Mating systems and patterns in reproductive success of fishes play an important role in ecology and evolution. While information on the reproductive ecology of many anadromous salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) is well-detailed, there is less information for non-anadromous species including the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (O. clarkii bouvieri), a species of recreational angling importance and conservation concern. Here, we used data from a parentage-based tagging study to describe the mating system of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout from a spawning tributary of the South Fork Snake River, Idaho, and identify predictors of relative reproductive success. We detected evidence of monogamy, polygyny, and polyandry and showed that reproductive success was best explained by arrival time at the spawning ground and total length. Specifically, the largest adults arrived earliest in the season and produced a disproportionate number of offspring. Lastly, we estimated the effective number of breeders (Nb) and effective population size (Ne) and showed that while Nb was lower than Ne, both are sufficiently high to suggest Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout in Burns Creek represent a genetically stable and diverse population.

Background: Catheter ablation is highly effective for AVNRT. Generally junctional rhythm(JR) is an accepted requirement for successful ablation however there is a lack of detailed prospective studies to determine the characteristics of JR and the impact on slow pathway conduction. Methods: Multicentre prospective observational study evaluating the impact of individual radiofrequency(RF) applications in typical AVNRT(Slow/Fast). Characteristics of JR during ablation were documented and detailed testing was performed after every RF application to determine outcome. Procedural success was defined as ≤1 AV nodal echo. Results: Sixty-seven patients were included(mean age 53±18years, 57% female and a history of SVT 2.9±4.7years). RF(50w,60degrees) ablation for AVNRT was applied in 301 locations with JR in 178(59%). Successful slow pathway modification was achieved in 66(99%) patients with slow pathway block in 30(46%). Success was associated with JR in all patients. Success was achieved in 6 patients with RF<10 seconds. There was no significant difference in the CL of JR during RF between effective(587±150ms) vs ineffective (611±193ms,p=0.4) applications. Inadvertent JA-block with immediate termination of RF was observed in 19(28%) patients with AVNRT no longer inducible in 14(74%). Freedom from SVT was achieved in 66(99%) patients at a mean follow up of 15±6 months. Conclusion: In this prospective study, JR was required during RF for acute success in AVNRT. Cycle length of JR during RF was not predictive of success. Unintended JA block during faster JR was associated with slow pathway block. RF applications as short as 10s resulting in junctional rhythm may be successful in some patients.

Research in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) plays a key role in understanding and intervening in our current environmental and climate crisis. Although anthropogenic stressors and climate change continue to disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) individuals, their valuable scientific voices are shockingly underrepresented within EEB. To underscore this problem, we present a case study on EEB PhD graduates in the US (1994-2018), which illustrates that BIPOC scholars are significantly underrepresented in their cohorts. We recommend key steps that the EEB Academy should take to increase representation of BIPOC scholars in EEB, including anti-racism education and practice, increased funding opportunities, integration of diverse cultural perspectives, and a community-minded shift in PhDs. Importantly, this advice is directed at those who wield power in the Academy (e.g., funding agencies, societies, institutions, departments, and faculty), rather than BIPOC scholars already struggling against inequitable frameworks in EEB.

4-(2-Methoxyethyl) phenol (MEP) is an significant methoxypheolic compound, which has been shown to play an important role in the formation of secondary organic aerosols(SOA). The present work focuses on the gas-phase oxidation mechanism and kinetics of MEP and OH radical by the density functional theory (DFT). Energetically favourable reaction channels and feasible products were identified. The initial reactions of MEP with OH radical have two different channels: OH addition and H abstraction. Subsequent reaction schemes of main intermediates in the presence of O2 and NOx are investigated using quantum chemical methods at M06-2X/6-311++G(3df,2p)//M06-2X/6-311+G(d,p) level. Ketene, Phenyldiketones and nitrophenol compounds are demonstrated to be possible oxidation products. The total rate constant(1.69×10-11 cm3 molecule-1 s-1) and individual rate constant are calculated using the traditional transition state (TST) theory at 298K and 1atm. The lifetime of MEP is estimated to be 16.4 hours, which provides a comprehensive explanation for atmospheric oxidation pathway of MEP and shows MEP would be removed by OH radical in the atmosphere.

The present work is intended to bring to the forefront a relatively less explored area of N-Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) catalyzed alkyne hydro- thiolation and selenation reactions. The present work can be regarded as the first ever computational investigation on the catalytic activity of the NHC catalyzed hydro- thiolation and selenation reactions by exploring the reaction mechanism. Reaction mechanism involves chalcogenol activation followed by alkyne insertion and the second step is found to be the rate determining step. A comparison with the reported uncatalyzed gas phase reaction showed that a simple imidazol-2-ylidene catalyst can lower the free energy barrier by 19.62 and 14.63 kcal/mol respectively for acetylene hydro- thiolation and selenation reaction. All the employed NHCs are proved to be better catalyst for both hydrothiolation and hydroselenation. Effects of factors such as changing the heterocycle, increasing the conjugation, ring expansion and electronic/steric substitution were also investigated. Effect of solvent polarity on the reaction energetics and selectivity has also been analyzed employing THF, DMSO and MeOH as the solvents.

Aquatic vegetation, hydraulics and sediment transport have complex interactions that are not yet well understood. These interactions are important for sediment conveyance, sediment sequestration, phasing of sediment delivery from runoff events, and management of ecosystem health in lowland streams. To address this knowledge gap detailed field measurements of sediment transport through natural flexible aquatic vegetation are required to supplement and validate laboratory results. This paper contributes a field study of suspended sediment transport through aquatic vegetation and includes mechanical removal of aquatic vegetation with a weed cutting boat. It also provides methods to quantify vegetation cover through remote sensing with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and estimate biomass from ground truth sampling. Suspended sediment concentrations were highly dependent on aquatic vegetation abundance, and the distance upstream that had been cleared of aquatic vegetation. When the study reach was fully vegetated (i.e. cover >80%), the maximum recorded SSC was 14.6 g/m3 (during a fresh with discharge of 2.47 m3/s), during weed cutting operations SSC was 76.8 g/m3 at 0.84 m3/s (weedcutting boat 0.5-1 km upstream from study reach), however following weed cutting operations (4.6 km cleared upstream), SSC was 139.0 g/m3 at a discharge of 1.52 m3/s. The data indicates that fine sediment was being sequestered by aquatic vegetation and likely remobilised after vegetation removal. Investigation of suspended sediment spatial dynamics illustrated changes in particle size distribution due to preferential settling of coarse particles within aquatic vegetation. Hydraulic resistance in the study reach (parameterized by Manning’s n) dropped by over 70% following vegetation cutting. Prior to cutting hydraulic resistance was discharge dependent, while post cutting hydraulic resistance was approximately invariant of discharge. Aerial surveying captured interesting changes in aquatic vegetation cover, where some very dense regions of aquatic vegetation were naturally removed leaving behind unvegetated riverbed and fine sediment.

Background: Periostin has emerged as a novel biomarker in the pathogenesis of T helper 2-type allergic diseases in the last years. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of serum periostin levels with clinical features in children with asthma. Methods: Children with physician-diagnosed asthma who attended regularly to an outpatient pediatric allergy and asthma center were enrolled in the study along with control subjects. Asthma severity and control status of the patients were evaluated according to recent GINA guidelines. Results: A total of 158 children (125 with asthma and 33 age and sex-matched control subjects) with a median age of 10.2 years (range 5.9-17.0) were enrolled. Asthma severity was mild in 41 (32.8%), moderate in 63 (50.4%) and severe in 21 (16.8%) children. Children with asthma had significantly higher periostin levels than controls (53.1 ± 13.1 vs 43.0 ± 11.2 ng/mL; p < 0.001). The mean serum periostin levels of children with severe asthma (63.8 ± 10.8) were significantly higher than in children with moderate asthma (53.3 ± 12.7) and mild asthma (47.4 ± 11.1) (p < 0.001). Serum periostin levels were found to be significantly correlated with asthma severity (Spearman’s rho [r]=0.41, p < 0.001). Results of multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated an association between serum periostin levels and asthma severity in children (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04-1.15; p <0.001) Conclusion: Serum periostin levels may serve clinicians in identifying children with severe asthma.

The main object of the present paper is to consider the binomial transforms for Horadam quaternion sequences. We gave new formulas for recurrence relation, generating function, Binet formula and some basic identities for the binomial sequence of Horadam quaternions. Working with Horadam quaternions, we have found the most general formula that includes all binomial transforms with recurrence relation from the second order. In the last part, we determined the recurrence relation for this new type of quaternion by working with the iterated binomial transform, which is a dierent type of binomial transform.

African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is a highly contagious pathogen causing disease in pigs, commonly characterised by acute haemorrhagic fever. Prior to August 2018, African Swine Fever (ASF) had not been reported in Asia, but has since spread throughout China, Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea. Using data collated from reports of confirmed cases, we applied spatio-temporal analysis to describe ASFV spread throughout Asia, from 1 August 2018 (reported start date) to 31 December 2019. Analysis revealed a propagating epidemic of ASFV throughout Asia, with peaks corresponding to increased reports from China, Vietnam and Laos. Two clusters of reported outbreaks were found. During the epidemic, ASFV primarily spread from the North-East to the South-East: a larger, secondary cluster in the North-East represented earlier reports, whilst the smaller, primary cluster in the South-East was characterised by later reports. Significant differences in country-specific epidemics, morbidity, mortality and unit types were discovered, likely attributable to differences in prevention, surveillance and control measures. The initial number of outbreaks and enterprise size are likely predictors of the speed of spread and the effectiveness of ASFV stamping out procedures. Biosecurity methods, wild boar populations and the transportation of pigs and movement of infected fomites are discussed as likely risk factors for facilitating ASFV spread across Asia.

Monitoring following catheter or surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is an essential tool used to assess outcomes for research purposes and help guide clinical decision making. The most commonly used methods to monitor for post-intervention AF include a variety of ambulatory external electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors, cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED), and more recently, direct to consumer digital health technologies. The traditional metric of ablation success, recurrence > 30 seconds at 1 year, is below the detection capabilities of almost all monitoring techniques yet still undervalues the efficacy of AF interventions. Measures of AF burden reduction and duration give a more complete assessment of the impact of AF surgeries and ablation. As it is increasingly being recognized that AF burden and duration is related to stroke risk, long-term, inexpensive, non-invasive monitoring methods are needed. Smart phones and watches with AF-detecting capabilities, which are increasingly being used by the majority of US adults, have emerged as viable options to achieve this goal, shifting the paradigm of AF monitoring to a more patient centered approach.

Esophageal injury still occurs with high frequency during ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). The purpose of this study is to provide a review of methods to protect the esophagus from injury during AF ablation. Despite advances in imaging and ablation, the potential risk of esophageal injury during AF ablation remains an important concern with a high occurrence of esophageal injury (≈15%). There have been numerous studies evaluating varied techniques for esophageal protection including active cooling and displacement of the esophagus. These techniques are reviewed in this manuscript as well as the role of esophageal protection in managing patients undergoing AF ablation procedure.

Peatlands are globally important long-term sinks of carbon, however there is concern that enhanced moss moisture stress due to climate change mediated drought will reduce moss productivity making these ecosystems vulnerable to carbon loss and associated long-term degradation. Peatlands are resilient to summer drought moss stress because of negative ecohydrological feedbacks that generally maintain a wet peat surface, but where feedbacks may be contingent on peat depth. We tested this ‘survival of the deepest’ hypothesis by examining water table position, near-surface moisture content, and soil water tension in peatlands that differ in size, peat depth, and catchment area during a summer drought. All shallow sites lost their WT (i.e. the groundwater well was dry) for considerable time during the drought period. Near-surface soil water tension increased dramatically at shallow sites following water table loss, increasing ~5–7.5× greater at shallow sites compared to deep sites. During a mid-summer drought intensive field survey we found that 60%–67% of plots at shallow sites exceeded a 100 mb tension threshold used to infer moss water stress. Unlike the shallow sites, tension typically did not exceed this 100 mb threshold at the deep sites. Using species dependent water content - chlorophyll fluorescence thresholds and relations between volumetric water content and water table depth, Monte Carlo simulations suggest that moss had nearly twice the likelihood of being stressed at shallow sites (0.38 ± 0.24) compared to deep sites (0.22 ± 0.18). This study provides evidence that mosses in shallow peatland may be particularly vulnerable to warmer and drier climates in the future, but where species composition may play an important role. We argue that a critical ‘threshold’ peat depth specific for different hydrogeological and hydroclimatic regions can be used to assess what peatlands are especially vulnerable to climate change mediated drought.

In the power distribution network, real power loss and voltage profile management are critical issues. By providing active and reactive power support, both of these issues can be managed. This paper utilized the Meta heuristic-based method for the optimal size and placement of distributed generation (DG) and capacitor (QG) sources for loss reduction by incorporating network current carrying capacity constraint in the optimization problem. The overall problem is optimized using an upgraded method of the fitness assignment and solution chasing based on the aggregate approach called Multi-objective Whale Optimization Algorithm (MWOA). Wind and solar photovoltaic sources are utilized as the distributed generation with their probabilistic outputs. The developed method is tested using two feeders of practical Bahir Dar Distribution Network, Ethiopia. The results of loss minimization and voltage profile management with MWOA are compared with multi-objective particle swam optimization (MPSO) with an equal number of iteration to show the superiority of the developed method.

Ultrasound guided venous access Is important to minimize pneumothorax and unnecessary incisions in patients undergoing device implant.

Introduction: The development of right atrial (RA) thrombus (RAT) is a known complication of central venous catheter insertion (CVC). Deeper insertion of CVC within the RA may increase the risk for RAT development versus those placed at the superior vena cava (SVC)-RA junction. We sought to evaluate the incidence of catheter-associated RAT as detected by transthoracic echocardiograms (TTEs), characterize thrombi though multimodal imaging, and evaluate thrombi management with follow-up imaging. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of consecutive TTEs from our institution between October 1, 2018, and January 1, 2020 in which a venous catheter was visualized in the RA. Studies were reviewed in detail to determine presence of suspected RAT. Demographic data, comorbidities, laboratory values, characteristics of the catheter and the thrombus, subsequent imaging and management, and outcomes were collected. Results: A total of 364 TTEs were performed in 290 patients with a venous catheter visualized in the RA. Of these 290 patients, 15 had an imaging suspicion for RAT yielding an incidence of 5.2%. Management strategies included anticoagulation in 13 (86.7%) patients and catheter removal in 11 (73.3%) patients. At eight months follow-up, 11 (73.3%) patients had resolution of RAT based on subsequent imaging. Conclusion: In patients with deeply placed CVC catheters, the incidental detection of RAT by TTE was not trivial. Anticoagulation and catheter removal and replacement, if deemed safe, were effective methods of thrombus management. RAT as a complication of CVCs must be accounted for when addressing factors that influence depth of CVC insertion.

This themed issue follows a meeting held at the Royal College of Physicians in London in November 2019 entitled “Avoiding harm from overprescribing: how to reduce waste and dependence on prescription drugs.” Here we summarize the existing challenges faced by healthcare professionals and attempt to present solutions to the expanding problem associated with a vast therapeutic arsenal and increasing medical complexity.

Multi-channel food webs are shaped by the ability of apex predators to link asymmetric energy flows in mesohabitats differing in productivity and community traits. While body size is a fundamental trait underlying life histories and demography, its implications for structuring multi-channel food webs are unexplored. To fill this gap, we develop a framework that links population responses to predation and resource availability to community-level patterns using a tri-trophic food web model with two populations of intermediate consumers and a size-selective top predator. We show that asymmetries in mesohabitat productivities and consumer body sizes drive food web structure, merging previously separate theory on apparent competition and emergent Allee effects (i.e., abrupt collapses of top predator populations). Our results yield theoretical support for empirically observed stability of asymmetric multi-channel food webs and discover three novel types of emergent Allee effects involving intermediate consumers, multiple populations or multiple alternative stable states.

Introduction: Prevalence of insomnia is higher in females and increases with higher age. Besides primary insomnia, comorbid sleep disorders are also common, accompanying different conditions. Considering the possible adverse effects of commonly used drugs to promote sleep, a nonpharmacologic approach should be preferred in most cases. Although generally considered first-line treatment, the nonpharmacologic approach is often underestimated by both patients and physicians. Objective: To provide primary care physicians an up-to-date approach to the nonpharmacologic treatment of insomnia. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched for relevant articles about the nonpharmacologic treatment of insomnia up to December 2020. We restricted our search only to articles written in English. Main Message: Most patients presenting with sleep disorder symptoms can be effectively managed in the primary care setting. Primary care physicians may use pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches, while the latter should be generally considered first-line treatment. A primary care physician may opt to refer the patient to a sleep medicine specialist for refractory cases. Conclusions: This paper provides an overview of current recommendations and up-to-date evidence for the nonpharmacologic treatment of insomnia. This article emphasizes the importance of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia, likewise, exercise and relaxation techniques. Complementary and alternative approaches are also covered.