Rain Radar (Figure 2), a manual precipitation gauge and a snow board in anticipation of additional snowfall. We recorded 9.2mm liquid-equivalent precipitation (9.5cm snowfall) from a core sample collected on a snow board ending at 1800 utc 17 April 2019 at the Everest Base Camp, which does not include snowfall from the previous day. After a few minutes of snow at 0700 utc, a longer period of more intense snow fell from 0750 utc to 1110 utc, and a second period of snow fell from 1300 utc to 1517 utc. Radar reflectivity is roughly proportional to log SB 10 sb (mass SP 3 sp ) in snow and is a time-integrated quantity representing snow particles that formed at different times and locations but ended up in the same volume of air. [Extracted from the article]

This paper introduces the AtsMOS workflow, designed to enhance mountain meteorology predictions through the downscaling of coarse numerical weather predictions using local observational data. AtsMOS provides a modular, open-source toolkit for local and large-scale forecasting of various meteorological variables through modified Model Output Statistics – and may be applied to data from a single station or an entire network. We demonstrate its effectiveness through an example application at the summit of Mt. Everest, where it improves the prediction of both meteorological variables (e.g. wind speed, temperature) and derivative variables (e.g. facial frostbite time) critical for mountaineering safety. As a bridge between numerical weather prediction models and ground observations, AtsMOS help produce insights for hazard mitigation, water resource management, and other weather-dependant issues in mountainous regions and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an exploration of the psycho-spiritual concept of moral injury (MI) in public school settings. Many teachers enter their profession responding to a sense of call to do good and yet can encounter situations where they are expected to do and support actions that they think might be detrimental to the youth in their care. This piece argues that insight can be gained by considering this a form of MI. The essay argues that MI ought to be included in teacher training programs and be part of the ongoing support of teachers finding themselves in morally injurious contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the purpose acquisition of young emerging adults (18-23), scholars claim we need to learn the types of purposes to which they are committing and how they conceptualize purpose differently from other related concepts such as future goals and the good life. To address these issues, we examined interviews with 229 young emerging adults about their life purpose, future goals, and conceptions of the good life. Although the interviewees’ purposes and future goals fit within shared categories of achievement, relationships, religion, and moral concerns, important differences also emerged. While one fourth of the sample lacked purpose, no one lacked a vision for the good life or future goals. Moreover, their future vision of the good life focused more on individualistic concerns such as happiness, material acquisitions and personal experiences with family being the only communal interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used the first detailed radar measurements of the vertical structure of precipitation obtained in the central Andes of southern Peru and Bolivia to investigate the diurnal cycle and vertical structure of precipitation and melting-layer heights in the tropical Andes. Vertically pointing 24.1-GHz Micro Rain Radars in Cusco, Peru (3350m MSL, August 2014-February 2015), and La Paz, Bolivia (3440m MSL, October 2015-February 2017), provided continuous 1-min profiles of reflectivity and Doppler velocity. The time-height data enabled the determination of precipitation timing, melting-layer heights, and the identification of convective and stratiform precipitation features. Rawinsonde data, hourly observations of meteorological variables, and satellite and reanalysis data provided additional insight into the characteristics of these precipitation events. The radar data revealed a diurnal cycle with frequent precipitation and higher rain rates in the afternoon and overnight. Short periods with strong convective cells occurred in several storms. Longer-duration events with stratiform precipitation structures were more common at night than in the afternoon. Backward air trajectories confirmed previous work indicating an Amazon basin origin of storm moisture. For the entire dataset, median melting-layer heights were above the altitude of nearby glacier termini approximately 17%of the time in Cusco and 30%of the time in La Paz, indicating that some precipitation was falling as rain rather than snow on nearby glacier surfaces. During the 2015-16 El Niño, almost half of storms in La Paz had melting layers above 5000m MSL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ARRAY(0x55f3a98b0150) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrative taxonomic analysis reveals a remarkable degree of cryptic speciation between sympatric, specialized, leaf-litter species in an upland clade of the scincid genus Tytthoscincus across the sky-island archipelago of Peninsular Malaysia. Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood phylogenies based on the mitochondrial gene ND2 indicate that this clade is composed of a lineage of limb, digit and tympanum-reduced, semi-fossorial species and a lineage of leaf-litter generalist bearing longer, more robust limbs and digits, and well-developed tympanae. Behavioural differences inferred from differing ecomorphologies form the basis of hypotheses proposed to account for resource partitioning at Fraser's Hill, Pahang between the sympatric leaf-litter generalist T. bukitensis and the new semi-fossorial species T. kakikecil sp. nov. However, this hypothesis does not account for the extreme case of cryptic speciation and syntopy between T. bukitensis and a new leaf-litter generalist T. martae sp. nov. at Genting Highlands, Pahang. The phylogenetic analyses also indicate there is an additional new, upland, semi-fossorial species, T. jaripendek sp. nov., from Cameron Highlands and a new lowland, leaf-litter generalist, Tytthoscincus sp., from Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu. The specific identities of the new upland populations are corroborated by morphological analyses using combinations of principal component analysis, discriminant analysis of principal components, analysis of variance, Tukey HSD (honest significant difference) tests and Welch two-way t-tests. The Hulu Terengganu specimen was too damaged to provide a reliable description. A biogeographic scenario inferred from a time-calibrated BEAST analysis suggests that speciation in the upland clade has been ongoing since the Upper Pliocene following repeated episodes of secondary contact associated with glacier-driven climatic oscillations generating upland forest expansion and retraction. These analyses highlight the increasing levels of herpetological diversity and endemism being discovered in the montane regions of Peninsular Malaysia and bring to light the understudied ecological complexity of Peninsular Malaysia's leaf-litter ecosystems and the growing need for its conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrative phylogenetic taxonomic analysis recovers three additional new species of karst-associated Cyrtodactylus Gray (Squamata: Gekkonidae) - C. bayinnyiensis sp. nov., C. chaunghanakwaensis sp. nov. and C. naungkayaingensis sp. nov. - from a narrow zone in the Salween Basin of Kayin and Mon states in eastern Myanmar from which nine new species were recently described. This degree of unprecedented diversity and site-specific endemism will no doubt continue to rise when at least 44 unsurveyed karstic habitat-islands in this same area are also explored. These data indicate that karst habitats not only serve as foci for speciation, but their rugged terrain spares them from agricultural development and, as such, they are the only habitats in the Salween Basin wherein much of the pre-agricultural herpetofauna can survive. This continues to underscore the fact that karst habitats in Myanmar harbour a significant portion of that country’s herpetofauna, some of which remains undescribed. Despite eastern Myanmar constituting some of the most extensive karstic regions in South-east Asia, they are the least legally protected, with only 1% of their terrain recognised as vulnerable. Until karst habitats in Myanmar are thoroughly investigated, a significant portion of this country’s herpetological diversity will remain underestimated and unprotected. Therefore, issues associated with karst conservation and management in Myanmar should be elevated to a new level of urgency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phylogenetic taxonomy of the gekkonid genus Hemiphyllodactylus based on molecular, morphological, and ecological data recovered 28 species, including three new species from the upland regions of the Shan Plateau in eastern Myanmar. Hemiphyllodactylus linnwayensis sp. nov. is a forest-adapted species that may also be a human commensal and H. montawaensis sp. nov. and H. tonywhitteni sp. nov. are karst forest-adapted species. The discovery of three new species from montane regions in eastern Myanmar extends the distribution of a larger monophyletic group of Hemiphyllodactylus westward to the eastern edge of the Ayeyrawady Basin through a series of semi-contiguous, parallel mountain ranges originating in western China and northern Thailand. The discovery of the karst forest-adapted H. montawaensis sp. nov. and H. tonywhitteni sp. nov. further emphasizes the unrealized herpetological diversity endemic to karst ecosystems and the need for increased field work throughout such habitats in South-East Asia. www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E42FA075-E8E0-4005-98AB-12E8D5F23A07 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twelve new karst-adapted species of the gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus Gray are described from the Shan Hills and Salween River Basin of Myanmar. Three species occur in rocky habitats along karst ridges and nine species are microendemics restricted to isolated karst caves and towers. This high, localized diversity underscores the archipelago-like nature and microendemism associated with karst habitat-islands. Eleven of the 12 new species are not related to other Indo-Burmese species and form four monophyletic species groups nested within a larger Indo-Chinese clade of Southeast Asian species. Phylogenetic relationships and distributions indicate Cyrtodactylus originated in the Himalayan uplands and dispersed westward through Myanmar with subsequent invasions back into eastern and southern Myanmar. These new species highlight the understudied nature of karst biodiversity in general and karst herpetology in particular. Extensive karst ecosystems throughout the massive Shan Plateau of eastern Myanmar remain largely unexplored and are likely to harbour tens--if not hundreds--of undiscovered species. The unique and complex structure of understudied limestone ecosystems throughout Southeast Asia are habitats in which amphibians and reptiles have specialized, speciated and become endemic. In an age of biodiversity crisis, managing and conserving these ecosystems throughout Southeast Asia should be given greater priority. A key to the species of Cyrtodactylus of Myanmar is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]