Culture

Borderlands are synonymous with desolation, but the Mexico-U.S. divide is something altogether different. The nearly 2,000-mile-long border traverses some of the continent's most biologically diverse regions, including forests, grasslands and salt marshes - home to more than 1,500 native animal and plant species, according to an analysis published in BioScience on July 24.

The paper, coauthored by Stanford biologists Paul Ehrlich and Rodolfo Dirzo, warns that some of these species face extinction within the U.S. if their movements are cut off by the continuous border wall President Trump has pledged to build.

Physical barriers prevent or discourage animals from accessing food, water, mates and other critical resources by disrupting annual or seasonal migration and dispersal routes. Work on border walls, fences and related infrastructure, such as roads, fragments habitat, erodes soil, changes fire regimes and alters hydrological processes by causing floods, for example.

The potential for ecosystem damage was highlighted more than a decade ago, when the U.S. Congress passed the Real ID Act. The 2005 law gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authority to waive any laws - including the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act - that slow the wall's construction.

The paper calls on scientists around the world to support solutions, such as requirements that DHS identify species, habitats and ecological resources at risk from barrier construction and security operations; design barriers for maximum wildlife permeability where possible; and purchase or restore replacement habitat when environmental harm is inevitable. Nearly 3,000 scientists have signed on to endorse the paper's message.

Stanford Report spoke with Dirzo, a professor of biology and the Bing Professor in Environmental Science, and Ehrlich, a professor of biology (emeritus) and Bing Professor of Population Studies. Both are also senior fellows at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

What makes these border regions special?

Dirzo: This area is an ecological theater where evolution has engendered a plethora of plays. A multitude of factors - climatic conditions, topography, geological history, soil types -converge to create an amazing mosaic of ecosystems. A constellation of Northern temperate and Southern tropical lifeforms and lineages coincide with endemic species, as in few areas of the globe. This means these borderlands are a global responsibility.

What impacts have border wall construction had so far on biodiversity?

Ehrlich: Any substantial construction ordinarily forces populations to extinction directly by outright destruction of their habitat or by reducing population size or restricting access to critical areas required seasonally. Every time you see a strip mall, airport or housing development being constructed, you can be sure biodiversity is suffering. Many hundreds of miles of border wall and the accompanying construction and maintenance infrastructure would be a crime against biodiversity.

What are the ways in which border wall construction specifically threatens one species?

Dirzo: Many species, such as bighorn sheep, are composed of populations of relatively few individuals per unit area and have large home ranges - hundreds of square miles in the bighorn's case. Shrinking that range will lead to local population loss or declines. Smaller population sizes suffer from reduced genetic variation, which reduces their capacity for adaptation. Barriers will impede the bighorn sheep's migrations and movements to track habitats that shift due to a changing climate. Cut off like this, the bighorn and other animals and plants will become zombie species - populations that are demographically and genetically doomed.

You estimate that 17 percent of the species you analyzed risk extirpation within the U.S. if cut off by a border wall. Why should the average person care about this potential loss?

Ehrlich: Aside from effects on water flows and other natural services, the wall could rob us of iconic creatures such as the endangered Peninsular Bighorn sheep and the Sonoran pronghorn antelope. The esthetic value of these magnificent animals, and their cultural meaning to nature lovers, hunters and native American groups, is attested to by great efforts already made to avoid their extinction. There's also an economic loss to consider - the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching contributed nearly $26 billion to border state economies in 2011.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - A continuous wall on the border between the United States and Mexico would harm a multitude of animal species by fragmenting their geographic ranges, Oregon State University distinguished professor of ecology William Ripple has concluded, supported by thousands of other scientists around the globe.

Ripple is one of 16 co-authors from the U.S. and Mexico, including four members of the National Academy of Sciences, of a paper published today in BioScience that outlines the wall's impacts on biodiversity.

So far, more than 2,500 scientists from 43 countries and six continents have endorsed the article as signatories.

The authors include Rob Peters and Jennie Miller of the conservation nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife; Peters is the lead author of the paper.

Ripple, Peters, Miller and the others describe three ways the border wall and other security measures would threaten biodiversity: by not adhering to environmental laws, eliminating and fragmenting animal and plant populations and habitats, and devaluing binational research and conservation investments.

"Some of the affected animals are charismatic as well as threatened," Ripple said, noting the Mexican gray wolf, Sonoran pronghorn, Peninsular bighorn sheep and jaguar. "A continuous wall would disconnect any jaguars and ocelots in the U.S. from their major range in Mexico. And it's not just solid walls that are the issue; certain types of fencing can be a complete barrier to individual wildlife species. All of that should be considered."

Ripple and the other authors and signatories urge the U.S. government to follow, rather than waive in the name of homeland security, federal environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The paper includes a four-point call to action:

Congress should ensure the Department of Homeland Security follows environmental laws, and the DHS should:

Conduct surveys of at-risk species, habitats and ecological resources prior to new construction;

Mitigate environmental harm as completely as possible;

Work to facilitate scientific research in the border region.

As of 2017, DHS had constructed 1,050 kilometers of pedestrian and vehicle barriers, the paper notes.

"The border extends about 3,200 kilometers and bisects many important habitat types from desert to forest to scrublands to mountain ranges," said Ripple. "These are important wildlife habitats, high in biological diversity, that span both sides of the border. I hope national leaders will listen to our conservation message."

The border region, the paper states, is home to 1,506 native terrestrial and freshwater animal and plant species. Sixty-two of those species are listed as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable by the International Union of Conversation of Nature.

Study finds engineered rice lines with low stomatal density used just 60 per cent of the normal amount of water and were able to survive drought and high temperatures for longer than unaltered plants.

Almost half of the global rice crop derives from rain-fed agricultural systems where drought and high temperatures are predicted to become more frequent and damaging under climate change.

Rice cultivation is particularly water intensive - using an estimated 2,500 litres of water per kilogram.

Rice plants engineered to have fewer stomata - tiny openings used for gas exchange - are more tolerant to drought and resilient to future climate change, a new study has revealed.

Scientists from the University of Sheffield have discovered that engineering a high-yielding rice cultivar to have reduced stomatal density, helps the crop to conserve water and to survive high temperatures and drought.

Much of humanity relies on rice as a food source, but rice cultivation is particularly water intensive - using an estimated 2,500 litres of water per kilogram of rice produced.

However, almost half of the global rice crop derives from rain-fed agricultural systems where drought and high temperatures are predicted to become more frequent and damaging under climate change.

Like most plants, rice uses microscopic pores called stomata to regulate carbon dioxide uptake for photosynthesis, along with the release of water vapour via transpiration. When water is plentiful, stomatal opening also permits regulation of plant temperature by evaporative cooling. Under water-limiting drought conditions, stomatal closure normally slows down water loss. Low stomatal density rice conserves its water better under drought, and so has more water left to cool itself when necessary.

Dr Robert Caine, Research Associate from the University of Sheffield's Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and Principal Investigator of the study, said: "Future predicted decreases in water availability, combined with increased frequency of extreme drought and high temperature events, are likely to present particular challenges for farmers - resulting in substantial crop loss.

"Our study has shown that rice plants with fewer stomata are drought tolerant and more conservative in their water use. This means they should perform better in the future under climate change conditions.

"We found that the engineered rice crops gave equivalent or even improved yields, which means it could have a massive impact on our future food security which is threatened by climate change."

The new study, published today (Wednesday 25 July 2018) in New Phytologist and conducted in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, found low stomatal density rice lines used just 60 per cent of the normal amount of water.

When grown at elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, the low stomatal density rice plants were able to survive drought and high temperature (40 degrees Celsius) for longer than unaltered plants.

Julie Gray, Professor of Plant Molecular Biology and lead author of the study, said: "Stomata help plants to regulate their water use, so this study could have a significant impact on other crops which are at risk under climate change.

"At the University of Sheffield we believe in a sustainable future and work towards solutions to the most pressing global challenges."

WASHINGTON-Although women who have pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) are at heightened risk for also being infected with syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), few adolescent females diagnosed with PID in the nation's pediatric emergency departments (ED) undergo laboratory tests for HIV or syphilis, according to a retrospective cohort study published online July 24, 2018, in Pediatrics.

A team of researchers at Children's National Health System reviewed de-identified data from the Pediatric Health Information System, a database that aggregates encounter-level data from 48 children's hospitals across the nation. From 2010 through 2015, there were 10,698 diagnosed cases of PID among young women aged 12 to 21. Although HIV and syphilis screening rates increased over the study period, just 27.7 percent of these women underwent syphilis screening, 22 percent were screened for HIV, and only 18.4 percent underwent lab testing for both HIV and syphilis.

Screening rates varied dramatically by hospital, with some facilities screening just 2 percent of high-risk young women while others tested more than 60 percent.

HIV screening was more likely to occur among:

Women admitted to the hospital, compared with those discharged from the ED (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] of 7.0)

Uninsured women, compared with women with private insurance (1.6 aOR)

Non-Latino African American women, compared with non-Latino white women (1.4 aOR)

Women seen at small hospitals with fewer than 300 beds (1.4 aOR)

Women with public insurance compared with women with private insurance (1.3 aOR)

12-year-olds to 16-year-olds, compared with older adolescents (1.2 aOR)

Syphilis screening was more likely to occur for:

Women admitted to the hospital (4.6 aOR)

Non-Latino African American women (1.8 aOR)

Uninsured women (1.6 aOR)

Women with public insurance (1.4 aOR)

12-year-olds to 16-year-olds (1.1 aOR)

"We know that 20 percent of the nearly 1 million cases of PID that are diagnosed each year occur in young women, with the majority of diagnoses made in EDs. It is encouraging that HIV and syphilis screening rates for women with PID increased over the study period. However, our findings point to missed opportunities to safeguard young women's reproductive health," says Monika K. Goyal, M.D., M.S.C.E., assistant professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine and the study's senior author. "Such discrepancies in screening across the 48 hospitals we studied underscore the need for a standardized approach to sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening."

Untreated STIs can cause PID, an infection of a woman's reproductive organs that can complicate her ability to get pregnant and also can cause infertility. Since 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all women diagnosed with PID be tested for HIV. The CDC's treatment guidelines also recommend screening people at high risk for syphilis.

"Syphilis infection rates have steadily increased each year, and it is now most prevalent among young adults," Dr. Goyal says. "Future research should examine how STI screening can be improved in emergency departments, especially since adolescents at high risk for STIs often access health care through EDs. We also should explore innovative approaches, including electronic alerts and shared decision-making to boost STI screening rates for young women."

Amidst increased tensions over the US-Mexico border, a multinational group of over 2500 scientists have endorsed an article cautioning that a hardened barrier may produce devastating ecological effects while hampering binational conservation efforts. In the BioScience Viewpoint , a group led by Robert Peters, William J. Ripple, and Jennifer R. B. Miller call attention to ecological disturbances that could affect hundreds of terrestrial and aquatic species, notably including the Mexican gray wolf and Sonoran pronghorn.

The authors argue that the border wall will harm wildlife populations by fragmenting, degrading, and eliminating existing habitat, as well as by blocking species migration. "Our analysis shows that the border bisects the geographic ranges of 1506 native terrestrial and freshwater animal (n = 1077) and plant (n = 429) species," say the authors, noting that the number includes 62 species already listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Further, the authors express concern that as a result of the 2005 Real ID Act, construction could proceed "without the necessary depth of environmental impact analysis, development of less-damaging alternative strategies, postconstruction environmental monitoring, mitigation, public input, and pursuit of legal remedies." Compounding the issue of forgone legal protections, Peters and colleagues warn that a border wall could threaten ongoing research and conservation programs, including those in binational habitat corridors and the 18% of borderlands that contain environmentally protected lands.

To mitigate the effects of the proposed wall, the authors make several urgent recommendations to the United States Congress and Department of Homeland Security; these include following existing environmental laws, taking action to mitigate ecological harm, and forgoing physical barriers in particularly sensitive areas. The article` also calls for the government to encourage scientific research in the borderlands, to inform and assist environmental evaluation and mitigation efforts. The authors conclude that "national security can and must be pursued with an approach that preserves our natural heritage."

Dogs are thought to be very aware of people's emotions, but if a pup's owner was really upset, would it actually go out of its way to offer help and comfort?

Some not only will, a new study found, but they'll also overcome obstacles in a hurry to do it.

In a paper called Timmy's in the well: Empathy and prosocial helping in dogs, just published in the journal Learning & Behavior, researchers showed that dogs with strong bonds to their owners hurried to pushed through a door when they heard their person crying. The name of the paper pays homage to Lassie, the canine superhero of 1950s TV.

"We found dogs not only sense what their owners are feeling, if a dog knows a way to help them, they'll go through barriers to provide to help them," said lead author Emily Sanford, a graduate student in psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University who did the research as an undergraduate at Macalester College.

"Every dog owner has a story about coming home from a long day, sitting down for a cry and the dog's right there, licking their face. In a way, this is the science behind that."

Prior studies have found dogs to be highly responsive to human crying. But Sanford's team is the first to show that dogs who detect emotional distress will hurry to do something about it.

The idea for the experiment came when co-author Julia Meyers-Manor, a former faculty member at Macalester who is now an assistant professor of psychology at Ripon College, was playing with her children. The kids buried her in pillows and she began calling for help in play. "My husband didn't come rescue me, but, within a few seconds, my collie had dug me out of the pillows," she said. "I knew that we had to do a study to test that more formally."

The experiment involved 34 pet dogs of various breeds and sizes and their owners. Subjects included classic companion dogs like golden retrievers and Labradors, small dogs like shih tzus and pugs, and several mixed breeds.

One at a time, owners were positioned behind a clear door held shut with magnets. The dogs could see and hear them. While sitting behind the door, the people were asked to either hum "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" or cry.

The research team wanted to see if the dogs would open the door more often when their owners cried. That was not the case, but dogs who did open the door when they heard their owner crying opened it three times faster than dogs whose owners were humming.

During the task, the researchers measured the dogs' stress levels. Sanford said dogs who were able to push through the door to "rescue" their owners showed less stress, meaning they were upset by the crying, but not too upset to take action. As for the dogs who didn't push open the door, it wasn't because they didn't care -- it seemed they cared too much. Those dogs showed the most stress and were too troubled by the crying to do anything, Sanford said.

"Dogs have been by the side of humans for tens of thousands of years and they've learned to read our social cues," Sanford said. "Dog owners can tell that their dogs sense their feelings. Our findings reinforce that idea, and show that, like Lassie, dogs who know their people are in trouble might spring into action."

ORLANDO (July 23, 2018): The use of an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) approach for hip fracture operations allows patients to return home faster and get back to normal activities sooner, according to new findings presented today by researchers at the American College of Surgeons 2018 Quality and Safety Conference.

Upon reviewing a site report from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®), researchers at Langley Memorial Hospital, Langley, B.C., Canada, discovered that patients who underwent hip fracture operations had higher morbidity and mortality rates and a higher prevalence of delirium than the national average. ACS NSQIP is the leading nationally validated, risk-adjusted, outcomes-based program to measure and improve the quality of surgical care in hospitals.

The research was led by Lila Gottenbos, RN, BScN, a Surgical Clinical Reviewer at the hospital. "We knew we could do better, because we had already successfully applied the principles of ERAS to our colorectal patient population." ERAS is a patient-focused approach that uses evidence-based practices to improve outcomes from surgery.

To address these challenges, a multidisciplinary team of nurses, surgeons, and clinicians adapted an enhanced recovery approach to meet the specific needs of their patients with hip fractures. For example, this population is at greater risk for delirium, a condition which often prolongs hospital stays and results in higher complication rates. Thus, an intervention was implemented to assess these patients for delirium preoperatively and on a regular basis for five days after their operations.

"With enhanced recovery, mobility is one of the foundational process measures, but with our intervention, we were even more aggressive with mobility, specifically making sure that our patients were getting up within 24 hours of surgery and to a chair to eat at least two meals within two days after surgery," said Ms. Gottenbos.

These practices were applied to every patient who had hip fracture operations from January 2016 to the present. The hospital averages 110 of these procedures per year.

Study findings showed that this new care approach cut nearly two days off the average hospital stay, without increasing the readmission rate. "We are not just sending people home and then seeing them return because we sent them home too early. They are going home and staying home to recover," said Ms. Gottenbos. "Eighty-five percent of our fractured hip patients are mobilizing within 24 hours of surgery and we are sending 60 percent of these patients home within 30 days of surgery."

Additionally, over a two-year span the mortality rate dropped by more than 50 percent -- from 9.7 to 4.2 percent. The rate of pneumonia, a common complication in high risk patients after an operation, fell nearly 50 percent. Furthermore, the morbidity rate decreased by 33 percent.

Patients and families also received preoperative counseling about what they should expect as part of the operative and recovery experience. Study results also showed that patients were less likely to require a transfer to a nursing facility. "If you came to Langley Memorial before ERAS was implemented, you would return home from acute care about 20 percent of the time, and now we are discharging patients to their homes about 43 percent of the time, so that's a huge increase in getting patients back to their homes rather than sending them to convalescence care or residential care," said Ms.Gottenbos.

Overall, this new enhanced recovery approach has raised awareness about caring for a vulnerable adult population. "The processes we instituted for our fractured hip patients have had a huge positive ripple effect," said Ms. Gottenbos. "We have seen a great shift in the way staff think about patients, caring for them with a more holistic focus, and thinking about the path to discharge as soon as the patient walks in the front door. The focus is on getting patients home safely, quickly and in better condition than when they came to us."

Langley Memorial is now looking to expand this ERAS approach to other patient populations.

"It's very rewarding to see that these high-risk patients can be successfully treated and sent home earlier," said Ms. Gottenbos. "We are very confident that the work we are doing gives people a better chance to return to baseline functioning and get back to their normal lives."

ORLANDO (July 23, 2018): Two presurgery checklists from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Strong for Surgery (S4S) program that incorporate best practices for engaging patients in preparing for their upcoming operations significantly improved lifestyle factors that pose an increased risk for postoperative complications or help support healing and postoperative recovery.

At CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System, Texarkana, Tex., clinicians who used the S4S program were able to increase the number of patients who quit smoking as well as the number of diabetics who achieved better control of blood sugar levels before their operations. S4S was used in combination with a quality improvement approach that employs the principles of enhanced recovery after surgery. When used together, these two initiatives decreased hospital length of stay, total patient costs, and the overall complication rates, according to researchers who presented these findings at the ACS 2018 Quality and Safety Conference.

Under the leadership of Thomas K. Varghese, Jr., MD, FACS, S4S was originally developed by surgeons across Washington State. In 2017 it became a public health initiative offered by ACS that applies these evidence-based practices to educate patients about steps they may take to help improve surgical outcomes. This free program helps hospitals and clinics in evaluation and planning, process and workflow mapping, and training during and for the first year after implementation so surgeons and surgical staff can integrate checklists into the preoperative phase of clinical practice for elective operations. These checklists screen patients for potential risk factors that can lead to surgical complications and provide appropriate interventions to ensure better surgical outcomes. Thus far, the checklists target four areas known to be highly influential determinants of surgical outcomes: nutrition, glycemic control, medication management, and smoking cessation. Four new checklists are expected to be released and available to participating hospitals by late July 2018.

In the study presented at the Quality and Safety Conference, use of the S4S program improved glycemic control among patients with poorly-controlled diabetes. Prior to using the program at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health, 87.7 percent of diabetic patients showed blood glucose levels less than 200 mg/dL on the day of their operations. After S4S was in use for six months, the percentage of diabetic patients with proper glycemic control rose to 97.31 percent. This improvement was very important because control of blood sugar by diabetic patients reduces the risk of fluctuations in blood sugar during surgery and decreases the risk of surgical site infections.

S4S also improved smoking cessation among presurgical patients. According to patient-reported outcomes, 10.5 percent of tobacco users quit smoking before their operations. Smoking is associated with a higher prevalence of postoperative complications, including infections and cardiovascular events.

The S4S program was applied to all 385 patients seen in the hospital's preoperative clinic between July 2017 and January 2018.

Use of an enhanced recovery after surgery approach also led to noticeable quality improvement results. Data on 55 colorectal patients seen during the same time period indicated a decrease in length of stay by 1.5 days and a reduction in costs by an average of $2,027. In addition, the application of enhanced recovery principles decreased occurrences, as defined by the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®), by 25 percent.

CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System is a 311-bed community hospital. Its preoperative clinic prepares patients for various procedures performed within the hospital. A multidisciplinary team involving clinical and administrative departments began building an enhanced recovery after surgery program in September 2016 and introduced S4S in May 2017. Both programs have been fully implemented and their principles are built into the work flow of the preoperative clinic.

"Our S4S initiative was easy to implement. The key components for success were having a nurse practitioner work with patients on a consistent basis and getting buy-in from surgeons. The team came to the table when they realized the program would provide patients with a safer journey through the surgery," said Benjamin DuBois, MD, FACS, general surgeon and surgical quality director for CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System.

"The enhanced recovery pathways took a bit of legwork and research to apply basic quality improvement principles and add what we thought was appropriate for our patients. The enhanced recovery program makes sense; it's evidence-based and everyone felt it was the right thing to do," Dr. DuBois added.

The quality improvement programs have been well-received by patients. Study author Dawn Davis, MSN, NP-C, states: "Our patients appreciate that we are investing in the things that they can do to affect their health. As we follow up with information about their blood sugar, smoking, and nutritional status, they do feel someone cares about them and what they do," she said.

Direct nurse-to-patient contact with patients 30 and 60 days after surgery helps reinforce healthy lifestyles. "During postop calls we receive information about the things we talked about prior to surgery, such as smoking cessation. It's important to have that one-on-one contact with patients," said Vickie Hurst, BSN, RN-BC, manager of the acute care/preoperative clinic and study coauthor.

"There was momentum for both programs because they're evidence based and give us the tools to make a difference in the care of our surgical patients before and after surgery," Dr. DuBois said.

LOGAN, UTAH, USA -- Conservation biologists recognize a sobering reality.

"We're losing species left, right and center," says Utah State University scientist Will Pearse. "We call it the 'Noah's Ark Problem,' and we have to pick species to save. We can't save them all."

The biblical mariner seemed capable of building a vessel to accommodate mating pairs of all the world's creatures. The metaphor, today, however, would portray the harried Noah bailing water and valiantly trying to prioritize saving animals most beneficial for the future, as his boat rapidly sank.

Pearse, with colleagues Florent Mazel, Arne Mooers and Caroline Tucker of Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia; Marc Cadotte of the University of Toronto, Sandra Diaz of Argentina's National University of Cordoba, Giulio Valentino Dalla Riva of the University of British Columbia, Richard Grenyer of the University of Oxford, Fabien Leprieur of the University of Montpellier and David Mouillot of James Cook University, explore phylogenetic diversity as a metric of conservation prioritization in the July 23, 2018, issue of Nature Communications.

"Our paper tests a fundamental component of conservation biology we refer to as the 'phylogenetic gambit,'" says Pearse, assistant professor in USU's Department of Biology and the USU Ecology Center. "That is, conservation biologists often use species' evolutionary history - their phylogeny - to identify groups of species to save."

This idea is based on the assumption that preserving phylogenetic diversity among species preserves more functional diversity than selecting species to preserve by chance. Functional diversity is important, Pearse says, because it drives ecosystem health and productivity.

"Yet measuring the effectiveness of functional diversity is difficult," he says. "So using phylogenetic diversity as a surrogate for functional diversity has made conservation biology much easier and more effective."

In global datasets of mammals, birds and tropical fishes, the team demonstrates that, for the most part, the phylogenetic gambit holds. Preserving phylogenetic diversity preserves 18 percent more functional diversity than would be expected if species to save were selected at random.

"Worryingly, though, we found in some parts of the world, and in some groups of species, preserving phylogenetic diversity did worse or just the same as random chance," Pearse says. "Luckily, we identified the areas and reasons this was happening, which still makes this selection technique valid and valuable for conservation biologists."

The team's efforts, organized through an international working group initiated by Tucker and Mooers, were funded by the Synthesis Center for Biodiversity Sciences - "sDIV" - based in Leipzig, Germany.

First ever large-scale analysis of fishing vessel interactions exposes the potential extent of the unmanaged exchange of goods at sea, raising global concerns over illegal fishing and human rights abuses. The study, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, brings transparency to trading at sea. It provides the first ever public view of the extent to which these exchanges could be occurring and exposes the need for a global collaboration to improve fisheries management.

"The practice of transshipment -- refrigerated cargo vessels meeting with fishing boats at sea to exchange seafood, crew, fuel or supplies -- is common in many fisheries as it enables fishing vessels to remain at sea while their catch is taken to market," says Dr Nathan Miller of SkyTruth, USA, who led the study. "However, it lacks uniform regulation and transparent data. This hinders sustainable fisheries management as it makes it very difficult to monitor the amount of marine life being taken from the sea."

The lack of consistent regulation enables illegally caught fish to enter the market. It also creates the opportunity for other illegal activities relating to drugs and even people.

"Some human rights abuses have been associated with transshipment. By allowing fishing vessels to remain at sea for months or even years at a time, captains are able to keep their crew at sea indefinitely, resulting in de facto slavery," say Miller.

The outcomes associated with this poor regulation motivated the researchers from Google, Skytruth and Global Fishing Watch. They wanted to create a transparent and publicly available way of identifying and sharing transshipment behaviors on a global scale.

To do this, the team analyzed over 30 billion vessel tracking signals to identify potential transshipment encounters. This included refrigerated cargo vessels loitering at sea long enough to receive a transshipment, or two vessels in close proximity long enough to transfer catch, crew or supplies.

"Our research is unique in its scale, but also in that we use a big data technology platform and satellite tracking data to provide the first public view of the potential extent of global transshipment," says Miller.

Analysis of the data showed that transshipment activities occur on a global scale, yet some areas had particularly high activity.

"Transshipment activities were observed in all ocean basins, but were most common in international waters," says Miller. "Nearly half of the events we tracked occur on the high seas and involve vessels that are registered in countries which may differ from the vessel's owner and provide minimal oversight. This means that a vessel may be held to less strict standards and regulations than its home country would require."

"The prevalence of events outside of national waters in much of the world is juxtaposed by the prevalence of events in Russian waters, as well as those involving foreign vessels within the waters of western African nations," says Miller. "While the activities within Russian waters predominate, the activities within the waters of western African nations are of considerable concern."

As could be expected with such a large dataset, the limitations of the data also need to be taken into consideration before conclusions should be drawn.

"The use of the vessel tracking system, from which we derived these data, varies globally and among fleets. Operators can turn off the tracking device or broadcast incorrect identity information and crowded regions of the ocean can affect tracking accuracy. However, we can account for these limitations and our results change only modestly if we alter the parameters," says Miller.

Overall, the results suggest that many transshipment events occur beyond any nation's jurisdiction, where the monitoring and regulation of fishing activity is limited.

The team hope their research will act as a starting point to encourage a more transparent and sustainable fishing practice.

"We hope our results will expose the potential association of transshipment with illegal fishing and other criminal activities, as well as stimulate discussion on sustainability and management of high seas fishing," says Miller. "Tackling the sustainability and human rights problems associated with transshipment at sea will require global perspective and cooperation."

San Francisco--A new study shows that developing a standardized stroke protocol of having neurointerventional teams meet suspected emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO) stroke patients upon their arrival at the hospital achieves a median door-to-recanalization time of less than 60 minutes. The study was presented at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery's (SNIS) 15th Annual Meeting.

Door to Revascularization in Less than 60 Minutes: A Cost and Benefit Analysis mentions that while standardized protocols for imaging and transport to the angiography suite, as well as a standardization of the thrombectomy procedure, help save time, the most important time savings comes from having a neurointerventional team meet the patient when they arrive in the emergency room. The five-person team includes one registered nurse (RN), two technologists, one anesthesiologist, and one neurointerventionalist.

"Level 1 trauma centers require trauma surgeons and anesthesiologists to be in-house 24/7. By requiring Level 1 stroke centers to do the same, we could potentially help more ELVO patients make full recoveries," said Dr. Donald Frei, lead author of the study and a neurointerventionalist based in Colorado.

Rapid endovascular thrombectomy helps patients with ELVO achieve the best outcomes, but standardizing stroke protocols to ensure timely and safe care does come at a cost. The study considered 1,162 ELVO alerts met by the neurointerventional team. Of these, 314 patients (27 percent) received a thrombectomy. In cases in which a thrombectomy was not performed, the RN and technologists are paid two hours each of overtime pay, averaging to a total cost of more than $200,000 in overtime pay annually for the salaried staff. This does not include physician time spent.

"This study shows that stroke systems of care can and should be streamlined to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients," said Dr. Frei. "The associated costs also suggest that in-house neurointerventional teams at hospitals may be the most effective option for rapid and safe care. The additional annual cost in overtime pay for the team is far outweighed by the huge benefit in decreasing the costs of lifelong disability because many more patients can return to independence."

Metallic hydrogen is one of the rarest materials on Earth, yet more than 80 percent of planets--including Jupiter, Saturn, and hundreds of extrasolar planets--are composed of this exotic form of matter.

Its abundance in our solar system--despite its rarity on Earth--makes metallic hydrogen an intriguing focus for researchers at the University of Rochester's Laboratory of Laser Energetics (LLE) who study planet formation and evolution, including how planets both inside and outside our solar system form magnetic shields.

"Metallic hydrogen is the most abundant form of matter in our planetary system," says Mohamed Zaghoo, a research associate at the LLE. "It's a shame we don't have it naturally here on earth, but on Jupiter, there are oceans of metallic hydrogen. We want to find out how these oceans give rise to Jupiter's enormous magnetic field." Zaghoo and Gilbert 'Rip' Collins, a professor of mechanical engineering and of physics and director of Rochester's high-energy-density physics program, studied the conductivity of metallic hydrogen to further unravel the mysteries of the dynamo effect--the mechanism that generates magnetic fields on planets including Earth. They published their findings in the Astrophysical Journal.

CREATING METALLIC HYDROGEN AT THE LLE

Every element acts differently under intense pressure and temperature. Heating water, for example, generates a gas in the form of water vapor; freezing it creates solid ice. Hydrogen is normally a gas, but at high temperatures and pressures--the conditions that exist within planets like Jupiter--hydrogen takes on the properties of a liquid metal and behaves like an electrical conductor.

Although scientists theorized for decades about the existence of metallic hydrogen, it was nearly impossible to create on Earth. "The conditions to create metallic hydrogen are so extreme that, although metallic hydrogen is abundant in our solar system, it has only been created a few places on earth," Zaghoo says. "The LLE is one of those places."

At the LLE, researchers use the powerful OMEGA laser to fire pulses at a hydrogen capsule. The laser impinges on the sample, developing a high-pressure, high-temperature condition that allows the tightly bound hydrogen atoms to break. When this happens, hydrogen is transformed from its gaseous state to a shiny liquid state, much like the element mercury.

UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMO EFFECT

By studying the conductivity of metallic hydrogen, Zaghoo and Collins are able to build a more accurate model of the dynamo effect--a process where the kinetic energy of conducting moving fluids converts to magnetic energy. Gas giants like Jupiter have a very powerful dynamo, but the mechanism is also present deep within Earth, in the outer core. This dynamo creates our own magnetic field, making our planet habitable by shielding us from harmful solar particles. Researchers can map the earth's magnetic field, but, because the earth has a magnetic crust, satellites cannot see far enough into our planet to observe the dynamo in action. Jupiter, on the other hand, does not have a crust barrier. This makes it relatively easier for satellites--like NASA's Juno space probe, currently in orbit around Jupiter--to observe the planet's deep structures, Collins says. "It is very humbling to be able to characterize one of the most interesting states of matter, liquid metallic hydrogen, here in the laboratory, use this knowledge to interpret satellite data from a space probe, and then apply this all to extrasolar planets."

Zaghoo and Collins focused their research on the relationship between metallic hydrogen and the onset of the dynamo action, including the depth where the dynamo of Jupiter forms. They found that the dynamo of gas giants like Jupiter is likely to originate closer to the surface--where the metallic hydrogen is most conductive--than the dynamo of Earth. This data, combined with revelations from Juno, can be incorporated into simulated models that will allow for a more complete picture of the dynamo effect.

"Part of the mandate for the Juno mission was to try to understand Jupiter's magnetic field," Zaghoo says. "A key complementary piece to the Juno data is just how conductive hydrogen is at varying depths inside the planet. We need to build this into our models in order to make better predictions about current planet composition and evolution."

Better understanding the planets in our own solar system also provides more insight into the magnetic shielding of exoplanets outside of our solar system--and may help determine the possibility of life on other planets. Researches have long thought that planets with magnetic fields are better able to sustain gaseous atmospheres and therefore are more likely to harbor life, Zaghoo says. "Dynamo theory and magnetic fields are key conditions of habitability. There are hundreds of exoplanets discovered outside our solar system every year and we think many of these planets are like Jupiter and Saturn. We cannot go to these planets yet, but we can apply our knowledge about the super giants in our own solar system to make models of what these planets might be like."

LA JOLLA--(July 23, 2018) A new study from the Salk Institute has found that mice that have their microbiomes depleted with antibiotics have decreased levels of glucose in their blood and better insulin sensitivity. The research has implications for understanding the role of the microbiome in diabetes. It also could lead to better insight into the side effects seen in people who are being treated with high levels of antibiotics. The study appeared in the journal Nature Communications on July 20, 2018.

"This research is very exciting, because the situation we've created in these mice is very similar to what humans go through when they're treated with multiple antibiotics," says Satchidananda Panda, a professor in Salk's Regulatory Biology Laboratory and the paper's senior author. "Now that we know about these effects on glucose metabolism, we can look for components of the microbiome that influence them."

The microbiome is the collection of microorganisms that live in an animal's body, many of which are essential for health. Previous studies have shown that mice whose microbiomes are deficient in certain types of bacteria are more likely to develop diabetes. There is also some evidence that certain microbes may be protective against diabetes.

"Many scientists doing microbiome experiments with mice use antibiotics to clear out bacteria before their intervention," says Amir Zarrinpar, an assistant professor at UC San Diego and the paper's first author. "We show that such clearing out has a tremendous effect on the metabolism of the mouse. So some metabolic effects can be attributed to this depletion rather than the intervention."

The researchers didn't set out to look specifically at how antibiotic-induced depletion influences glucose levels. They wanted to look at the circadian (24 hour) rhythms of mouse metabolism when the microbiome is depleted. This type of research is often done with mice raised in germ-free environments.

"Because we didn't have access to these germ-free mice, we decided to instead deplete the microbiome using common antibiotics from the clinic," Panda says. The investigators used a cocktail of four different antibiotics in the mice to do so. "This weakness--not having the right kind of mice--became a strength that enabled us to make this unexpected discovery," Panda says.

After treating the mice, the investigators observed that there was a large decrease in the diversity of microorganisms present in their guts, as expected. When they looked at the metabolisms of the mice, they found that they were able to clear glucose from their blood much faster than expected.

Further studies showed that the colon tissue in the mice was acting as a kind of sink for the glucose--absorbing the extra sugar and thereby reducing its levels in the blood. This behavior fit the observation that the mice had colons that were greatly increased in size.

The researchers then discovered that these metabolic changes were actually related to changes in liver function and to the bile acids that were being released by the liver. The mice did not have changes in body fat composition or in what they ate--the two things that normally influence glucose metabolism and are known to play a role in type 2 diabetes in humans.

"We're not suggesting that type 2 diabetes be treated with antibiotics," Panda explains.

Zarrinpar adds, "It's just interesting to see that there is a way the microbiome can be manipulated to make the gut produce high levels of hormones that make the body more sensitive to insulin."

The next steps are to look at how the changes in the liver are occurring and which component of the microbiome is influencing the changes. "Perhaps we could find ways to support the growth of certain gut microbes and induce these changes in glucose regulation in humans," Panda concludes. "We are now one step closer to translating this research."

A new online health calculator can help people determine their risk of heart disease, as well as their heart age, accounting for sociodemographic factors such as ethnicity, sense of belonging and education, as well as health status and lifestyle behaviours. The process to build and validate the tool is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Canada, although risks of death from heart disease are modifiable with lifestyle changes. Most people are unaware of their cardiovascular risk until they experience a cardiac event, which may be fatal.

"What sets this cardiovascular risk calculator apart is that it looks at healthy living, and it is better calibrated to the Canadian population," says Dr. Doug Manuel, lead author, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and a senior core scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

Using a "big data" approach, researchers used routinely collected data on 104 219 Ontario residents from the Canadian Community Health Surveys (2001 to 2007) linked to ICES data on hospitalizations and deaths to develop and validate the Cardiovascular Disease Population Risk Tool (CVDPoRT).

The calculator allows individuals to accurately predict their risk of hospitalization or death from cardiovascular disease within the next five years. For example, if their risk is five percent, it means that five in 100 people like them will experience a serious cardiovascular event in the next five years. The calculator also provides heart age, an easy-to-understand measure of heart health.

Unlike other risk prediction tools, the Cardiovascular Disease Population Risk Tool considers many factors, such as sociodemographic status, environmental influences like air pollution, health behaviours ranging from smoking status to alcohol intake to physical activity, health conditions and more. The list includes:

Age

Smoking status and lifetime exposure

Alcohol consumption

Diet

Physical activity

Stress

Sense of belonging

Ethnicity

Immigration status

Education

Socioeconomic status of the neighbourhood

Diabetes

High blood pressure

"A lot of people are interested in healthy living, but often we don't have that discussion in the doctor's office," says Dr. Manuel, who is also a professor at the University of Ottawa. "Doctors will check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but they don't necessarily ask about lifestyle factors that could put you at risk of a heart attack and stroke. We hope this tool can help people -- and their care team -- with better information about healthy living and options for reducing their risk of heart attack and stroke."

In addition to personal use, policy-makers can use the tool to calculate risk profiles for different populations. Currently set up for use in Canada, it can be adapted for any of the 100 countries around the world that collect health survey data.

ANN ARBOR, Michigan -- As treatment for early stage breast cancer becomes less extensive and more precise, a new concern is surfacing: Cancer takes an enormous toll financially on many people.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center finds many patients are concerned about the financial impact of their diagnosis and treatment, and that they feel their doctor's offices are not helping with these concerns.

"We have made a lot of progress in breast cancer treatment, which is wonderful. But this study shows we are only part of the way to our goal. We must now turn our efforts to confronting the financial devastation many patients face," says lead study author Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., deputy chair and professor of radiation oncology at Michigan Medicine.

Researchers surveyed about 2,500 patients treated for early stage breast cancer and 845 treating surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists. The study is published in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

About 38 percent of women were at least somewhat worried about finances because of their breast cancer treatment, and some experienced extensive hardships. Overall, 14 percent of patients reported losing more than 10 percent of their household income, and 17 percent spent more than 10 percent of their household income on out-of-pocket medical expenses.

The financial burden varied significantly by race and ethnicity, with African-American and Latina women experiencing more concerns, including debt from treatment, losing their home, having utilities turned off for unpaid bills and cutting back on spending for food.

Among physicians, many reported engagement and concern about the costs and financial burden related to the treatments they recommended. Half of all medical oncologists and 43 percent radiation oncologists said someone in their practice often or always discusses financial burden with patients. Only 16 percent of surgeons did.

But of those patients worried about their finances, 73 percent said their doctor's office did not help. The mismatch suggests the need to improve communication around financial hardship. The researchers stress the importance of physicians or their staff assessing all patients for financial issues and ensuring the communication is effective and clear.

"To cure a patient's disease at the cost of financial ruin falls short of our duty as physicians to serve. It's simply not acceptable to ignore patients' financial distress any longer," Jagsi says.