Establishing peat-forming plant communities: A comparison of wetland reclamation methods in Alberta's oil sands region.

The Sandhill Wetland (SW) and Nikanotee Fen (NF) are two wetland research projects designed to test the viability of peatland reclamation in the Alberta oil sands post-mining landscape. To identify effective approaches for establishing peat-forming vegetation in reclaimed wetlands, we evaluated how plant introduction approaches and water level gradients influence species distribution, plant community development, and the establishment of bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover. Plant introduction approaches included seeding with a Carex aquatilis-dominated seed mix, planting C.

The effect of recombinant erythropoietin on long-term outcome after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury.

Purpose: Recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) administered for traumatic brain injury (TBI) may increase short-term survival, but the long-term effect is unknown.

Methods: We conducted a pre-planned long-term follow-up of patients in the multicentre erythropoietin in TBI trial (2010-2015). We invited survivors to follow-up and evaluated survival and functional outcome with the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) (categories 5-8 = good outcome), and secondly, with good outcome determined relative to baseline function (sliding scale).

The High-Elevation Peatlands of the Northern Andes, Colombia.

Andean peatlands are important carbon reservoirs for countries in the northern Andes and have a unique diversity. Peatland plant diversity is generally related to hydrology and water chemistry, and the response of the vegetation in tropical high-elevation peatlands to changes in elevation, climate, and disturbance is poorly understood. Here, we address the questions of what the main vegetation types of peat-forming vegetation in the northern Andes are, and how the different vegetation types are related to water chemistry and pH.

Distributions of baseline categorical variables were different from the expected distributions in randomized trials with integrity concerns.

Background And Objectives: Comparing observed and expected distributions of baseline continuous variables in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) can be used to assess publication integrity. We explored whether baseline categorical variables could also be used.

Methods: The observed and expected (binomial) distribution of all baseline categorical variables were compared in four sets of RCTs: two controls, and two with publication integrity concerns.

The roles and impacts of worldviews in the context of meditation-related challenges.

Previous research has shown that worldviews can serve as a coping response to periods of difficulty or struggle, and worldviews can also change on account of difficulty. This paper investigates the impacts worldviews have on the nature and trajectory of meditation-related challenges, as well as how worldviews change or are impacted by such challenges. The context of meditation-related challenges provided by data from the Varieties of Contemplative Experience research project offers a unique insight into the dynamics between worldviews and meditation.

Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs.

Background: Research on the adverse effects of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) has been sparse and hindered by methodological imprecision.

Methods: The 44-item Meditation Experiences Interview (MedEx-I) was used by an independent assessor to measure meditation-related side effects (MRSE) following three variants of an 8-week program of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy ( = 96). Each item was queried for occurrence, causal link to mindfulness meditation practice, duration, valence, and impact on functioning.

Fluid balance and outcome in critically ill patients with traumatic brain injury (CENTER-TBI and OzENTER-TBI): a prospective, multicentre, comparative effectiveness study.

Background: Fluid therapy-the administration of fluids to maintain adequate organ tissue perfusion and oxygenation-is essential in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with traumatic brain injury. We aimed to quantify the variability in fluid management policies in patients with traumatic brain injury and to study the effect of this variability on patients' outcomes.

Methods: We did a prospective, multicentre, comparative effectiveness study of two observational cohorts: CENTER-TBI in Europe and OzENTER-TBI in Australia.

A Post Hoc Analysis of Osmotherapy Use in the Erythropoietin in Traumatic Brain Injury Study-Associations With Acute Kidney Injury and Mortality.

Objectives: Mannitol and hypertonic saline are used to treat raised intracerebral pressure in patients with traumatic brain injury, but their possible effects on kidney function and mortality are unknown.

Design: A post hoc analysis of the erythropoietin trial in traumatic brain injury (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00987454) including daily data on mannitol and hypertonic saline use.

Participant withdrawals were unusually distributed in randomized trials with integrity concerns: a statistical investigation.

Objectives: Comparing observed and expected distributions of categorical outcome variables in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) has been previously used to assess publication integrity. We applied this technique to withdrawals from RCTs.

Study Design And Setting: We compared the observed distribution of withdrawals with the expected binomial distribution in six sets of RCTs: four control sets and two sets with concerns about their publication integrity.

Progress or Pathology? Differential Diagnosis and Intervention Criteria for Meditation-Related Challenges: Perspectives From Buddhist Meditation Teachers and Practitioners.

Studies in the psychology and phenomenology of religious experience have long acknowledged similarities with various forms of psychopathology. Consequently, it has been important for religious practitioners and mental health professionals to establish criteria by which religious, spiritual, or mystical experiences can be differentiated from psychopathological experiences. Many previous attempts at differential diagnosis have been based on limited textual accounts of mystical experience or on outdated theoretical studies of mysticism.

Short- and long-term responses of riparian cottonwoods (Populus spp.) to flow diversion: Analysis of tree-ring radial growth and stable carbon isotopes.

Long duration tree-ring records with annual precision allow for the reconstruction of past growing conditions. Investigations limited to the most common tree-ring proxy of ring width can be difficult to interpret, however, because radial growth is affected by multiple environmental processes. Furthermore, studies of living trees may miss important effects of drought on tree survival and forest changes.

EPO treatment does not alter acute serum profiles of GFAP and S100B after TBI: A brief report on the Australian EPO-TBI clinical trial.

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic and prognostic value of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S100B after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an Erythropoietin (EPO) clinical trial and examine whether EPO therapy reduces biomarker concentrations.

Materials And Methods: Forty-four patients with moderate-to-severe TBI were enrolled to a sub-study of the EPO-TBI trial. Patients were randomized to either Epoetin alfa 40,000 IU or 1 ml sodium chloride 0.

A new approach for hydrologic performance standards in wetland mitigation.

Wetland restoration performed as a requirement of compensatory mitigation does not always replace lost acreage or functions. Most new projects are required to identify performance standards to evaluate restoration outcomes. Current performance standards are primarily related to vegetation with little to no evaluation of wetland hydrologic regimes.

Changes in bone mineral density in women before critical illness: a matched control nested cohort study.

Unlabelled: The contribution of premorbid bone health to accelerated bone loss following critical illness is unknown. This study compared bone density in women before critical illness to women who did not become critically ill. Overall bone density was similar, although femoral neck bone mass increased immediately prior to critical illness.

Erythropoietin in traumatic brain injury associated acute kidney injury: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is poorly understood and it is unknown if it can be attenuated using erythropoietin (EPO).

Methods: Pre-planned analysis of patients included in the EPO-TBI (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00987454) trial who were randomized to weekly EPO (40 000 units) or placebo (0.

Irrigation canals are newly created streams of semi-arid agricultural regions.

The natural hydrologic processes that create and maintain the diversity of aquatic and riparian habitats along the World's streams and rivers have been profoundly altered by humans. Diversion of surface water to support production agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions has degraded ecosystems but also created potential habitat along and in canals specifically designed to transport water. The prevalence of canals and the immense amount of water used for agriculture have created these new artificial stream systems.

Permissive Hypercapnia, Alveolar Recruitment and Low Airway Pressure (PHARLAP): a protocol for a phase 2 trial in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving intervention that maintains gas exchange in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); however, it is associated with high mortality and it may augment, or even initiate, lung injury. An open lung ventilation strategy that combines alveolar recruitment manoeuvres with individually titrated positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and targeting lower tidal volumes, or driving pressures by a permissive approach to hypercapnia, may reduce the lung injury associated with mechanical ventilation. This protocol reports the rationale, study design and analysis plan of the Permissive Hypercapnia, Alveolar Recruitment and Low Airway Pressure (PHARLAP) trial.

Effect of age of red cells for transfusion on patient outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Longer storage duration of red blood cell (RBC) units prior to transfusion has been associated with worse outcomes in observational studies. We performed a systematic review, including recently published randomized trials, to determine if storage age of RBCs is associated with mortality, morbidity or adverse events in patients. Searches were performed up to 21 July 2017 in Medline (OvidSP), 20 July in EMBASE (OvidSP) and June 2017 in Cochrane Library.

Erythropoietin Does Not Alter Serum Profiles of Neuronal and Axonal Biomarkers After Traumatic Brain Injury: Findings From the Australian EPO-TBI Clinical Trial.

Objective: To determine profiles of serum ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 and phosphorylated neurofilament heavy-chain, examine whether erythropoietin administration reduce their concentrations, and whether biomarkers discriminate between erythropoietin and placebo treatment groups.

Design: Single-center, prospective observational study.

Setting: A sub-study of the erythropoietin-traumatic brain injury clinical trial, conducted at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.

The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists.

Buddhist-derived meditation practices are currently being employed as a popular form of health promotion. While meditation programs draw inspiration from Buddhist textual sources for the benefits of meditation, these sources also acknowledge a wide range of other effects beyond health-related outcomes. The Varieties of Contemplative Experience study investigates meditation-related experiences that are typically underreported, particularly experiences that are described as challenging, difficult, distressing, functionally impairing, and/or requiring additional support.

Vegetation response to invasive Tamarix control in southwestern U.S. rivers: a collaborative study including 416 sites.

Most studies assessing vegetation response following control of invasive Tamarix trees along southwestern U.S. rivers have been small in scale (e.