Around the globe, human behavior and ecosystem health have been extensively and sometimes severely affected by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Most efforts to study these complex and ...heterogenous effects to date have focused on public health and economics. Some studies have evaluated the pandemic’s influences on the environment, but often on a single aspect such as air or water pollution. The related research opportunities are relatively rare, and the approaches are unique in multiple aspects and mostly
retrospective
. Here, we focus on the diverse research opportunities in disease ecology and ecosystem sustainability related to the (intermittent) lockdowns that drastically reduced human activities. We discuss several key knowledge gaps and questions to address amid the ongoing pandemic. In principle, the common knowledge accumulated from invasion biology could also be effectively applied to COVID-19, and the findings could offer much-needed information for future pandemic prevention and management.
The neologism "toxic" masculinity has sparked debate in recent years over the negative masculine behaviours associated with hegemonic ideals. The rise of Donald Trump, the #MeToo movement and shaving ...company Gillette's support of it, as well as the argued motives behind Brexit have all contributed to and intensified discussions around hegemonic masculinity, shown clearly by the wealth of user comments posted in reaction to online articles discussing the topic. Using a critical discourse analysis, this article identifies, critically examines and re-evaluates the complex and often paradoxical defence strategies used by Daily Mail comment forum users in reaction to calls for a cultural shift away from "toxic" masculinity. Three overarching, interrelated themes are presented: (1) The male victimhood/entitlement paradox-legitimising hegemonic, "toxic" masculine traits as justified reaction to "toxic" feminists, liberals and lefties,' (2) Gender essentialism as the neutral position-nostalgic accentuation of innate differences, (3) Distancing: attributing "toxic" masculinity to a breakdown in the family unit. It is argued that deeply ingrained essentialist views of gender only perpetuate the patriarchal subordination and mistreatment of women and marginalised men. This paper, building on a growing body of research, calls for a radical shift towards a more progressive construction of masculinity.
Regional ecological assessments evaluate sustainability as an interaction among ecosystem services and stressors across changing landscapes. Using ecological assessments to inform ecosystem ...management activities relies on assessing functional linkages between ecosystem processes and ecosystem services, because ecosystem processes are the primary targets of ecosystem management. We undertook a review of regional ecological assessments in the Appalachian region of the United States to examine how forest-based ecosystem services, forest ecosystem processes, and their linkages are quantified. To provide context, we first give an overview of common ecological assessment frameworks, including risk, vulnerability, resilience, and indicator-based approaches. Assessments tended to target either ecosystem-level properties thought to be important for ecosystem service sustainability, or else to target specific ecosystem services or stressors. Forest ecosystem-level assessment most often relied on specific indicators for system properties such as integrity or health, but how those properties or their indicators were related to ecosystem services was typically not quantified. Individual ecosystem services were frequently assessed in terms of risk and vulnerability to specific external stressors, but linkages to ecosystem processes, and potential tradeoffs among ecosystem services, were infrequently quantified. Integrated system-level assessment and ecosystem service assessment can improve support for ecosystem management by advancing our understanding of dependencies on the ecosystem processes that are modified through management. Models that evaluate ecosystem services and underlying processes in a systems context offer one approach to do so.
The use of super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as an MRI contrast agent (SPION-CA) can safely label hepatic macrophages and be localized within hepatic parenchyma for T2*- and ...R2*-MRI of the liver. To date, no study has utilized the R2*-MRI with SPIONs for quantifying liver heterogeneity to characterize functional liver parenchyma (FLP) and hepatic tumors. This study investigates whether SPIONs enhance liver heterogeneity for an auto-contouring tool to identify the voxel-wise functional liver parenchyma volume (FLPV). This was the first study to directly evaluate the impact of SPIONs on the FLPV in R2*-MRI for 12 liver cancer patients. By using SPIONs, liver heterogeneity was improved across pre- and post-SPION MRI sessions. On average, 60% of the liver range 40–78% was identified as the FLPV in our auto-contouring tool with a pre-determined threshold of the mean R2* of the tumor and liver. This method performed well in 10 out of 12 liver cancer patients; the remaining 2 needed a longer echo time. These results demonstrate that our contouring tool with SPIONs can facilitate the heterogeneous R2* of the liver to automatically characterize FLP. This is a desirable technique for achieving more accurate FLPV contouring during liver radiation treatment planning.
A novel microRNA (miRNA) quantification method has been developed using stem–loop RT followed by TaqMan PCR analysis. Stem–loop RT primers are better than conventional ones in terms of RT efficiency ...and specificity. TaqMan miRNA assays are specific for mature miRNAs and discriminate among related miRNAs that differ by as little as one nucleotide. Furthermore, they are not affected by genomic DNA contamination. Precise quantification is achieved routinely with as little as 25 pg of total RNA for most miRNAs. In fact, the high sensitivity, specificity and precision of this method allows for direct analysis of a single cell without nucleic acid purification. Like standard TaqMan gene expression assays, TaqMan miRNA assays exhibit a dynamic range of seven orders of magnitude. Quantification of five miRNAs in seven mouse tissues showed variation from less than 10 to more than 30 000 copies per cell. This method enables fast, accurate and sensitive miRNA expression profiling and can identify and monitor potential biomarkers specific to tissues or diseases. Stem–loop RT–PCR can be used for the quantification of other small RNA molecules such as short interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Furthermore, the concept of stem–loop RT primer design could be applied in small RNA cloning and multiplex assays for better specificity and efficiency.
Background
The scapular tip free flap (STFF) is becoming more popular for oromandibular reconstruction. This article reviewed the early and late outcomes in a larger series over 9 years.
Methods
We ...conducted a retrospective review of all consecutive patients who underwent oromandibular reconstruction using the STFF at London Health Sciences Centre. Demographic information, surgical data, and complications were collected and analyzed.
Results
From April 2008 to March 2017, 81 STFFs were performed in 80 patients. The average bony reconstruction measured 5.4 cm. Bone‐only flaps were utilized in 24 cases (29.6%). Five cases (6.2%) required a single osteotomy. There were 3 (3.7%) flap failures. There were 7 plate extrusions and 11 cases of radiographic nonunion.
Conclusion
The STFF is a reliable option with acceptable early and long‐term results. The STFF may be considered as a first line option especially for shorter bone defects or in conjunction with complex soft tissue requirements.
Context
Ecological data often contain spatial structures that are latent indicators of ecological processes of interest. The emergence of spatial pattern analysis has advanced ecological studies by ...identifying spatial autocorrelation and testing its relationship to underlying processes. Spatial point pattern tests such as Ripley’s K function were designed for identifying spatial patterns, however they are not without their limitations.
Objectives
Recently another graphical technique, AG-curve, was proposed. This paper examines its suitability for classifying disturbance patterns in remote sensing scenery containing tens of thousands of pixels.
Methods
To answer the question,
Is there a significant pattern of disturbance or decline present?
, landscapes that were subject to disturbance from mining, wildfire and logging activities were analyzed and compared using the AG-curve technique, which classifies spatial patterns in a window as either random, aggregated, or regular (dispersed). 40 × 40 km windows of NDVI data covering the three prototypical disturbance landscapes and one undisturbed landscape were analyzed for the presence of patterns.
Results
From a raster representing the net change in NDVI spanning 18 years, the AG-curve correctly classified the spatial pattern of disturbance in the three disturbance landscapes as a pattern of aggregation among the net-loss in NDVI pixels. In contrast, the undisturbed landscape was classified as random.
Conclusion
The AG-curve is a descriptive classification technique useful for identifying spatial patterns in remote sensing imagery and discerning clustered from dispersed patterns. Results highlight that information about the spatial scale of the pattern is also apparent when interpreting the AG-curve graph.
Purpose
Breathing management can reduce breath‐to‐breath (intrafraction) and day‐by‐day (interfraction) variability in breathing motion while utilizing the respiratory motion of internal and external ...surrogates for respiratory guidance. Audiovisual (AV) biofeedback, an interactive personalized breathing motion management system, has been developed to improve reproducibility of intra‐ and interfraction breathing motion. However, the assumption of the correlation of respiratory motion between surrogates and tumors is not always verified during medical imaging and radiation treatment. Therefore, the aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that the correlation of respiratory motion between surrogates and tumors is the same under free breathing without guidance (FB) and with AV biofeedback guidance for voluntary motion management.
Methods
For 13 lung cancer patients receiving radiotherapy, 2D coronal and sagittal cine‐MR images were acquired across two MRI sessions (pre‐ and mid‐treatment) with two breathing conditions: (a) FB and (b) AV biofeedback, totaling 88 patient measurements. Simultaneously, the external respiratory motion of the abdomen was measured. The internal respiratory motion of the diaphragm and lung tumor was retrospectively measured from 2D coronal and sagittal cine‐MR images. The correlation of respiratory motion between surrogates and tumors was calculated using Pearson's correlation coefficient for: (a) abdomen to tumor (abdomen‐tumor) and (b) diaphragm to tumor (diaphragm‐tumor). The correlations were compared between FB and AV biofeedback using several metrics: abdomen‐tumor and diaphragm‐tumor correlations with/without ≥5 mm tumor motion range and with/without adjusting for phase shifts between the signals.
Results
Compared to FB, AV biofeedback improved abdomen‐tumor correlation by 11% (p = 0.12) from 0.53 to 0.59 and diaphragm‐tumor correlation by 13% (p = 0.02) from 0.55 to 0.62. Compared to FB, AV biofeedback improved abdomen‐tumor correlation by 17% (p = 0.01) and diaphragm‐tumor correlation by 15% (p < 0.01) while correcting 0.3 s (p = 0.54) and 0.2 s (p = 0.19) phase shifts, respectively. In addition, AV biofeedback with ≥5 mm tumor motion range, compared to FB improved abdomen‐tumor correlation by 14% (p = 0.18) and diaphragm‐tumor correlation by 17% (p = 0.01). The highest abdomen‐tumor and diaphragm‐tumor correlations were found using ≥5 mm tumor motion range and phase shifts, resulting in a 12% improvement in AV biofeedback.
Conclusions
Our results demonstrated that AV biofeedback improves the correlation of respiratory motion between surrogates and the tumor. This suggests a need for AV biofeedback for respiratory guidance utilizing respiratory surrogates during image‐guided and MRI‐guided radiotherapy in thoracic regions.
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