Assessing the effectiveness of a national protected area network for carnivore conservation.

Protected areas (PAs) are essential to prevent further biodiversity loss yet their effectiveness varies largely with governance and external threats. Although methodological advances have permitted assessments of PA effectiveness in mitigating deforestation, we still lack similar studies for the impact of PAs on wildlife populations. Here we use an innovative combination of matching methods and hurdle-mixed models with a large-scale and long-term dataset for Finland's large carnivore species.

Decline of the boreal willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) has been accelerated by more frequent snow-free springs.

Climate change has influenced a range of species across the globe. Yet, to state a noted decline in the abundance of a given species as a consequence of a specific environmental change, for instance, spatially explicit long-term data are a prerequisite. This study assessed the extent to which prolonged snow-free periods in autumn and spring have contributed to the decline of the willow grouse, the only forest grouse changing into a white winter plumage.

Large-scale spatial synchrony in red squirrel populations driven by a bottom-up effect.

Spatial synchrony between populations emerges from endogenous and exogenous processes, such as intra- and interspecific interactions and abiotic factors. Understanding factors contributing to synchronous population dynamics help to better understand what determines abundance of a species. This study focuses on spatial and temporal dynamics in the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) using snow-track data from Finland from 29 years.

Atrial fibrillation risk factor management with a plant-based diet: A review.

Atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia in the clinical setting affecting approximately 34 million individuals worldwide. The disease is associated with a significant burden of morbidity and mortality resulting from stroke, heart failure, and acute coronary syndrome. Atrial fibrillation is now a major public health problem with tremendous implications on the economy and the world's healthcare systems.

Oatmeal interventions in severe insulin resistance on the intensive care unit: A case report.

Objectives: To report on the potential effectiveness of hypocaloric, plant-based short-term dietary oatmeal interventions in the treatment of insulin resistance in critically ill patients on the intensive care unit.

Clinical Features And Outcome: A 67-year-old female with type 2 diabetes was admitted to our hospital with suspected pneumonia. The patient developed acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and was diagnosed with pneumogenic sepsis requiring invasive ventilation and an immediate transfer to our medical intensive care unit.

Deceleration capacity as a risk predictor in patients presenting to the emergency department with syncope: A prospective exploratory pilot study.

Syncope is a common cause for admission to the emergency department (ED). Due to limited clinical resources there is great interest in developing risk stratification tools that allow identifying patients with syncope who are at low risk and can be safely discharged. Deceleration capacity (DC) is a strong risk predictor in postinfarction and heart failure patients.

Guardian or threat: does golden eagle predation risk have cascading effects on forest grouse?

Previous studies on intraguild predation have mainly focused on within-class assemblages, even though avian top predators may also influence mammalian mesopredator prey. By using nation-wide long-term data from Finland, northern Europe, we examined the impacts of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) together with red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and pine martens (Martes martes) on forest-dwelling herbivores, black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) and hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia). We hypothesized that eagles may alleviate the overall predation pressure on grouse by imposing intraguild predation risk on mesopredators.

[A patient-expert in patient education. The story of practice].

The notion of patient-expert has existed in France since the years 2000 and has been used by patients' associations, notably the Association François Aupetit (AFA). Patrick Helle, who suffers from a chronic inflammatory disease, holds a degree in therapeutic education. He organizes and hosts workshops on this topic, alone or in cooperation with healthcare professionals at three public hospitals.

Avian top predator and the landscape of fear: responses of mammalian mesopredators to risk imposed by the golden eagle.

Top predators may induce extensive cascading effects on lower trophic levels, for example, through intraguild predation (IGP). The impacts of both mammalian and avian top predators on species of the same class have been extensively studied, but the effects of the latter upon mammalian mesopredators are not yet as well known. We examined the impact of the predation risk imposed by a large avian predator, the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos, L.

Predator-vole interactions in Northern Europe: the role of small mustelids revised.

The cyclic population dynamics of vole and predator communities is a key phenomenon in northern ecosystems, and it appears to be influenced by climate change. Reports of collapsing rodent cycles have attributed the changes to warmer winters, which weaken the interaction between voles and their specialist subnivean predators. Using population data collected throughout Finland during 1986-2011, we analyse the spatio-temporal variation in the interactions between populations of voles and specialist, generalist and avian predators, and investigate by simulations the roles of the different predators in the vole cycle.

Climatic, ecological and socioeconomic factors as predictors of Sindbis virus infections in Finland.

Mosquito-borne Sindbis virus (SINV) causes rash-arthritis syndrome in Finland. Major outbreaks with approximately 7-year cycles have caused substantial burden of illness. Forest dwelling grouse are suspected to be amplifying hosts, with the infection transmitted to humans by mosquito bites.

Coupling in goshawk and grouse population dynamics in Finland.

Different prey species can vary in their significance to a particular predator. In the simplest case, the total available density or biomass of a guild of several prey species might be most relevant to the predator, but behavioural and ecological traits of different prey species can alter the picture. We studied the population dynamics of a predator-prey setting in Finland by fitting first-order log-linear vector autoregressive models to long-term count data from active breeding sites of the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis; 1986-2009), and to three of its main prey species (1983-2010): hazel grouse (Bonasa bonasia), black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) and capercaillie (T.

Vulnerability of black grouse hens to goshawk predation: result of food supply or predation facilitation?

The plant cycle hypothesis says that poor-quality food affects both herbivorous voles (Microtinae spp.) and grouse (Tetraonidae spp.) in vole decline years, leading to increased foraging effort in female grouse and thus a higher risk of predation by the goshawk Accipiter gentilis.

Top predators, mesopredators and their prey: interference ecosystems along bioclimatic productivity gradients.

1. The Mesopredator Release Hypothesis (MRH) suggests that top predator suppression of mesopredators is a key ecosystem function with cascading impacts on herbivore prey, but it remains to be shown that this top-down cascade impacts the large-scale structure of ecosystems. 2.

Sindbis virus infection in resident birds, migratory birds, and humans, Finland.

Sindbis virus (SINV), a mosquito-borne virus that causes rash and arthritis, has been causing outbreaks in humans every seventh year in northern Europe. To gain a better understanding of SINV epidemiology in Finland, we searched for SINV antibodies in 621 resident grouse, whose population declines have coincided with human SINV outbreaks, and in 836 migratory birds. We used hemagglutination-inhibition and neutralization tests for the bird samples and enzyme immunoassays and hemagglutination-inhibition for the human samples.

No genetic evidence of sex-biased dispersal in a lekking bird, the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus).

Sex-biased dispersal is often connected to the mating behaviour of the species. Even if patterns of natal dispersal are reasonably well documented for monogamous birds, only a few data are available for polygynous and especially lekking species. We investigated the dispersal of the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) by examining sex-specific gene flow among the leks.

Predation as a landscape effect: the trading off by prey species between predation risks and protection benefits.

1. Predators impose costs on their prey but may also provide benefits such as protection against other (e.g.

Short- and long-term population dynamical consequences of asymmetric climate change in black grouse.

Temporal asymmetry in patterns of regional climate change may jeopardize the match between the proximate and ultimate cues of the timing of breeding. The consequences on short- and long-term population dynamics and trends as well as the underlying mechanisms are, however, often unknown. Using long-term data from Finland, we demonstrate that black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) have responded to spring warming by advancing both egg-laying and hatching.

Population genetic structure of male black grouse (Tetrao tetrix L.) in fragmented vs. continuous landscapes.

We investigated the association of habitat fragmentation with genetic structure of male black grouse Tetrao tetrix. Using 14 microsatellites, we compared the genetic differentiation of males among nine localities in continuous lowland habitats in Finland to the genetic differentiation among 14 localities in fragmented habitats in the Alps (France, Switzerland and Italy). In both areas, we found significant genetic differentiation.

Long-term results of a randomized trial comparing breast-conserving therapy with mastectomy: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer 10801 trial.

Background: Breast-conserving therapy (BCT) has been shown to be as effective as mastectomy in the treatment of tumors 2 cm or smaller. However, evidence of its efficacy, over the long term, in patients with tumors larger than 2 cm is limited. From May 1980 to May 1986, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer carried out a randomized, multicenter trial comparing BCT with modified radical mastectomy for patients with tumors up to 5 cm.

Value of estrogenic recruitment before chemotherapy: first randomized trial in primary breast cancer.

Purpose: Several preclinical studies showed that short-term pretreatment of breast cancer cells with estrogens can increase the antitumor efficacy of different cytotoxic drugs. Some early clinical studies in patients with advanced breast cancer did seem to support these findings. Therefore, the efficacy of estrogenic recruitment followed by chemotherapy was compared with that of chemotherapy alone in a randomized phase III study in women with lymph node-positive primary breast cancer.

Creativity: the key to breakthrough changes, how teaming can harness collective knowledge.

Our nation's industries do not want for concepts, philosophies or ideas to improve effectiveness. Just-in-Time, continuous improvement, re-engineering, world-class manufacturing, time compression, manufacturing excellence, total quality control, and theory of constraints are examples of approaches to improving our businesses. All have merit and are, to some degree, related.

Reirradiation combined with hyperthermia in recurrent breast cancer results in a worthwhile local palliation.

Both experimental and clinical research have shown that hyperthermia (HT) gives valuable additional effects when applied in combination with radiotherapy (RT). The purpose of this study was evaluation of results in patients with recurrent breast cancer, treated at the Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center (DHCC) with reirradiation (re-RT; eight fractions of 4 Gy twice weekly) combined with HT. All 134 patients for whom such treatment was planned were included in the analysis.

Abundances of red fox and pine marten in relation to the composition of boreal forest landscapes.

The effects of human-caused fragmentation of boreal forest on the abundance of red fox Vulpes vulpes L. and pine marten Martes martes L. were studied by combining the Finnish wildlife-triangle snow-track data (1990-94) with land-use and forest resources data employing the GIS.

Heterospecific attraction and food resources in migrants' breeding patch selection in northern boreal forest.

We studied experimentally how heterospecific attraction may affect habitat selection of migrant passerine birds in Finnish Lapland. We manipulated the densities of resident tit species (Parus spp.).