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Fungi are among the most diverse and ecologically important kingdoms in life. However, the distributional ranges of fungi remain largely unknown as do the ecological mechanisms that shape their distributions1,2. To provide an integrated view of the spatial and seasonal dynamics of fungi, we implemented a globally distributed standardized aerial sampling of fungal spores3. The vast majority of operational taxonomic units were detected within only one climatic zone, and the spatiotemporal patterns of species richness and community composition were mostly explained by annual mean air temperature. Tropical regions hosted the highest fungal diversity except for lichenized, ericoid mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi, which reached their peak diversity in temperate regions. The sensitivity in climatic responses was associated with phylogenetic relatedness, suggesting that large-scale distributions of some fungal groups are partially constrained by their ancestral niche. There was a strong phylogenetic signal in seasonal sensitivity, suggesting that some groups of fungi have retained their ancestral trait of sporulating for only a short period. Overall, our results show that the hyperdiverse kingdom of fungi follows globally highly predictable spatial and temporal dynamics, with seasonality in both species richness and community composition increasing with latitude. Our study reports patterns resembling those described for other major groups of organisms, thus making a major contribution to the long-standing debate on whether organisms with a microbial lifestyle follow the global biodiversity paradigms known for macroorganisms4,5.

Novel methods for sampling and characterizing biodiversity hold great promise for re-evaluating patterns of life across the planet. The sampling of airborne spores with a cyclone sampler, and the sequencing of their DNA, have been suggested as an efficient and well-calibrated tool for surveying fungal diversity across various environments. Here we present data originating from the Global Spore Sampling Project, comprising 2,768 samples collected during two years at 47 outdoor locations across the world. Each sample represents fungal DNA extracted from 24 m3 of air. We applied a conservative bioinformatics pipeline that filtered out sequences that did not show strong evidence of representing a fungal species. The pipeline yielded 27,954 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Each OTU is accompanied by a probabilistic taxonomic classification, validated through comparison with expert evaluations. To examine the potential of the data for ecological analyses, we partitioned the variation in species distributions into spatial and seasonal components, showing a strong effect of the annual mean temperature on community composition.

Background Methods Results Conclusion Clinical reasoning processes are complex and interwoven with culture and context. While these relationships have been explored to understand the outcomes of clinical reasoning, there has been little exploration of how to integrate these relationships when teaching and learning clinical reasoning.Using semi‐structured interviews, this research explored the role of context and culture in clinical reasoning medical education. Participants were clinical teachers recruited from across Northern Ontario. The data were analysed independently by two reviewers using both thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis, and peer reviewed by a third researcher.The role of context and culture is inherent to the personal, professional and pedagogical aspects of clinical reasoning, especially when teaching about the complexities of Northern Ontario. The major themes that came through were: 1) teaching and learning clinical reasoning needs reflexivity, 2) developing clinical reasoning skills needs time and 3) clinical reasoning pedagogy should acknowledge and encompass practice variation and patient diversity.Teaching clinical reasoning in Northern Ontario involves being aware of the complexities that are inherent in interacting with patients and communities. Through personal, professional and pedagogical models, the students and teachers can address the complexities of cultural and contextual clinical reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution Analysis (CA) is a promising theory-based evaluation approach for complex interventions, yet its application in health interventions remains largely unexplored. To bridge this gap, we conducted a scoping review to examine the extent of such applications and the methodologies, strengths, and limitations of this approach in health programming. Our comprehensive search strategy was developed and used in 15 databases to identify peer-reviewed articles from 1999 to 2023 that focused on using CA to evaluate health interventions. We then implemented rigorous double- and triple-screening processes for abstracts and full-text papers, respectively. Data were extracted and narratively summarized. Our review found seven relevant studies, which showed that CA has been employed in health promotion programs, health policies, and targeted health issues such as nutrition, cardiovascular disease, substance misuse, and suicide prevention. The studies identified strengths of using CA, including its flexible impact evaluation approach, capacity to inform decision-making, and potential to enhance understanding of health programs and policies. However, challenges such as how to determine suitable evidence levels and how to best manage resource intensity were also identified. The limited number of studies indicates that CA is still a novel approach, whereas the variation in the reporting of the studies suggests that this approach could benefit from more standardized methods and detailed stakeholder engagement strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Rural communities have poorer health compared to urban populations due partly to having lesser healthcare access. Rural placements during medical education can equip students with the knowledge and skills to work in rural communities, and, it is hoped, increase the supply of rural physicians. It is unclear how students gain knowledge of rural generalism during placements, and how this can be understood in terms of place-based and/or sociocultural educational theories. To gain insight into these questions we considered the experiences of pre-clerkship medical students who completed two mandatory four-week rural placements during their second year of medical school., Methods: Data was collected using semi-structured interviews or focus groups, followed by thematic analysis of the interview transcripts., Results: Rural placements allowed students to learn about rural generalism such as breadth of practice, and boundary issues. This occurred mainly by students interacting with rural physician faculty, with the effectiveness of precepting being key to students acquiring knowledge and skills and reporting a positive regard for the placement experience., Discussion: Our data show the central role of generalist physician preceptors in how and what students learn while participating in rural placements. Sociocultural learning theory best explains student learning, while place-based education theory helps inform the curriculum. Effective training and preparation of preceptors is likely key to positive student placement experiences., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 Ross, Taylor, Button, Kilbertus, Cameron; licensee Synergies Partners.)