We report large-scale estimates of Amazonian gap dynamics using a novel approach with large datasets of airborne light detection and ranging (lidar), including five multi-temporal and 610 single-date ...lidar datasets. Specifically, we (1) compared the fixed height and relative height methods for gap delineation and established a relationship between static and dynamic gaps (newly created gaps); (2) explored potential environmental/climate drivers explaining gap occurrence using generalized linear models; and (3) cross-related our findings to mortality estimates from 181 field plots. Our findings suggest that static gaps are significantly correlated to dynamic gaps and can inform about structural changes in the forest canopy. Moreover, the relative height outperformed the fixed height method for gap delineation. Well-defined and consistent spatial patterns of dynamic gaps were found over the Amazon, while also revealing the dynamics of areas never sampled in the field. The predominant pattern indicates 20-35% higher gap dynamics at the west and southeast than at the central-east and north. These estimates were notably consistent with field mortality patterns, but they showed 60% lower magnitude likely due to the predominant detection of the broken/uprooted mode of death. While topographic predictors did not explain gap occurrence, the water deficit, soil fertility, forest flooding and degradation were key drivers of gap variability at the regional scale. These findings highlight the importance of lidar in providing opportunities for large-scale gap dynamics and tree mortality monitoring over the Amazon.
The enumeration of EpCAM-positive circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has allowed estimation of overall metastatic burden in breast cancer patients. However, a thorough understanding of CTCs associated ...with breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) is necessary for early identification and evaluation of treatment response to BCBM. Here we report that BCBM CTCs is enriched in a distinct sub-population of cells identifiable by their biomarker expression and mutational content. Deriving from a comprehensive analysis of CTC transcriptomes, we discovered a unique "circulating tumor cell gene signature" that is distinct from primary breast cancer tissues. Further dissection of the circulating tumor cell gene signature identified signaling pathways associated with BCBM CTCs that may have roles in potentiating BCBM. This study proposes CTC biomarkers and signaling pathways implicated in BCBM that may be used either as a screening tool for brain micro-metastasis detection or for making rational treatment decisions and monitoring therapeutic response in patients with BCBM.Characterization of CTCs derived from breast cancer patients with brain metastasis (BCBM) may allow for early diagnosis of brain metastasis and/or help for treatment choice and its efficacy. In this study, the authors identify a unique signature, based on patient-derived CTCs transcriptomes, for BCBM- CTCs that is different from primary tumors.
BACKGROUND:There is interest in assessing health care utilization and expenditures among new Medicaid enrollees after the 2014 Medicaid expansion. Recent studies have not differentiated between newly ...enrolled individuals and those returning after coverage gaps.
OBJECTIVES:To assess health care expenditures among Medicaid enrollees in the 24 months after Oregon’s 2014 Medicaid expansions and examine whether expenditure patterns were different among the newly, returning, and continuously insured (CI).
RESEARCH DESIGN:Retrospective cohort study using inverse-propensity weights to adjust for differences between groups.
SUBJECTS:Oregon adult Medicaid beneficiaries insured continuously from 2014 to 2015 who were either newly, returning, or CI.
MEASURES:Monthly expenditures for inpatient care, prescription drugs, total outpatient care, and subdivisions of outpatient careemergency department, dental, mental and behavioral health, primary care, and specialist care.
RESULTS:After initial increases, newly and returning insured (RI) outpatient expenditures dropped below CI. Expenditures for emergency department and dental services among the RI remained higher than among the newly insured. Newly insured mental and behavioral health, primary care, and specialist expenditures plateaued higher than RI. Prescription drug expenditures increased over time for all groups, with CI highest and RI lowest. All groups had similar inpatient expenditures over 24 months post-Medicaid expansion.
CONCLUSIONS:Our findings reveal that outpatient expenditures for new nonpregnant, non–dual-eligible Oregon Medicaid recipients stabilized over time after meeting pent-up demand, and prior insurance history affected the mix of services that individuals received. Policy evaluations should consider expenditures over at least 24 months and should account for enrollees’ prior insurance histories.
Context
Despite increasing evidence that landscape composition and configuration strongly influence the community structure of potential pest-regulators, landscape structure has seldom been ...explicitly linked with the rate and magnitude of pest-control services.
Objectives and methods
We conducted a systematic literature review evaluating 158 relevant studies to: (1) characterize our existing understanding of the empirical relationships between landscape structure and avian-mediated insect pest control services in agricultural systems, (2) identify gaps in our current understanding, and (3) develop a conceptual model of landscape structural influences on avian-mediated pest control.
Results and discussion
We found on-farm pest suppression by birds was often higher in landscapes with higher native habitat cover, higher compositional heterogeneity, and in agricultural patches in closer proximity to native habitats. We identified more than 200 bird species that provide pest control services across both temperate and tropical regions. While most avian predators are habitat-generalist species, a substantial fraction of pest control services in tropical regions was mediated by habitat-dependent species, suggesting a link between conservation management and maintenance of pest control services. We identified a three-part research agenda for future investigations of the relationships between landscape structure and avian-mediated pest control, focusing on an improved understanding of mechanisms related to: (1) predator–prey interactions and landscape modulation of trophic relationships, (2) bird dispersal ability and landscape connectivity, and (3) cross-habitat spillover of habitat-dependent avian predators.
Implications
These findings can be applied to efforts to manage and design landscapes capable of supporting both biodiversity and ecosystem services.
We review the present observational knowledge on the spatial distribution and the physical state of the different (molecular, atomic and ionized) components of the interstellar gas in the innermost ...3 kpc of our Galaxy – a region which we refer to as the interstellar Galactic bulge, to distinguish it from its stellar counterpart. We try to interpret the observations in the framework of recent dynamical models of interstellar gas flows in the gravitational potential of a barred galaxy. Finally, relying on both the relevant observations and their theoretical interpretation, we propose a model for the space-averaged density of each component of the interstellar gas in the interstellar Galactic bulge.
Aims. We determine the metallicities of globular clusters (GCs) in the WLM and IKN dwarf galaxies, using VLT/UVES and Keck/ESI spectroscopy. These measurements are combined with literature data for ...field stars to constrain GC formation scenarios. For the WLM GC, we also measure detailed abundance ratios for a number of light, α, Fe-peak, and n-capture elements, which are compared with literature data for the Fornax dSph and the Milky Way. Methods. The abundances are derived by computing synthetic integrated-light model spectra and adjusting the input composition until the best fits to the observed spectra are obtained. Results. We find low metallicities of Fe/H = −2.0 and −2.1 for the WLM GC and the GC IKN-5, respectively. We estimate that 17%–31% of the stars with Fe/H ≤ −2 in WLM belong to the GC, and IKN-5 may even contain a similar number of metal-poor stars as the whole of the IKN dwarf itself. While these fractions are much higher than in the Milky Way halo, we have previously found a similarly high ratio of metal-poor GCs to field stars in the Fornax dSph. The overall abundance patterns in the WLM GC are similar to those observed for GCs in the Fornax dSph: the Ca/Fe and Ti/Fe ratios are super-Solar at about +0.3 dex, while Mg/Fe is less elevated than Ca/Fe and Ti/Fe. The Na/Fe ratio is similar to the averaged Na/Fe ratios in Milky Way GCs, but higher (by ~2σ) than those of Milky Way halo stars. Iron-peak (Mn, Sc, Cr) and heavy elements (Ba, Y, La) generally follow the trends seen in the Milky Way halo. Conclusions. The GCs in the WLM and IKN dwarf galaxies resemble those in the Fornax dSph by being significantly more metal-poor than a typical halo GC in the Milky Way and other large galaxies. They are also substantially more metal-poor than the bulk of the field stars in their parent galaxies. It appears that only a small fraction of the Milky Way GC system could have been accreted from galaxies similar to these dwarfs. The relatively high Na abundance in the WLM GC suggests that the Na/O anti-correlation is present in this cluster, while the high ratios of metal-poor GCs to field stars in the dwarfs are in tension with GC formation scenarios that require GCs to have lost a very large fraction of their initial mass.
The (photo)electrochemical N2 reduction reaction (NRR) provides a favorable avenue for the production of NH3 using renewable energy in mild operating conditions. Understanding and building an ...efficient catalyst with high NH3 selectivity represents an area of intense interest for the early stages of development for NRR. Herein, we introduce a CoOx layer to tune the local electronic structure of Au nanoparticles with positive valence sites for boosting conversion of N2 to NH3. The catalysts, possessing high average oxidation states (ca. 40 %), achieve a high NH3 yield rate of 15.1 μg cm−2 h−1 and a good faradic efficiency of 19 % at −0.5 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Experimental results and simulations reveal that the ability to tune the oxidation state of Au enables the control of N2 adsorption and the concomitant energy barrier of NRR. Altering the Au oxidation state provides a unique strategy for control of NRR in the production of valuable NH3.
The fix is N: Tuning the local electronic structure of Au nanoparticles with positive valence sites can boost conversion of N2 to NH3 by controlling N2 adsorption and the concomitant energy barrier of NRR. The introduction of a metal with local electronic structure can offer a new direction for the fabrication of highly efficient catalysts for the N2 reduction reaction (NRR).
Anthropogenic increases in temperature and nutrient loads will likely impact food web structure and stability. Although their independent effects have been reasonably well studied, their joint ...effects-particularly on coupled ecological and phenotypic dynamics-remain poorly understood. Here we experimentally manipulated temperature and nutrient levels in microbial food webs and used time-series analysis to quantify the strength of reciprocal effects between ecological and phenotypic dynamics across trophic levels. We found that (1) joint-often interactive-effects of temperature and nutrients on ecological dynamics are more common at higher trophic levels, (2) temperature and nutrients interact to shift the relative strength of top-down versus bottom-up control, and (3) rapid phenotypic change mediates observed ecological responses to changes in temperature and nutrients. Our results uncover how feedback between ecological and phenotypic dynamics mediate food web responses to environmental change. This suggests important but previously unknown ways that temperature and nutrients might jointly control the rapid eco-phenotypic feedback that determine food web dynamics in a changing world.
Compact composite process analytical technology (PAT) probes have been identified as a priority to alleviate space constraints in milliliter-scale crystallizers to mitigate their impact on ...hydrodynamics. Real-time monitoring of the liquid and solid phases in crystallization processes is vital to ensure the critical quality attributes of the crystallized material, including consistently obtaining the solid form. In this proof-of-principle study, a compact composite sensor array (CCSA, 380 × 30 mm housing length × diameter, 7 mm probe head diameter that combines ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) features at four different wavelengths (280, 340, 600, and 860 nm) as well as temperature measuring capabilities was evaluated. Flufenamic acid (FFA), a polymorphic compound with an enantiotropic relationship between its forms I and III, was used as the model API. The results indicate that the CCSA similarly to an established Raman spectrometer monitors the significant inflection points (timestamps) for three batch cooling crystallization processes: (1) spontaneous nucleation, (2) seeded, and (3) solvent-mediated polymorphic phase transformation (SMPT). Ultimately, the data presented in this study prove that the CCSA might be used as a cost-effective process analyzer to routinely monitor qualitatively crystallization processes while addressing the need for compact PATs suitable for small-scale set-ups.
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