Congruent Long-Term Declines in Carbon and Biodiversity Are a Signature of Forest Degradation.

Recent global policy initiatives aimed at reducing forest degradation require practical definitions of degradation that are readily monitored. However, consistent approaches for monitoring forest degradation over the long term and at broad scales are lacking. We quantified the long-term effects of intensive wood harvest on above-ground carbon and biodiversity at fine resolutions (30 m) and broad scales (New Brunswick, Canada; 72,908 km).

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 1 forest biomass estimates from Earth Observation.

Aboveground biomass density (AGBD) estimates from Earth Observation (EO) can be presented with the consistency standards mandated by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This article delivers AGBD estimates, in the format of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 1 values for natural forests, sourced from National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) and Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat-2), and European Space Agency's (ESA's) Climate Change Initiative (CCI). It also provides the underlying classification used by the IPCC as geospatial layers, delineating global forests by ecozones, continents and status (primary, young (≤20 years) and old secondary (>20 years)).

Using large language models for safety-related table summarization in clinical study reports.

Objectives: The generation of structured documents for clinical trials is a promising application of large language models (LLMs). We share opportunities, insights, and challenges from a competitive challenge that used LLMs for automating clinical trial documentation.

Materials And Methods: As part of a challenge initiated by Pfizer (organizer), several teams (participant) created a pilot for generating summaries of safety tables for clinical study reports (CSRs).

PRO-FIT-CARE study: the feasibility assessment of a pilot online exercise intervention for persons living with obesity and female infertility.

Introduction: Moderate-to-high physical activity participation is associated with a reduced risk of infertility. Yet, exercise interventions that target cardiorespiratory fitness, independent of weight loss, are lacking in obesity and female fertility research.

Purpose: The primary objective of the PRO-FIT-CARE (PROmoting FITness for CArdiometabolic & REproductive Health) study was to assess the feasibility of a moderate-to-high-intensity online exercise program for persons with obesity and female infertility.

Three-phase hierarchical model-based and hybrid inference.

Global commitments to mitigating climate change and halting biodiversity loss require reliable information about Earth's ecosystems. Increasingly, such information is obtained from multiple sources of remotely sensed data combined with data acquired in the field. This new wealth of data poses challenges regarding the combination of different data sources to derive the required information and assess uncertainties.

Inequitable treatment as perceived by international medical graduates (IMGs): a scoping review.

Objectives: This scoping review seeks to detail experiences of inequitable treatment, as self-reported by international medical graduates (IMGs), across time and location.

Design: Scoping review.

Search Strategy: Three academic medical databases (MEDLINE, SCOPUS and PSYCINFO) and grey literature (GOOGLE SCHOLAR) were systematically searched for studies reporting first-hand IMG experiences of perceived inequitable treatment in the workplace: discrimination, prejudice or bias.

Spatial heterogeneity of global forest aboveground carbon stocks and fluxes constrained by spaceborne lidar data and mechanistic modeling.

Forest carbon is a large and uncertain component of the global carbon cycle. An important source of complexity is the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation vertical structure and extent, which results from variations in climate, soils, and disturbances and influences both contemporary carbon stocks and fluxes. Recent advances in remote sensing and ecosystem modeling have the potential to significantly improve the characterization of vegetation structure and its resulting influence on carbon.

Lessons learnt from pandemic research with refugee communities.

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people are subject to many inequities worldwide, and research is no exception. We report lessons learnt as researchers conducting a qualitative study during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic involving participants of refugee backgrounds. We found that despite the best intentions of the research team, a variety of factors in methodology and data collection presented unexpected barriers for our studied population.

The role of leadership among a Congolese community in Australia in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative study.

Objective: Community leadership enhances collective action in times of uncertainty, such as during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study explores the role of leadership related to the COVID-19 response and information sharing among a newly emerging Congolese community in the Hunter New England region of Australia.

Methods: Semi-structured qualitative inquiry was used to interview four participants who were identified as being influential leaders of the local Congolese community.

Factors contributing to the sharing of COVID-19 health information amongst refugee communities in a regional area of Australia: a qualitative study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups worldwide. Newly emerging CALD populations formed by recently arrived refugees are predisposed to even greater health disadvantages due to complexities of the refugee experience. The aim of this study was to explore how culture, refugee experiences and existing relationships shaped what COVID-19 messages were listened to and shared during the early-mid phases of the pandemic.

Identifying domestic violence and sexual assault presentations at a regional Australian hospital emergency department: Comparative analysis of domestic violence and sexual assault cases.

Objective: To map the main characteristics of and differences between domestic violence and sexual assault cases presenting to a hospital emergency department in Australia.

Methods: This retrospective observational cross-sectional study presents a snapshot of domestic violence and sexual assault cases presenting to the emergency department of a regional tertiary Australian hospital between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2018. Data were extracted from the health district electronic information system for all eligible females.

Heavy Smoking Patients Receiving a Lung Cancer Screen Want to Quit: A Call for Tailored Cessation Interventions.

Background: Lung cancer screening for current or former heavy smokers is now recommended among all asymptomatic adults 50-80 years old with a 20 pack-year history of smoking. However, little is known about the smoking-related attitudes of this population.

Method: An assessment was conducted among 1,472 current smokers who presented for an annual lung cancer screen at one of 12 diagnostic imaging sites in Rhode Island between April 2019 and May 2020.

Culturally and linguistically diverse voices and views in COVID-19 pandemic plans and policies.

Objective: This paper presents a rapid assessment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic plans and explores the representation of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in such plans. Four levels of pandemic plans were reviewed: regional, state, national and international.

Methods: Discussions with representatives from four CALD communities informed the development of search and selection criteria for the COVID-19 plans, which were gathered and assessed using a CALD lens.

Linking robust spatiotemporal datasets to assess and monitor habitat attributes of a threatened species.

Accessibility of multispectral, multitemporal imagery combined with recent advances in cloud computing and machine learning approaches have enhanced our ability to model habitat characteristics across broad spatial and temporal scales. We integrated a large dataset of known nest and roost sites of a threatened species, the Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida), in the southwestern USA with Landsat imagery processed using the Continuous Change Detection and Classification (CCDC) time series algorithm on Google Earth Engine. We then used maximum entropy modeling (Maxent) to classify the landscape into four 'spectral similarity' classes that reflected the degree to which 30-m pixels contained a multispectral signature similar to that found at known owl nest/roost sites and mapped spectral similarity classes from 1986-2020.

Ezidi voices: The communication of COVID-19 information amongst a refugee community in rural Australia- a qualitative study.

Background: There is growing evidence that government health information related to COVID-19 has failed to adequately reach culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations in Australia. Refugees are a unique sub-set of the CALD communities and are subject to numerous barriers preventing adequate health care, both pre- and post-migration. The barriers are accentuated during emergencies, such as a pandemic, as a result of an intersection of various social and economic inequalities.

Initial rhythm control with cryoballoon ablation vs drug therapy: Impact on quality of life and symptoms.

Background: Cryoballoon ablation (CBA) as a first-line rhythm control strategy is superior to antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) for preventing atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence; the impact of first-line CBA on quality of life (QoL) and symptoms has not been well characterized.

Methods: Patients aged 18 to 75 with symptomatic paroxysmal AF naïve to rhythm control therapy were randomized (1:1) to CBA (Arctic Front Advance, Medtronic) or AAD (Class I or III). Symptoms and QoL were assessed at baseline, 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months using the EHRA classification and Atrial Fibrillation Effect on QualiTy-of-Life (AFEQT) and SF-36v2 questionnaires.

Management of parapharyngeal space cavernous sinus haemangioma using transoral robotic surgery.

Cavernous haemangiomas are a very rare occurrence in the parapharyngeal space (PPS). Here, we present a case of a 58-year-old woman with an incidentally identified left PPS mass thought to be a pleomorphic adenoma that underwent excision by transoral robotic surgery (TORS). Intraoperative findings demonstrated no solid mass present and histological assessment of resected tissue confirmed a cavernous haemangioma.

Cryoballoon ablation vs. antiarrhythmic drugs: first-line therapy for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Aims: Treatment guidelines for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) suggest that patients should be managed with an antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) before undergoing catheter ablation (CA). This study evaluated whether pulmonary vein isolation employing cryoballoon CA is superior to AAD therapy for the prevention of atrial arrhythmia (AA) recurrence in rhythm control naive patients with paroxysmal AF (PAF).

Methods And Results: A total of 218 treatment naive patients with symptomatic PAF were randomized (1 : 1) to cryoballoon CA (Arctic Front Advance, Medtronic) or AAD (Class I or III) and followed for 12 months.

First report of paracoccidioidomycosis reactivation as a complication of immunosuppressive therapy for acute severe colitis in a caving enthusiast.

Treatment for ulcerative colitis often requires the administration of immunosuppressive therapy. Shortly after rescue therapy with infliximab for acute severe colitis, a patient who was also taking corticosteroids, azathioprine and adalimumab became rapidly unwell with atypical pneumonia, which did not respond to conventional antimicrobials. Re-examining the travel history revealed a prior caving trip to Costa Rica.

Position Statement on the Management of Cardiac Electrophysiology and Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices in Australia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Living Document.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant stress on health resources in Australia. The Heart Rhythm Council of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand aims to provide a framework for efficient resource utilisation balanced with competing risks when appropriately treating patients with cardiac arrhythmias. This document provides practical recommendations for the electrophysiology (EP) and cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) services in Australia.

Cryoballoon catheter ablation versus antiarrhythmic drugs as a first-line therapy for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: Rationale and design of the international Cryo-FIRST study.

Background: Radiofrequency current (RFC) catheter ablation for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) has been shown to be safe and effective in first-line therapy. Recent data demonstrates that RFC ablation provides better clinical outcomes compared to antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) in the treatment of early AF disease. Furthermore, studies comparing RFC and cryoballoon have established comparable efficacy and safety of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for patients with symptomatic paroxysmal AF.

Assessing the Effects of Fire Disturbances and Timber Management on Carbon Storage in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Accurate characterization of Carbon (C) consequences of forest disturbances and management is critical for informed climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. While research into generalized properties of the forest C cycle informs policy and provides abstract guidance to managers, most management occurs at local scales and relies upon monitoring systems that can consistently provide C cycle assessments that explicitly apply to a defined time and place. We used an inventory-based forest monitoring and simulation tool to quantify C storage effects of actual fires, timber harvests, and forest regeneration conditions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE).