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Following the fast spread of Covid-19 across Europe and North America in March 2020, many people started stockpiling commodities like toilet paper. Despite the high relevance for public authorities to adequately address stockpiling behavior, empirical studies on the psychological underpinnings of toilet paper stockpiling are still scarce. In this study, we investigated the relation between personality traits, perceived threat of Covid-19, and stockpiling of toilet paper in an online survey (N = 996) across 22 countries. Results suggest that people who felt more threatened by Covid-19 stockpiled more toilet paper. Further, a predisposition towards Emotionality predicted the perceived threat of Covid-19 and affected stockpiling behavior indirectly. Finally, Conscientiousness was related to toilet paper stockpiling, such that individuals higher in Conscientiousness tended to stockpile more toilet paper. These results emphasize the importance of clear communication by public authorities acknowledging anxiety and, at the same time, transmitting a sense of control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University scientific research ability is an important indicator to express the strength of universities. In this paper, the evaluation of university scientific research ability is investigated based on the output of sci-tech papers. Four university alliances from North America, UK, Australia, and China, are selected as the case study of the university scientific research evaluation. Data coming from Thomson Reuters InCites are collected to support the evaluation. The work has contributed new framework to the issue of university scientific research ability evaluation. At first, we have established a hierarchical structure to show the factors that impact the evaluation of university scientific research ability. Then, a new MCDM method called D-AHP model is used to implement the evaluation and ranking of different university alliances, in which a data-driven approach is proposed to automatically generate the D numbers preference relations. Next, a sensitivity analysis has been given to show the impact of weights of factors and sub-factors on the evaluation result. At last, the results obtained by using different methods are compared and discussed to verify the effectiveness and reasonability of this study, and some suggestions are given to promote China’s scientific research ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective of this systematic review is to determine the extent and quality of evidence for use of different types of locking fluids to prevent central venous access device complications in adult critical care patients. Specifically, rates of catheter-related bloodstream infection, colonization, and occlusion were considered. All types of devices were included in the review: central venous catheters, peripherally- inserted central catheters and hemodialysis catheters. Methods: Eligibility criteria. Papers had to include adult (>18 years old) critical care patients, be experimental trials, conducted in North America and Europe, and published in peer-reviewed journals from 2010 onwards. Information sources. A search of Medline and EMBASE databases was performed. The search is current as of November 28th, 2022. Risk of bias. The Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 and the Risk of Bias In Non-Randomized Studies of Intervention tools were used to assess the risk of bias in included studies. Results: Included studies. A total of 240 paper titles and abstracts underwent review, of these seven studies met the final criteria for quality appraisal. A total of three studies earned a low risk of bias quality appraisal. Discussion: Limitations of evidence. Due to heterogeneity of types of locking fluids investigated and small number of studies identified, meta-analysis of results was not possible. Interpretation. Out of all fluids investigated, only citrate 46.7% was found to statistically reduce central venous access device complication rates. This systematic review has also identified a gap in the literature regarding studies of locking fluids that are adequately powered in this patient population. Future directions: Future research should include investigations and use of novel locking fluids with more effective properties against complications. It is imperative that future studies are adequately powered, randomized controlled trials in this patient population to facilitate optimal evidence-based care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Frameworks used in research impact evaluation studies vary widely and it remains unclear which methods are most appropriate for evaluating research impact in the field of surgical research. Therefore, we aimed to identify and review the methods used to assess the impact of surgical intervention trials on healthcare and to identify determinants for surgical impact. Methods: We searched journal databases up to March 10, 2020 for papers assessing the impact of surgical effectiveness trials on healthcare. Two researchers independently screened the papers for eligibility and performed a Risk of Bias assessment. Characteristics of both impact papers and trial papers were summarized. Univariate analyses were performed to identify determinants for finding research impact, which was defined as a change in healthcare practice. Results: Sixty-one impact assessments were performed in 37 included impact papers. Some surgical trial papers were evaluated in more than one impact paper, which provides a total of 38 evaluated trial papers. Most impact papers were published after 2010 (n = 29). Medical records (n = 10), administrative databases (n = 22), and physician's opinion through surveys (n = 5) were used for data collection. Those data were analyzed purely descriptively (n = 3), comparing data before and after publication (n = 29), or through time series analyses (n = 5). Significant healthcare impact was observed 49 times and more often in more recent publications. Having impact was positively associated with using medical records or administrative databases (ref.: surveys), a longer timeframe for impact evaluation and more months between the publication of the trial paper and the impact paper, data collection in North America (ref.: Europe), no economic evaluation of the intervention, finding no significant difference in surgical outcomes, and suggesting de-implementation in the original trial paper. Conclusions and implications: Research impact evaluation receives growing interest, but still a small number of impact papers per year was identified. The analysis showed that characteristics of both surgical trial papers and impact papers were associated with finding research impact. We advise to collect data from either medical records or administrative databases, with an evaluation time frame of at least 4 years since trial publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen science (CS) currently refers to the participation of non-scientist volunteers in any discipline of conventional scientific research. Over the last two decades, nature-based CS has flourished due to innovative technology, novel devices, and widespread digital platforms used to collect and classify species occurrence data. For scientists, CS offers a low-cost approach of collecting species occurrence information at large spatial scales that otherwise would be prohibitively expensive. We examined the trends and gaps linked to the use of CS as a source of data for species distribution models (SDMs), in order to propose guidelines and highlight solutions. We conducted a quantitative literature review of 207 peer-reviewed articles to measure how the representation of different taxa, regions, and data types have changed in SDM publications since the 2010s. Our review shows that the number of papers using CS for SDMs has increased at approximately double the rate of the overall number of SDM papers. However, disparities in taxonomic and geographic coverage remain in studies using CS. Western Europe and North America were the regions with the most coverage (73%). Papers on birds (49%) and mammals (19.3%) outnumbered other taxa. Among invertebrates, flying insects including Lepidoptera, Odonata and Hymenoptera received the most attention. Discrepancies between research interest and availability of data were as especially important for amphibians, reptiles and fishes. Compared to studies on animal taxa, papers on plants using CS data remain rare. Although the aims and scope of papers are diverse, species conservation remained the central theme of SDM using CS data. We present examples of the use of CS and highlight recommendations to motivate further research, such as combining multiple data sources and promoting local and traditional knowledge. We hope our findings will strengthen citizen-researchers partnerships to better inform SDMs, especially for less-studied taxa and regions. Researchers stand to benefit from the large quantity of data available from CS sources to improve global predictions of species distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM) is a common and disabling condition, with a relatively modest research capacity. In order to accelerate knowledge discovery, the AO Spine RECODE-DCM project has recently established the top priorities for DCM research. Uptake of these priorities within the research community will require their effective dissemination, which can be supported by identifying key opinion leaders (KOLs). In this paper, we aim to identify KOLs using artificial intelligence. We produce and explore a DCM co-authorship network, to characterise researchers' impact within the research field. Methods: Through a bibliometric analysis of 1674 scientific papers in the DCM field, a co-authorship network was created. For each author, statistics about their connections to the co-authorship network (and so the nature of their collaboration) were generated. Using these connectedness statistics, a neural network was used to predict H-Index for each author (as a proxy for research impact). The neural network was retrospectively validated on an unseen author set. Results: DCM research is regionally clustered, with strong collaboration across some international borders (e.g., North America) but not others (e.g., Western Europe). In retrospective validation, the neural network achieves a correlation coefficient of 0.86 (p<0.0001) between the true and predicted H-Index of each author. Thus, author impact can be accurately predicted using only the nature of an author's collaborations. Discussion: Analysis of the neural network shows that the nature of collaboration strongly impacts an author's research visibility, and therefore suitability as a KOL. This also suggests greater collaboration within the DCM field could help to improve both individual research visibility and global synergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing number of open access (OA) mandates, the accurate measurement of OA publishing is an important policy issue. Existing studies have provided estimates of the prevalence of OA publications ranging from 27.9% to 53.7%, depending on the data source and period of investigation. This paper aims at providing a comparison of the proportion of OA publishing as represented in two major bibliometric databases, Web of Science (WoS) and Dimensions, and assesses how the choice of database affects the measurement of OA across different countries. Results show that a higher proportion of publications indexed in Dimensions are OA than those indexed by WoS, and that this is particularly true for publications originating from outside North America and Europe. The paper concludes with a discussion of the cause and consequences of these differences, motivating the use of more inclusive databases when examining OA, especially for publications originating beyond North America and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National contributions to science are influenced by a number of factors, including economic capacity, national scientific priorities, science policy, and institutional settings and cultures. Nations do not have equal opportunities to access the global scientific market, and therefore, often seek out international partners with complementary resources and expertise. This study aims at investigating national collaboration strategies, with a focus on research leadership—measured through corresponding authorship—and its relationship with scientific impact. Results show that countries with higher R&D investments are more scientifically independent, and confirm that international collaboration is positively related to citation impact. However, leadership in international collaboration is inversely related with a countries’ share of international collaboration and there is a very little relationship between citation impact and international leadership. For instance, most countries—and particularly those that have fewer resources—have higher scientific impact when they are not leading. This suggests that, despite increasing global participation in science, most international collaborations are asymmetrical, and that the research system remains structured around a few dominate nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperparathyroidism is a common endocrine disorder that occurs secondary to abnormal parathyroid gland functioning. Depending on the type of hyperparathyroidism, surgical extirpation of hyperfunctioning parathyroid glands can be considered for disease cure. Intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) monitoring improves outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism, but studies are needed to characterize its institutional adoption and its role in surgery for secondary and tertiary hyperparathyroidism, as these entities can be difficult to cure. Hence, we will perform a cross-sectional survey study of surgeon rationale, operational details, and barriers associated with IOPTH monitoring adoption across North America. We will utilize a convenience sampling technique to distribute an online survey to head and neck surgeons and endocrine surgeons across North America. This survey will be distributed via email to three North American professional societies (i.e., Canadian Society for Otolaryngologists–Head and Neck Surgeons, American Head and Neck Society, and American Association of Endocrine Surgeons). The survey will consist of 30 multiple choice questions that are divided into three concepts: (1) participant demographics and training details, (2) details of surgical adjuncts during parathyroidectomy, and (3) barriers to adoption of IOPTH. Descriptive analyses and multiple logistic regression will be used to evaluate the impact of demographic, institutional, and training variables on the use of IOPTH monitoring in surgery for all types of hyperparathyroidism and barriers to IOPTH monitoring adoption. Ethics approval was obtained by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (2024-17173-GRA). These findings will characterize surgeon and institutional practices with regards to IOPTH monitoring during parathyroid surgery and will inform future trials aimed to optimize the use of IOPTH monitoring in secondary and tertiary hyperparathyroidism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elucidating the adaptations that promote flight in animals can aid the understanding of evolution and species divergence, and/or provide inspiration for aerospace engineering and the design of better aerial vehicles. The famed long-distance migration of monarch butterflies in North America still holds many questions and opportunities for inspiration. For example, there is little research on whether the monarch's primary wing colors themselves (black, orange, or white) have any aerodynamic or migration function. Dark colors on wings of other animals have recently been shown to aid flight by enhancing solar absorption, which reduces drag forces. However, too much black surface could be problematic for monarchs, which are exposed to increasing amounts of solar energy along their flightpath. This paper describes the results of two related investigations that attempt to elucidate the importance of wing color to the monarch migration. By measuring the color proportions of nearly 400 monarch wings collected at different stages of their journey, we found, surprisingly, that successful migrants tended to have less black on their wings (about 3% less), but also more white pigment (about 3% more); monarchs have a band of light-colored marginal wing spots. Second, image analysis of museum specimens revealed migratory monarchs had significantly larger white spots, proportional to the wing area, than most non-migratory, New World Danaid butterflies, which argues spot size has evolved along with migratory behavior. Combined, these findings strongly suggest that the long-distance migration itself selects for larger white spots every fall, so that only those individuals with large spots will survive to pass on their genes. Further experimental work is needed to elucidate how the spots aid the migration, but it is possible that they enhance aerodynamic efficiency; other work by the authors demonstrates how alternating white and black pigment on wings can reduce drag. These results will serve as a useful starting point for such endeavors, which should improve understanding of one of the world's most fascinating animal migrations, and also provide practical knowledge for the field of aerospace engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have shown that the performance of a supply chain is heavily influenced by the pattern of relationships among firms. This paper analyzes the structure of relationships (network topology) that leads to the highest agility of a food supply chain when sudden demand changes occur. To do this, a simulation model that represents a supply chain and specific rules to allocate orders is built. The supply chain in the model follows the specific characteristics of trade in the primary sector. The model is fitted to the conditions of a real seafood supply chain in Mexico. Agility is measured through the effect on the order fulfillment of a sudden demand shock and the recovery time of this rate to previous values. The simulation results show that the most suitable structure depends on how product is distributed among suppliers. If product is evenly shared, supply chains with homogeneous topologies are more agile than supply chains with heterogeneous topologies, but the result is the opposite if product is unevenly shared among suppliers. Other previous recommendations, such as having multiple suppliers and horizontal links, are confirmed by the simulations. These findings contribute to the general debate on which is the optimal topology for an agile supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lizards play vital roles in extant ecosystems. However, their roles in extinct ecosystems are poorly understood because the fossil record of lizards consists mostly of isolated bones. This makes it difficult to document changes in lizard morphology and body size over time, which is essential for studies of lizard paleoecology and evolution. It is also difficult to compare available fossil lizard data with existing sources of extant lizard data because extant studies rarely measure individual bones. Furthermore, no previous study has regressed measurements of individual bones to body length across crown lizard groups, nor tested those regressions on fossil skeletons. An extensive dataset of individual bone measurements from extant lizards across crown taxonomic groups is here employed to develop novel methods for estimating lizard body size from isolated fossil elements. These methods were applied to a comparably large dataset of fossil lizard specimens from the robust Paleogene record (66–23 Ma) of the Western Interior of North America. This study tests the hypothesis that anatomical proportions have been conserved within higher-level crown lizard groups since the Paleogene and can therefore be used to reconstruct snout-vent length (SVL) and mass for fossil specimens referred to the same groups. Individual bones demonstrated strong correlation with SVL in extant as well as fossil lizard specimens (R2 ≥ 0.69). Equations for mass estimation from individual bones were derived from the SVL regressions using published equations for calculating lizard body mass from SVL. The resulting body size estimates from regression equations for the entire fossil dataset revealed that lizards reached greatest maximum body size in the middle Paleogene, with the largest size class dominated by anguid lizards that exceeded 1 meter in SVL and 1.5 kg in body mass. Maximum body size decreased to under 400 mm and below 1.5 kg in the late Paleogene. No association was found between changes in maximum lizard body size and marine isotope proxies of global temperature through the Paleogene. This is the first study to investigate body size evolution across lizard clades over a deep time interval and for a large geographic region. The proposed methods can be used to generate body size regressions and provide estimates of body size for isolated lizard bones referred to any crown group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sagebrush steppe is one of the most threatened ecosystems in North America. Adult density of songbirds within sagebrush steppe is a metric used to evaluate conservation actions. However, relying on only adult density to guide conservation may be misleading. Information on how conservation actions influence the nest density and nest survival of songbird species, in addition to adult density, are needed. We evaluated the relationships between nest density, nest survival, and adult density of Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri) and vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) over 3 breeding seasons in central Montana. Our findings suggest that adult pairs of both species were often present in higher numbers than nests, and this relationship was most prominent for Brewer's sparrows. However, our results do not support density dependence when considering nest survival. This discrepancy suggests that songbirds may not breed every year and that density dependence may be operating on nest densities within these populations differently than we examined. This study provides information on relationships between population demographics for 2 songbird species in grazed sagebrush steppe that will improve monitoring and management activities of conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ratio of men and women in the adult population, i.e. sex ratio, has long been recognized as a key demographic constraint for partnering behavior. However, the literature remains contradictory on how sex ratio imbalances influence partnering behavior, suggesting either higher or lower rates of male marriage being associated with male-skewed sex ratios. These contradictory findings are likely due to data limitations. Cross-sectional data or limited observation periods preclude studies from distinguishing sex ratio effects on timing from effects on the overall likelihood of marriage. In this paper, we use historical family reconstitution data to study the association of sex ratios with marriage patterns in the French colony of the St. Lawrence Valley in North America (1680–1750). The population experienced a substantial male-skew from sex-selective immigration during the early period of the colony. The long-running observation period allow for differentiating the timing and overall likelihood of marriage. Finally, the data enable us to study the effects of male-skews on the population-level as well as the regional and parish level. Cox proportional hazard models reveal that while male-skewed sex ratios are associated earlier marriage for women, the association with men's marital biographies is less clear-cut. We find that men marry later when sex ratios are more male-skewed, yet we do not find a substantial reduction in the overall likelihood of marriage for men. Our findings reveal that male-skewed sex ratios do not necessarily result in an increase of never married men. We discuss the implications of our findings for the sex ratio literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obsidian, originating from the Rocky Mountains and the West, was an exotic exchange commodity in Eastern North America that was often deposited in elaborate caches and burials associated with Middle Woodland era Hopewell and later complexes. In earlier times, obsidian is found only rarely. In this paper we report two obsidian flakes recovered from a now submerged paleolandscape beneath Lake Huron that are conclusively attributed to the Wagontire obsidian source in central Oregon; a distance of more than 4,000 km. These specimens, dating to ~ 9,000 BP, represent the earliest and most distant reported occurrence of obsidian in eastern North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several candidate HIV subunit vaccines based on recombinant envelope (Env) glycoproteins have been advanced into human clinical trials. To facilitate biopharmaceutical production, it is necessary to produce these in CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cells, the cellular substrate used for the manufacturing of most recombinant protein therapeutics. However, previous studies have shown that when recombinant Env proteins from clade B viruses, the major subtype represented in North America, Europe, and other parts of the world, are expressed in CHO cells, they are proteolyzed and lack important glycan-dependent epitopes present on virions. Previously, we identified C1s, a serine protease in the complement pathway, as the endogenous CHO protease responsible for the cleavage of clade B laboratory isolates of -recombinant gp120s (rgp120s) expressed in stable CHO-S cell lines. In this paper, we describe the development of two novel CHOK1 cell lines with the C1s gene inactivated by gene editing, that are suitable for the production of any protein susceptible to C1s proteolysis. One cell line, C1s-/- CHOK1 2.E7, contains a deletion in the C1s gene. The other cell line, C1s-/- MGAT1- CHOK1 1.A1, contains a deletion in both the C1s gene and the MGAT1 gene, which limits glycosylation to mannose-5 or earlier intermediates in the N-linked glycosylation pathway. In addition, we compare the substrate specificity of C1s with thrombin on the cleavage of both rgp120 and human Factor VIII, two recombinant proteins known to undergo unintended proteolysis (clipping) when expressed in CHO cells. Finally, we demonstrate the utility and practicality of the C1s-/- MGAT1- CHOK1 1.A1 cell line for the expression of clinical isolates of clade B Envs from rare individuals that possess broadly neutralizing antibodies and are able to control virus replication without anti-retroviral drugs (elite neutralizer/controller phenotypes). The Envs represent unique HIV vaccine immunogens suitable for further immunogenicity and efficacy studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of clade 2.3.4.4b H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in North America that started in 2021 has increased interest in applying vaccination as a strategy to help control and prevent the disease in poultry. Two commercially available vaccines based on the recombinant herpes virus of turkeys (rHVT) vector were tested against a recent North American clade 2.3.4.4b H5 HPAI virus isolate: A/turkey/Indiana/22-003707-003/2022 H5N1 in specific pathogen free white leghorn (WL) chickens and commercial broiler chickens. One rHVT-H5 vaccine encodes a hemagglutinin (HA) gene designed by the computationally optimized broadly reactive antigen method (COBRA-HVT vaccine). The other encodes an HA gene of a clade 2.2 virus (2.2-HVT vaccine). There was 100% survival of both chicken types COBRA-HVT vaccinated groups and in the 2.2-HVT vaccinated groups there was 94.8% and 90% survival of the WL and broilers respectively. Compared to the 2.2-HVT vaccinated groups, WL in the COBRA-HVT vaccinated group shed significantly lower mean viral titers by the cloacal route and broilers shed significantly lower titers by the oropharyngeal route than broilers. Virus titers detected in oral and cloacal swabs were otherwise similar among both vaccine groups and chicken types. To assess antibody-based tests to identify birds that have been infected after vaccination (DIVA-VI), sera collected after the challenge were tested with enzyme-linked lectin assay-neuraminidase inhibition (ELLA-NI) for N1 neuraminidase antibody detection and by commercial ELISA for detection of antibodies to the NP protein. As early as 7 days post challenge (DPC) 100% of the chickens were positive by ELLA-NI. ELISA was less sensitive with a maximum of 75% positive at 10DPC in broilers vaccinated with 2.2-HVT. Both vaccines provided protection from challenge to both types of chickens and ELLA-NI was sensitive at identifying antibodies to the challenge virus therefore should be evaluated further for DIVA-VI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Host microbial communities (hereafter, the 'microbiome') are recognized as an important aspect of host health and are gaining attention as a useful biomarker to understand the ecology and demographics of wildlife populations. Several studies indicate that the microbiome may contribute to the adaptive capacity of animals to changing environments associated with increasing habitat fragmentation and rapid climate change. To this end, we investigated the gut microbiome of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), an iconic species in an environment that is undergoing both climatic and anthropogenic change. The bacterial composition of the pronghorn gut microbiome has yet to be described in the literature, and thus our study provides important baseline information about this species. We used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of fecal samples to characterize the gut microbiome of pronghorn—a facultative sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) specialist in many regions where they occur in western North America. We collected fecal pellets from 159 captured female pronghorn from four herds in the Red Desert of Wyoming during winters of 2013 and 2014. We found small, but significant differences in diversity of the gut microbiome relative to study area, capture period, and body fat measurements. In addition, we found a difference in gut microbiome composition in pronghorn across two regions separated by Interstate 80. Results indicated that the fecal microbiome may be a potential biomarker for the spatial ecology of free-ranging ungulates. The core gut microbiome of these animals—including bacteria in the phyla Firmicutes (now Bacillota) and Bacteroidota—remained relatively stable across populations and biological metrics. These findings provide a baseline for the gut microbiome of pronghorn that could potentially be used as a target in monitoring health and population structure of pronghorn relative to habitat fragmentation, climate change, and management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Central nervous system (CNS) malignant neoplasms may lead to venous thromboembolism (VTE) and bleeding, which result in rehospitalization, morbidity and mortality. We aimed to assess the incidence of VTE and bleeding in this population. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42023423949) were based on a standardized search of PubMed, Virtual Health Library and Cochrane (n = 1653) in July 2023. After duplicate removal, data screening and collection were conducted by independent reviewers. The combined rates and 95% confidence intervals for the incidence of VTE and bleeding were calculated using the random effects model with double arcsine transformation. Subgroup analyses were performed based on sex, age, income, and type of tumor. Heterogeneity was calculated using Cochran's Q test and I2 statistics. Egger's test and funnel graphs were used to assess publication bias. Results: Only 36 studies were included, mainly retrospective cohorts (n = 30, 83.3%) from North America (n = 20). Most studies included were published in high-income countries. The sample size of studies varied between 34 and 21,384 adult patients, mostly based on gliomas (n = 30,045). For overall malignant primary CNS neoplasm, the pooled incidence was 13.68% (95%CI 9.79; 18.79) and 11.60% (95%CI 6.16; 18.41) for VTE and bleeding, respectively. The subgroup with elderly people aged 60 or over had the highest incidence of VTE (32.27% - 95%CI 14.40;53.31). The studies presented few biases, being mostly high quality. Despite some variability among the studies, we observed consistent results by performing sensitivity analysis, which highlight the robustness of our findings. Conclusions: Our study showed variability in the pooled incidence for both overall events and subgroup analyses. It was highlighted that individuals over 60 years old or diagnosed with GBM had a higher pooled incidence of VTE among those with overall CNS malignancies. It is important to note that the results of this meta-analysis refer mainly to studies carried out in high-income countries. This highlights the need for additional research in Latin America, and low- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal prion disease of cervids spreading across North America. More effective mitigation efforts may require expansion of the available toolkit to include new methods that provide earlier antemortem detection, higher throughput, and less expense than current immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods. The rectal mucosa near the rectoanal junction is a site of early accumulation of CWD prions and is safely sampled in living animals by pinch biopsy. A fluorescence-based, 96-well format, protein-aggregation assay—the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay—is capable of ultra-sensitive detection of CWD prions. Notably, the recombinant protein substrate is crucial to the assay's performance and is now commercially available. In this blinded independent study, the preclinical diagnostic performance of a standardized RT-QuIC protocol using a commercially sourced substrate (MNPROtein) and a laboratory-produced substrate was studied using mock biopsy samples of the rectal mucosa from 284 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). The samples were from a frozen archive of intact rectoanal junctions collected at depopulations of farmed herds positive for CWD in the United States. All deer were pre-clinical at the time of depopulation and infection status was established from the regulatory record, which evaluated the medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes (MRPLNs) and obex by CWD-IHC. A pre-analytic sample precipitation step was found to enhance the protocol's detection limit. Performance metrics were influenced by the choice of RT-QuIC diagnostic cut points (minimum number of positive wells and assay time) and by deer attributes (preclinical infection stage and prion protein genotype). The peak overall diagnostic sensitivities of the protocol were similar for both substrates (MNPROtein, 76.8%; laboratory-produced, 73.2%), though each was achieved at different cut points. Preclinical infection stage and prion protein genotype at codon 96 (G = glycine, S = serine) were primary predictors of sensitivity. The diagnostic sensitivities in late preclinical infections (CWD-IHC positive MPRLNs and obex) were similar, ranging from 96% in GG96 deer to 80% in xS96 deer (x = G or S). In early preclinical infections (CWD-IHC positive MRPLNs only), the diagnostic sensitivity was 64–71% in GG96 deer but only 25% in xS96 deer. These results demonstrate that this standardized RT-QuIC protocol for rectal biopsy samples using a commercial source of substrate produced stratified diagnostic sensitivities similar to or greater than those reported for CWD-IHC but in less than 30 hours of assay time and in a 96-well format. Notably, the RT-QuIC protocol used herein represents a standardization of protocols from several previous studies. Alignment of the sensitivities across these studies suggests the diagnostic performance of the assay is robust given quality reagents, optimized diagnostic criteria, and experienced staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing critical global health issues, such as antimicrobial resistance, infectious disease outbreaks, and natural disasters, requires strong coordination and management across sectors. The One Health approach is the integrative effort of multiple sectors working to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment, and is increasingly recognized by experts as a means to address complex challenges. However, practical application of the One Health approach has been challenging. The One Health Systems Mapping and Analysis Resource Toolkit (OH-SMART) introduced in this paper was designed using a multistage prototyping process to support systematic improvement in multi-sectoral coordination and collaboration to better address complex health concerns through an operational, stepwise, and practical One Health approach. To date, OH-SMART has been used to strengthen One Health systems in 17 countries and has been deployed to revise emergency response frameworks, improve antimicrobial resistance national action plans and create multi agency infectious disease collaboration protocols. OH-SMART has proven to be user friendly, robust, and capable of fostering multi-sectoral collaboration and complex system-wide problem solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floating Catchment Area (FCA) methods are a popular tool to investigate accessibility to public facilities, in particular health care services. FCA approaches are attractive because, unlike other accessibility measures, they take into account the potential for congestion of facilities. This is done by 1) considering the population within the catchment area of a facility to calculate a variable that measures level of service, and then 2) aggregating the level of service by population centers subject to catchment area constraints. In this paper we discuss an effect of FCA approaches, an artifact that we term demand and level of service inflation. These artifacts are present in previous implementations of FCA methods. We argue that inflation makes interpretation of estimates of accessibility difficult, which has possible deleterious consequences for decision making. Next, we propose a simple and intuitive approach to proportionally allocate demandand and level of service in FCA calculations. The approach is based on a standardization of the impedance matrix, similar to approaches popular in the spatial statistics and econometrics literature. The result is a more intiuitive measure of accessibility that 1) provides a local version of the provider-to-population ratio; and 2) preserves the level of demand and the level of supply in a system. We illustrate the relevant issues with some examples, and then empirically by means of a case study of accessibility to family physicians in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), in Ontario, Canada. Results indicate that demand and supply inflation/deflation affect the interpretation of accessibility analysis using existing FCA methods, and that the proposed adjustment can lead to more intuitive results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of the shared prosperity goal by the World Bank in 2013 and Sustainable Development Goal 10, on inequality, by the United Nations in 2015 should strengthen the focus of development interventions and cooperation on the income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. This paper contributes to the incipient literature on within-country allocations of development institutions and assesses the geographic targeting of World Bank projects to the bottom 40 percent. Bivariate correlations between the allocation of project funding approved over 2005–14 and the geographical distribution of the bottom 40 as measured by survey income or consumption data are complemented by regressions with population and other potential factors affecting the within-country allocations as controls. The correlation analysis shows that, of the 58 countries in the sample, 41 exhibit a positive correlation between the shares of the bottom 40 and World Bank funding, and, in almost half of these, the correlation is above 0.5. Slightly more than a quarter of the countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, exhibit a negative correlation. The regression analysis shows that, once one controls for population, the correlation between the bottom 40 and World Bank funding switches sign and becomes significant and negative on average. This is entirely driven by Sub-Saharan Africa and not observed in the other regions. Hence, the significant and positive correlation in the estimations without controlling for population suggests that World Bank project funding is concentrated in administrative areas in which more people live (including the bottom 40) rather than in poorer administrative areas. Furthermore, capital cities receive disproportionally high shares of World Bank funding on average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freely-available satellite data streams and the ability to process these data on cloud-computing platforms such as Google Earth Engine have made frequent, large-scale landcover mapping at high resolution a real possibility. In this paper we apply these technologies, along with machine learning, to the mapping of peatlands–a landcover class that is critical for preserving biodiversity, helping to address climate change impacts, and providing ecosystem services, e.g., carbon storage–in the Boreal Forest Natural Region of Alberta, Canada. We outline a data-driven, scientific framework that: compiles large amounts of Earth observation data sets (radar, optical, and LiDAR); examines the extracted variables for suitability in peatland modelling; optimizes model parameterization; and finally, predicts peatland occurrence across a large boreal area (397, 958 km2) of Alberta at 10 m spatial resolution (equalling 3.9 billion pixels across Alberta). The resulting peatland occurrence model shows an accuracy of 87% and a kappa statistic of 0.57 when compared to our validation data set. Differentiating peatlands from mineral wetlands achieved an accuracy of 69% and kappa statistic of 0.37. This data-driven approach is applicable at large geopolitical scales (e.g., provincial, national) for wetland and landcover inventories that support long-term, responsible resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Critical illness affects health systems globally, but low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear a disproportionate burden. Due to a paucity of data, the capacity to care for critically ill patients in LMICs is largely unknown. Haiti has the lowest health indices in the Western Hemisphere. In this study, we report results of the first known nationwide survey of critical care capacity in Haiti. Design: Nationwide, cross-sectional survey of Haitian hospitals in 2017–2018. Setting: Haiti. Subjects: All Haitian health facilities with at least six hospital beds. Interventions: Electronic- and paper-based survey. Results: Of 51 health facilities identified, 39 (76.5%) from all ten Haitian administrative departments completed the survey, reporting 124 reported ICU beds nationally. Of facilities without an ICU, 20 (83.3%) care for critically ill patients in the emergency department. There is capacity to ventilate 62 patients nationally within ICUs and six patients outside of the ICU. One-third of facilities with ICUs report formal critical care training for their physicians. Only five facilities met criteria for a Level 1 ICU as defined by the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine. Self-identified barriers to providing more effective critical care services include lack of physical space for critically ill patients, lack of equipment, and few formally trained physicians and nurses. Conclusions: Despite a high demand for critical care services in Haiti, current capacity remains insufficient to meet need. A significant amount of critical care in Haiti is provided outside of the ICU, highlighting the important overlap between emergency and critical care medicine in LMICs. Many ICUs in Haiti lack basic components for critical care delivery. Streamlining critical care services through protocol development, education, and training may improve important clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study reports on physicians’ experiences with chronic pain management. For over a decade prescription opioids have been a primary treatment for chronic pain in North America. However, the current opioid epidemic has complicated long-standing practices for chronic pain management which historically involved prescribing pain medication. Caring for patients with chronic pain occurs within a context in which a growing proportion of patients suffer from chronic rather than acute conditions alongside rising social inequities. Methods: Our team undertook an ethnographic approach known as institutional ethnography in the province of Ontario, Canada in order to explore the social organization of chronic pain management from the standpoint of primary care physicians. This paper reports on a subset of this study data, specifically interviews with 19 primary care clinicians and 8 nurses supplemented by 40 hours of observations. The clinicians in our sample were largely primary care physicians and nurses working in urban, rural and Northern settings. Findings: In their reflections on providing care for patients with chronic pain, many providers describe being most challenged by the work involved in helping patients who also struggled with poverty, mental health and addiction. These frustrations were often complicated by concerns that they could lose their license for inappropriate prescribing, thus shifting their work from providing treatment and care to policing their patients for malingering and opioid abuse. Interpretation: Our findings show that care providers find the treatment of patients with chronic pain–especially those patients also experiencing poverty–to be challenging at best, and at worst frustrating and overwhelming. In many instances, their narratives suggested experiences of depersonalization, loss of job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion in relation to providing care for these patients, key dimensions of burnout. In essence, the work that they performed in relation to their patients’ social rather than medical needs seems to contribute to these experiences. Their experiences were further exacerbated by the fact that restricting and reducing opioid dosing in patients with chronic pain has become a major focus of care provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are public officials more responsive to requests from affluent or poor constituents? A growing body of evidence suggests that lawmakers are more responsive to the rich when they craft policy. However, some scholars theorize that officials also exhibit a corresponding bias in favor of the poor when they handle casework, essentially giving policy to the rich and services to the poor. In this paper, we test this casework prediction using four experiments in which confederates sent simple requests to state or local officials. In each, our confederates’ reported social classes were randomly assigned and signaled with a brief introductory statement mentioning the sender’s occupation or economic situation. Across our samples, we find precisely-estimated null effects of social class biases: the officials we studied were equally likely to respond regardless of the constituent’s class. These findings raise doubts about whether casework is really a class-biased process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In North America, a comparatively small number of Fraxinus (ash) cultivars were planted in large numbers in both urban and rural environments across the entire range of Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh (green ash) over the last 80 years. Undetected cultivar gene flow, if extensive, could significantly lower genetic diversity within populations, suppress differentiation between populations, generate interspecific admixture not driven by long-standing natural processes, and affect the impact of abiotic and biotic threats. In this investigation we generated the first range-wide genetic assessment of F. pennsylvanica to detect the extent of cultivar gene flow into natural stands. We used 16 EST-SSR markers to genotype 48 naturally regenerated populations of F. pennsylvanica distributed across the native range (1291 trees), 19 F. pennsylvanica cultivars, and one F. americana L. (white ash) cultivar to detect cultivar propagule dispersal into these populations. We detected first generation cultivar parentage with high confidence in 171 individuals in 34 of the 48 populations and extensive cultivar parentage (23–50%) in eight populations. The incidence of cultivar parentage was negatively associated with allele richness (R2 = 0.151, p = 0.006). The evidence for a locally high frequency of cultivar propagule dispersal and the interspecific admixture in eastern populations will inform Fraxinus gene pool conservation strategies and guide the selection of individuals for breeding programs focused on increasing resistance to the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an existential threat to the Fraxinus species of North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lyme disease is the most common wildlife-to-human transmitted disease reported in North America. The study of this disease requires an understanding of the ecology of the complex communities of ticks and host species involved in harboring and transmitting this disease. Much of the ecology of this system is well understood, such as the life cycle of ticks, and how hosts are able to support tick populations and serve as disease reservoirs, but there is much to be explored about how the population dynamics of different host species and communities impact disease risk to humans. In this study, we construct a stage-structured, empirically-informed model with host dynamics to investigate how host population dynamics can affect disease risk to humans. The model describes a tick population and a simplified community of three host species, where primary nymph host populations are made to fluctuate on an annual basis, as commonly observed in host populations. We tested the model under different environmental conditions to examine the effect of environment on the interactions of host dynamics and disease risk. Results show that allowing for host dynamics in the model reduces mean nymphal infection prevalence and increases the maximum annual prevalence of nymphal infection and the density of infected nymphs. Effects of host dynamics on disease measures of nymphal infection prevalence were nonlinear and patterns in the effect of dynamics on amplitude in nymphal infection prevalence varied across environmental conditions. These results highlight the importance of further study of the effect of community dynamics on disease risk. This will involve the construction of further theoretical models and collection of robust field data to inform these models. With a more complete understanding of disease dynamics we can begin to better determine how to predict and manage disease risk using these models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) represents North America's most important aquaculture species. Its hepatopancreas is rich in cellulases and other polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, which provide it the remarkable ability to digest cellulose-rich macroalgae; nevertheless, its cellulolytic systems are poorly explored. This manuscript describes some functional and structural properties of an endogenous trimeric glycosylated endoglucanase from H. rufescens. The purified enzyme showed a molecular mass of 23.4 kDa determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, which behaved as a homotrimer in gel filtration chromatography and zymograms. According to the periodic acid-Schiff reagent staining, detecting sugar moieties in SDS-PAGE gel confirmed that abalone cellulase is a glycoprotein. Hydrolysis of cello-oligosaccharides and p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranosides confirmed its endo/exoactivity. A maximum enzyme activity toward 0.5% (w/v) carboxymethylcellulose of 53.9 ± 1.0 U/mg was achieved at 45°C and pH 6.0. We elucidated the abalone cellulase primary structure using proteases and mass spectrometry methods. Based on these results and using a bioinformatic approach, we identified the gene encoding this enzyme and deduced its full-length amino acid sequence; the mature protein comprised 177 residues with a calculated molecular mass of 19.1 kDa and, according to sequence similarity, it was classified into the glycosyl-hydrolase family 45 subfamily B. An AlphaFold theoretical model and docking simulations with cellopentaose confirmed that abalone cellulase is a β-sheet rich protein, as also observed by circular dichroism experiments, with conserved catalytic residues: Asp26, Asn109, and Asp134. Interestingly, the AlphaFold-Multimer analysis indicated a trimeric assembly for abalone cellulase, which supported our experimental findings. The discovery and characterization of these enzymes may contribute to developing efficient cellulose bioconversion processes for biofuels and sustainable bioproducts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pain affects all children, and in hospitals across North America, this pain is often undertreated. Children who visit the emergency department (ED) experience similar undertreatment, and they will often experience a painful procedure as part of their diagnostic journey. Further, children and their caregivers who experience social injustices through marginalization are more likely to experience healthcare disparities in their pain management. Still, most of our knowledge about children's pain management comes from research focused on well-educated, white children and caregivers from a middle- or upper-class background. The aim of this scoping review is to identify, map, and describe existing research on (a) how aspects of marginalization are documented in randomized controlled trials related to children's pain and (b) to understand the pain treatment and experiences of marginalized children and their caregivers in the ED setting. Methods and analysis: The review will follow Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews using the Participant, Concept, Context (PCC) framework and key terms related to children, youth, pain, ED, and aspects of marginalization. We will search Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library Trials, iPortal, and Native Health Database for articles published in the last 10 years to identify records that meet our inclusion criteria. We will screen articles in a two-step process using two reviewers during the abstract and full-text screening stages. Data will be extracted using Covidence for data management and we will use a narrative approach to synthesize the data. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for this review. Findings will be disseminated in academic manuscripts, at academic conferences, and with partners and knowledge users including funders of pain research and healthcare professionals. Results of this scoping review will inform subsequent quantitative and qualitative studies regarding pain experiences and treatment of marginalized children in the ED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People who inject drugs in North America often continue to inject while hospitalized, and are at increased risk of premature hospital discharge, unplanned readmission, and death. In-hospital access to sterile injection supplies may reduce some harms associated with ongoing injection drug use. However, access to needle and syringe programs in acute care settings is limited. We explored the implementation of a needle and syringe program integrated into a large urban tertiary hospital in Western Canada. The needle and syringe program was administered by an addiction medicine consult team that offers patients access to specialized clinical care and connection to community services. Methods: We utilized a focused ethnographic design and semi-structured interviews to elicit experiences and potential improvements from 25 hospitalized people who inject drugs who were offered supplies from the needle and syringe program. Results: Participants were motivated to accept supplies to prevent injection-related harms and access to supplies was facilitated by trust in consult team staff. However, fears of negative repercussions from non-consult team staff, including premature discharge or undesired changes to medication regimes, caused some participants to hesitate or refuse to accept supplies. Participants described modifications to hospital policies regarding inpatient drug use or access to an inpatient supervised consumption service as potential ways to mitigate patients' fears. Conclusions: Acute care needle and syringe programs may aid hospital providers in reducing harms and improving hospital outcomes for people who inject drugs. However, modifications to hospital policies and settings may be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Lyme disease is one of the most prevalent vector-borne disease in North America, yet its implications during pregnancy are poorly understood. Our knowledge of perinatal transmission of Lyme disease is limited due to the lack of robust epidemiological studies and longitudinal follow-up. Objectives: This study aimed to understand the research priorities of people who have experienced Lyme disease in pregnancy and the feasibility of recruiting this population for future studies on perinatal transmission of Lyme disease. We also sought to understand the barriers and enablers to participating in research on perinatal transmission of Lyme disease. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study using focus groups and interviews with people who had experienced Lyme disease during pregnancy. English speaking participants were recruited through an online survey. There was no geographic restriction on participation. The focus groups and the interview were recorded and transcribed. Data were analyzed using interpretive content analysis. Results: Twenty people participated in four semi-structured focus groups and one semi-structured individual interview. The majority of participants were from North America. Participants' research priorities fell into five categories: transmission, testing, treatment, disease presentation, and education. All study participants expressed interest in future participation in research on Lyme disease in pregnancy and highlighted barriers and enablers to participation that could be addressed to facilitate future study recruitment. Conclusion: The research priorities identified in this research would be well addressed through prospective research. People who experience Lyme disease in pregnancy are invested in continued research into perinatal transmission of Lyme disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caenagnathidae is a clade of derived, Late Cretaceous oviraptorosaurian theropods from Asia and North America. Because their remains are rare and often fragmentary, caenagnathid diversity is poorly understood. Anzu wyliei is the only caenagnathid species currently described from the late Maastrichtian Hell Creek Formation of the USA and is also among the largest and most completely preserved North American caenagnathids. Smaller, less complete caenagnathid material has long been known from the Hell Creek Formation, but it is unclear whether these are juvenile representatives of Anzu or if they represent distinct, unnamed taxa. Here, we describe a relatively small caenagnathid hindlimb from the Hell Creek Formation, and conduct osteohistological analysis to assess its maturity. Histological data and morphological differences from Anzu wyliei and other caenagnathids allow us to conclude that this specimen represents a new species of caenagnathid from the Hell Creek Formation, with a smaller adult body size than Anzu. This new taxon is also distinct from other small caenagnathid material previously described from the area, potentially indicating the coexistence of three distinct caenagnathid species in the Hell Creek Formation. These results show that caenagnathid diversity in the Hell Creek ecosystem has been underestimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflict between humans and black bears (Ursus americanus) occurs throughout North America with increasing public demand to replace lethal management with non-lethal methods, such as aversive conditioning (AC). AC aims to teach animals to associate negative stimuli with humans or their infrastructure. We sought to test the efficacy of AC using radio-collared black bears in Whistler, British Columbia, by monitoring individuals and assigning those in conflict with people to control or treatment groups. We measured wariness using overt reaction distance, displacement distance, and reaction to researchers before, during and after executing 3–5-day AC programs that consisted of launching projectiles at bears in the treatment group. We also assessed predictors of successful AC events (i.e., leaving at a run), changes in bear use of human-dominated habitat during the day and at night, and the effects of including a sound stimulus to signal the beginning and end of AC events. Among treated bears, overt reaction distance increased by 46.5% and displacement distance increased by 69.0% following AC programs, whereas both overt reaction distance and displacement distance decreased over time among control group bears. Each additional AC event during the previous 30 days increased likelihood of bear departure in response to researcher presence by 4.5%. The success of AC events varied among individuals, declined with distance to cover, and increased with exposure to previous AC events. Projectiles launched from guns were slightly more effective at causing bears to displace compared to those launched from slingshots, and sound stimuli decreased the likelihood of a successful AC event. AC did not alter diurnal use by bears of human-dominated habitat. Our results suggest that AC effectively increases short-term wariness in black bears but does not alter bear use of human-dominated spaces, highlighting the importance of proactive attractant management and prevention of food conditioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 2 million people in North America suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic and idiopathic inflammatory condition. While previous research has primarily focused on studying immune cells as a cause and therapeutic target for IBD, recent findings suggest that non-immune cells may also play a crucial role in mediating cytokine and chemokine signaling, and therefore IBD symptoms. In this study, we developed an organ-on-a-chip co-culture model of Caco2 epithelial and HUVEC endothelial cells and induced inflammation using pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IFN-γ. We tested different concentration ranges and delivery orientations (apical vs. basal) to develop a consistently inducible inflammatory response model. We then measured pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines IL-6, IL-8, and CXCL-10, as well as epithelial barrier integrity. Our results indicate that this model 1. induces IBD-like cytokine secretion in non-immune cells and 2. decreases barrier integrity, making it a feasible and reliable model to test the direct actions of potential anti-inflammatory therapeutics on epithelial and endothelial cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honey bees (genus Apis) are well known for the impressive suite of nest defenses they have evolved to protect their abundant stockpiles of food and the large colonies they sustain. In Asia, honey bees have evolved under tremendous predatory pressure from social wasps in the genus Vespa, the most formidable of which are the giant hornets that attack colonies in groups, kill adult defenders, and prey on brood. We document for the first time an extraordinary collective defense used by Apis cerana against the giant hornet Vespa soror. In response to attack by V. soror, A. cerana workers foraged for and applied spots of animal feces around their nest entrances. Fecal spotting increased after colonies were exposed either to naturally occurring attacks or to chemicals that scout hornets use to target colonies for mass attack. Spotting continued for days after attacks ceased and occurred in response to V. soror, which frequently landed at and chewed on entrances to breach nests, but not Vespa velutina, a smaller hornet that rarely landed at entrances. Moderate to heavy fecal spotting suppressed attempts by V. soror to penetrate nests by lowering the incidence of multiple-hornet attacks and substantially reducing the likelihood of them approaching and chewing on entrances. We argue that A. cerana forages for animal feces because it has properties that repel this deadly predator from nest entrances, providing the first report of tool use by honey bees and the first evidence that they forage for solids that are not derived from plants. Our study describes a remarkable weapon in the already sophisticated portfolio of defenses that honey bees have evolved in response to the predatory threats they face. It also highlights the strong selective pressure honey bees will encounter if giant hornets, recently detected in western North America, become established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber release during domestic textile washing is a cause of marine microplastic pollution, but better understanding of the magnitude of the issue and role of fabric care products, appliances and washing cycles is needed. Soiled consumer wash loads from U.K. households were found to release a mean of 114 ± 66.8 ppm (mg microfiber per kg fabric) (n = 79) fibers during typical washing conditions and these were mainly composed of natural fibers. Microfiber release decreased with increasing wash load size and hence decreasing water to fabric ratio, with mean microfiber release from wash loads in the mass range 1.0–3.5 kg (n = 57) found to be 132.4 ± 68.6 ppm, significantly (p = 3.3 x 10−8) higher than the 66.3 ± 27.0 ppm of those in the 3.5–6.0 kg range (n = 22). In further tests with similar soiled consumer wash loads, moving to colder and quicker washing cycles (i.e. 15°C for 30 mins, as opposed to 40°C for 85 mins) significantly reduced microfiber generation by 30% (p = 0.036) and reduced whiteness loss by 42% (p = 0.000) through reduced dye transfer and soil re-deposition, compared to conventional 40°C cycles. In multicycle technical testing, detergent pods were selected for investigation and found to have no impact on microfiber release compared to washing in water alone. Fabric softeners were also found to have no direct impact on microfiber release in testing under both European and North American washing conditions. Extended testing of polyester fleece garments up to a 48-wash cycle history under European conditions found that microfiber release significantly reduced to a consistent low level of 28.7 ± 10.9 ppm from eight through 64 washes. Emerging North American High-Efficiency top-loading washing machines generated significantly lower microfiber release than traditional top-loading machines, likely due to their lower water fill volumes and hence lower water to fabric ratio, with a 69.7% reduction observed for polyester fleece (n = 32, p = 7.9 x 10−6) and 37.4% reduction for polyester T-shirt (n = 32, p = 0.0032). These results conclude that consumers can directly reduce the levels of microfibers generated per wash during domestic textile washing by using colder and quicker wash cycles, washing complete (but not overfilled) loads, and (in North America) converting to High-Efficiency washing machines. Moving to colder and quicker cycles will also indirectly reduce microfiber release by extending the lifetime of clothing, leading to fewer new garments being purchased and hence lower incidence of the high microfiber release occurring during the first few washes of a new item. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irrespective of discipline, the publication of null or non-significant findings is rare in the social sciences. For burgeoning fields like terrorism research, this is particularly problematic. As well as increasing the likelihood of Type II errors, the selective reporting of significant findings ultimately impedes progression, hindering comprehensive syntheses of evidence and enabling ill-supported lines of scientific enquiry to persist. This manuscript discusses several structural and individual-level variables which failed to produce significant, linear associations with involvement in terrorist violence in a dataset (N = 206) of right-wing and jihadist extremists active in Europe and North America. After considering methodological factors such as non-random distributions of missing data, we illustrate how certain variables are significantly associated with involvement in terrorist violence at particular periods in a radicalizing individual's lifespan, but not others (i.e., pre- or post-radicalization onset). Moreover, we demonstrate that while some static, binary constructs (such as whether or not a radicalizing individual was exposed to diverse viewpoints) are not associated with terrorist violence, their influence over time produces different associations. We conclude that radicalization may be less about individuals having pre-disposing risk factors, such as biographical stressors, and more about cognitive changes that allow individuals to re-evaluate their lives through the lens of an extremist ideology. We also underline the importance of taking a temporal, rather than static, perspective to better understand the variables associated with the outcomes of radicalization trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Lakes are critical freshwater sources, supporting millions of people, agriculture, and ecosystems. However, climate change has worsened droughts, leading to significant economic and social consequences. Accurate multi-month drought forecasting is, therefore, essential for effective water management and mitigating these impacts. This study introduces the Multivariate Standardized Lake Water Level Index (MSWI), a modified drought index that utilizes water level data collected from 1920 to 2020. Four hybrid models are developed: Support Vector Regression with Beluga whale optimization (SVR-BWO), Random Forest with Beluga whale optimization (RF-BWO), Extreme Learning Machine with Beluga whale optimization (ELM-BWO), and Regularized ELM with Beluga whale optimization (RELM-BWO). The models forecast droughts up to six months ahead for Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron. The best-performing model is then selected to forecast droughts for the remaining three lakes, which have not experienced severe droughts in the past 50 years. The results show that incorporating the BWO improves the accuracy of all classical models, particularly in forecasting drought turning and critical points. Among the hybrid models, the RELM-BWO model achieves the highest level of accuracy, surpassing both classical and hybrid models by a significant margin (7.21 to 76.74%). Furthermore, Monte-Carlo simulation is employed to analyze uncertainties and ensure the reliability of the forecasts. Accordingly, the RELM-BWO model reliably forecasts droughts for all lakes, with a lead time ranging from 2 to 6 months. The study's findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, water managers, and other stakeholders to better prepare drought mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avian influenza virus reveals persistent and recurrent outbreaks in North American wild waterfowl, and exhibits major outbreaks at 2-8 years intervals in duck populations. The standard susceptible-infected- recovered (SIR) framework, which includes seasonal migration and reproduction, but lacks environmental transmission, is unable to reproduce the multiperiodic patterns of avian influenza epidemics. In this paper, we argue that a fully stochastic theory based on environmental transmission provides a simple, plausible explanation for the phenomenon of multi-year periodic outbreaks of avian flu. Our theory predicts complex fluctuations with a dominant period of 2 to 8 years which essentially depends on the intensity of environmental transmission. A wavelet analysis of the observed data supports this prediction. Furthermore, using master equations and van Kampen system-size expansion techniques, we provide an analytical expression for the spectrum of stochastic fluctuations, revealing how the outbreak period varies with the environmental transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topics of climate change and renewable energy are often linked in policy discussions and scientific analysis, but public opinion on these topics exhibits both overlap and divergence. Although renewable energy has potentially broader acceptance than anthropogenic climate change, it can also face differently-based opposition. Analyses of US and regional surveys, including time series of repeated surveys in New Hampshire (2010–2018) and northeast Oregon (2011–2018), explore the social bases and trends of public views on both issues. Political divisions are prominent, although somewhat greater regarding climate change due to substantive differences and more partisan opposition. Regarding climate change and to a lesser extent renewable energy, political divisions tends to widen with education. There also are robust age and temporal effects: younger adults more often prioritize renewable energy development, and agree with scientists on the reality of anthropogenic climate change (ACC). Across all age groups and both regional series, support for renewable energy and recognition of ACC have been gradually rising. Contrary to widespread speculation, these trends have not visibly responded to events such as the US hurricanes of 2012, 2017 or 2018. Together with age-cohort replacement and the potential for changes in age-group voting participation, however, the gradual trends suggest that public pressure for action on these issues could grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seabirds integrate information about oceanic ecosystems across time and space, and are considered sensitive indicators of marine conditions. To assess whether hypothesized long-term foodweb changes such as forage fish declines may be reflected in a consumer's life history traits over time, I used meta-regression to evaluate multi-decadal changes in aspects of egg production in the glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens), a common coastal bird. Study data were derived from literature searches of published papers and unpublished historical accounts, museum egg collections, and modern field studies, with inclusion criteria based on data quality and geographic area of the original study. Combined historical and modern data showed that gull egg size declined at an average of 0.04 cc y-1 from 1902 (108 y), equivalent to a decline of 5% of mean egg volume, while clutch size decreased over 48 y from a mean of 2.82 eggs per clutch in 1962 to 2.25 in 2009. There was a negative relationship between lay date and mean clutch size in a given year, with smaller clutches occurring in years where egg laying commenced later. Lay date itself advanced over time, with commencement of laying presently (2008-2010) 7 d later than in previous studies (1959-1986). This study demonstrates that glaucous-winged gull investment in egg production has declined significantly over the past &thksim;50-100 y, with such changes potentially contributing to recent population declines. Though gulls are generalist feeders that should readily be able to buffer themselves against food web changes, they are likely nutritionally constrained during the early breeding period, when egg production requirements are ideally met by consumption of high-quality prey such as forage fish. This study's results suggest a possible decline in the availability of such prey, and the incremental long-term impoverishment of a coastal marine ecosystem bordering one of North America's rapidly growing urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in radiocarbon dating have enabled archaeologists to re-examine the question of population dynamism in the Salish Sea. This study expands on Taylor and colleagues (2011) using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and an expanded data set of 538 radiocarbon dates from academic and cultural resource management literature. The expanded sample suggests a pattern of population growth from 3200–2800 cal BP in coastal Northwestern Washington, with population growth in the San Juan islands during 2600–2200 cal BP. A subsequent decrease in radiocarbon frequencies and large sites suggests shifts in use of the San Juan Islands, followed by peak large-scale occupation from 650–300 cal BP. This pattern is robust whether marine or terrestrial dates are considered. However, marine dates are less sensitive to questions at smaller temporal scales. The broad scale radiocarbon frequency patterns observed are also consistent with those observed in southwest coastal British Columbia (Ritchie et al., 2016; Morin et al., 2018). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing links between breeding, stopover, and wintering sites for migratory species is important for their effective conservation and management. Isotopic assignment methods used to create these connections rely on the use of predictable, established relationships between the isotopic composition of environmental hydrogen and that of the non-exchangeable hydrogen in animal tissues, often in the form of a calibration equation relating feather (δ2Hf) values derived from known-origin individuals and amount-weighted long-term precipitation (δ2Hp) data. The efficacy of assigning waterfowl to moult origin using stable isotopes depends on the accuracy of these relationships and their statistical uncertainty. Most current calibrations for terrestrial species in North America are done using amount-weighted mean growing-season δ2Hp values, but the calibration relationship is less clear for aquatic and semi-aquatic species. Our objective was to critically evaluate current methods used to calibrate δ2Hp isoscapes to predicted δ2Hf values for waterfowl. Specifically, we evaluated the strength of the relationships between δ2Hp values from three commonly used isoscapes and known-origin δ2Hf values three published datasets and one collected as part of this study, also grouping these data into foraging guilds (dabbling vs diving ducks). We then evaluated the performance of assignments using these calibrations by applying a cross-validation procedure. It remains unclear if any of the tested δ2Hp isoscapes better predict surface water inputs into food webs for foraging waterfowl. We found only marginal differences in the performance of the tested known-origin datasets, where the combined foraging-guild-specific datasets showed lower assignment precision and model fit compared to data for individual species. We recommend the use of the more conservative combined foraging-guild-specific datasets to assign geographic origin for all dabbling duck species. Refining these relationships is important for improved waterfowl management and contributes to a better understanding of the limitations of assignment methods when using the isotope approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent legalization of sports wagering in many regions of North America has renewed attention on the practice of sports betting. Although considerable effort has been previously devoted to the analysis of sportsbook odds setting and public betting trends, the principles governing optimal wagering have received less focus. Here the key decisions facing the sports bettor are cast in terms of the probability distribution of the outcome variable and the sportsbook's proposition. Knowledge of the median outcome is shown to be a sufficient condition for optimal prediction in a given match, but additional quantiles are necessary to optimally select the subset of matches to wager on (i.e., those in which one of the outcomes yields a positive expected profit). Upper and lower bounds on wagering accuracy are derived, and the conditions required for statistical estimators to attain the upper bound are provided. To relate the theory to a real-world betting market, an empirical analysis of over 5000 matches from the National Football League is conducted. It is found that the point spreads and totals proposed by sportsbooks capture 86% and 79% of the variability in the median outcome, respectively. The data suggests that, in most cases, a sportsbook bias of only a single point from the true median is sufficient to permit a positive expected profit. Collectively, these findings provide a statistical framework that may be utilized by the betting public to guide decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensifying macrovertebrate reconnaissance together with refined age-dating of mid-Cretaceous assemblages in recent decades is producing a more nuanced understanding of the impact of the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum on terrestrial ecosystems. Here we report discovery of a new early-diverging ornithopod, Iani smithi gen. et sp. nov., from the Cenomanian-age lower Mussentuchit Member, Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, USA. The single known specimen of this species (NCSM 29373) includes a well-preserved, disarticulated skull, partial axial column, and portions of the appendicular skeleton. Apomorphic traits are concentrated on the frontal, squamosal, braincase, and premaxilla, including the presence of three premaxillary teeth. Phylogenetic analyses using parsimony and Bayesian inference posit Iani as a North American rhabdodontomorph based on the presence of enlarged, spatulate teeth bearing up to 12 secondary ridges, maxillary teeth lacking a primary ridge, a laterally depressed maxillary process of the jugal, and a posttemporal foramen restricted to the squamosal, among other features. Prior to this discovery, neornithischian paleobiodiversity in the Mussentuchit Member was based primarily on isolated teeth, with only the hadrosauroid Eolambia caroljonesa named from macrovertebrate remains. Documentation of a possible rhabdodontomorph in this assemblage, along with published reports of an as-of-yet undescribed thescelosaurid, and fragmentary remains of ankylosaurians and ceratopsians confirms a minimum of five, cohabiting neornithischian clades in earliest Late Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems of North America. Due to poor preservation and exploration of Turonian–Santonian assemblages, the timing of rhabdodontomorph extirpation in the Western Interior Basin is, as of yet, unclear. However, Iani documents survival of all three major clades of Early Cretaceous neornithischians (Thescelosauridae, Rhabdodontomorpha, and Ankylopollexia) into the dawn of the Late Cretaceous of North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genetic composition of mallards in eastern North America has been changed by release of domestically-raised, game-farm mallards to supplement wild populations for hunting. We sampled 296 hatch-year mallards harvested in northwestern Ohio, October–December 2019. The aim was to determine their genetic ancestry and geographic origin to understand the geographic extent of game-farm mallard introgression into wild populations in more westward regions of North America. We used molecular analysis to detect that 35% of samples were pure wild mallard, 12% were early generation hybrids between wild and game-farm mallards (i.e., F1–F3), and the remaining 53% of samples were assigned as part of a hybrid swarm. Percentage of individuals in our study with some form of hybridization with game-farm mallard (65%) was greater than previously detected farther south in the mid-continent (~4%), but less than the Atlantic coast of North America (~ 92%). Stable isotope analysis using δ2Hf suggested that pure wild mallards originated from areas farther north and west than hybrid mallards. More specifically, 17% of all Ohio samples had δ2Hf consistent with more western origins in the prairies, parkland, or boreal regions of the mid-continent of North America, with 55%, 35%, and 10% of these being genetically wild, hybrid swarm, and F3, respectively. We conclude that continued game-farm introgression into wild mallards is not isolated to the eastern population of mallards in North America, and may be increasing and more widespread than previously detected. Mallards in our study had greater incidence of game-farm hybridization than other locales in the mid-continent but less than eastern North American regions suggesting further need to understand game-farm mallard genetic variation and movement across the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructing the evolution, diversity, and paleobiogeography of North America's Late Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages require spatiotemporally contiguous data; however, there remains a spatial and temporal disparity in dinosaur data on the continent. The rarity of vertebrate-bearing sedimentary deposits representing Turonian–Santonian ecosystems, and the relatively sparse record of dinosaurs from the eastern portion of the continent, present persistent challenges for studies of North American dinosaur evolution. Here we describe an assemblage of ornithomimosaurian materials from the Santonian Eutaw Formation of Mississippi. Morphological data coupled with osteohistological growth markers suggest the presence of two taxa of different body sizes, including one of the largest ornithomimosaurians known worldwide. The regression predicts a femoral circumference and a body mass of the Eutaw individuals similar to or greater than that of large-bodied ornithomimosaurs, Beishanlong grandis, and Gallimimus bullatus. The paleoosteohistology of MMNS VP-6332 demonstrates that the individual was at least ten years of age (similar to B. grandis [~375 kg, 13–14 years old at death]). Additional pedal elements share some intriguing features with ornithomimosaurs, yet suggest a larger-body size closer to Deinocheirus mirificus. The presence of a large-bodied ornithomimosaur in this region during this time is consistent with the relatively recent discoveries of early-diverging, large-bodied ornithomimosaurs from mid-Cretaceous strata of Laurasia (Arkansaurus fridayi and B. grandis). The smaller Eutaw taxon is represented by a tibia preserving seven growth cycles, with osteohistological indicators of decreasing growth, yet belongs to an individual approaching somatic maturity, suggesting the co-existence of medium- and large-bodied ornithomimosaur taxa during the Late Cretaceous Santonian of North America. The Eutaw ornithomimosaur materials provide key information on the diversity and distribution of North American ornithomimosaurs and Appalachian dinosaurs and fit with broader evidence of multiple cohabiting species of ornithomimosaurian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous ecosystems of Laurasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) states that North America was devastated by some sort of extraterrestrial event ~12,800 calendar years before present. Two fundamental questions persist in the debate over the YDIH: Can the results of analyses for purported impact indicators be reproduced? And are the indicators unique to the lower YD boundary (YDB), i.e., ~12.8k cal yrs BP? A test reported here presents the results of analyses that address these questions. Two different labs analyzed identical splits of samples collected at, above, and below the ~12.8ka zone at the Lubbock Lake archaeological site (LL) in northwest Texas. Both labs reported similar variation in levels of magnetic micrograins (>300 mg/kg >12.8ka and <11.5ka, but <150 mg/kg 12.8ka to 11.5ka). Analysis for magnetic microspheres in one split, reported elsewhere, produced very low to nonexistent levels throughout the section. In the other split, reported here, the levels of magnetic microspherules and nanodiamonds are low or nonexistent at, below, and above the YDB with the notable exception of a sample <11,500 cal years old. In that sample the claimed impact proxies were recovered at abundances two to four orders of magnitude above that from the other samples. Reproducibility of at least some analyses are problematic. In particular, no standard criteria exist for identification of magnetic spheres. Moreover, the purported impact proxies are not unique to the YDB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]