Estimating the distribution of reedbed in Britain demonstrates challenges of remotely sensing rare land cover types at large spatial scales.

Common Reed Phragmites australis, globally one of the mostly widely distributed wetland plants, is important for biodiversity and for humans. However, like most wetland plant communities, reedbed has rarely been mapped at large geographical scales, restricting the information available to study reed's range dynamics or inform its management. Using Sentinel-2 data and machine learning, we aimed to produce the first published remotely-sensed reedbed map of Britain; however, accuracy as assessed by field validation was relatively low (AUC = 0.

Differential changes in the morphology and fuel loads of obligatory and partial migrant passerines over half a century in Britain.

Migratory distances and stopover locations are changing for many passerines in response to climate change. Morphological changes have been linked to rising global temperatures in both migrants and residents, but the implications of these changes on fuel loads, and associated flight ranges are little studied. Wing length and body mass changes between 1964 and 2020 were calculated for 15 migrant and partially migrant passerines in Britain.

Leiomyosarcoma of the prostate: a novel approach to treatment-case report and review of the literature.

Leiomyosarcoma of the prostate is a rare and aggressive tumor, with a quarter of the patients harboring metastatic disease, commonly in the lung. It usually presents with urinary obstruction in a relatively younger patient group. A 29-year-old male presented with lower urinary tract symptoms to the urologist.

Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species.

Human activity has modified the availability of natural resources and the abundance of species that rely on them, potentially changing interspecific competition dynamics. Here, we use large-scale automated data collection to quantify spatio-temporal competition among species with contrasting population trends. We focus on the spatial and temporal foraging behaviour of subordinate marsh tits among groups of socially and numerically dominant blue tits and great tits .

Collation of a century of soil invertebrate abundance data suggests long-term declines in earthworms but not tipulids.

Large-scale declines in terrestrial insects have been reported over much of Europe and across the world, however, population change assessments of other key invertebrate groups, such as soil invertebrates, have been largely neglected through a lack of available monitoring data. This study collates historic data from previously published studies to assess whether it is possible to infer previously undocumented long-term changes in soil invertebrate abundance. Earthworm and tipulid data were collated from over 100 studies across the UK, spanning almost 100 years.

Mechanisms underpinning community stability along a latitudinal gradient: Insights from a niche-based approach.

At large scales, the mechanisms underpinning stability in natural communities may vary in importance due to changes in species composition, mean abundance, and species richness. Here we link species characteristics (niche positions) and community characteristics (richness and abundance) to evaluate the importance of stability mechanisms in 156 butterfly communities monitored across three European countries and spanning five bioclimatic regions. We construct niche-based hierarchical structural Bayesian models to explain first differences in abundance, population stability, and species richness between the countries, and then explore how these factors impact community stability both directly and indirectly (via synchrony and population stability).

Standardised empirical dispersal kernels emphasise the pervasiveness of long-distance dispersal in European birds.

Dispersal is a key life-history trait for most species and is essential to ensure connectivity and gene flow between populations and facilitate population viability in variable environments. Despite the increasing importance of range shifts due to global change, dispersal has proved difficult to quantify, limiting empirical understanding of this phenotypic trait and wider synthesis. Here, we introduce a statistical framework to estimate standardised dispersal kernels from biased data.

Spatial consistency in drivers of population dynamics of a declining migratory bird.

Many migratory species are in decline across their geographical ranges. Single-population studies can provide important insights into drivers at a local scale, but effective conservation requires multi-population perspectives. This is challenging because relevant data are often hard to consolidate, and state-of-the-art analytical tools are typically tailored to specific datasets.

Anatomic pathology quality assurance: Developing an LIS based tracking and documentation module for intradepartmental consultations.

Background: An electronic intradepartmental consultation system for anatomic pathology (AP) was conceived and developed in the laboratory information system (LIS) in 2019. Previously, all surgical pathology intradepartmental consultative activities were initiated and documented with paper forms which circulated with the pertinent microscopic slides and were eventually filed. In this study, we discuss the implementation and utilization of an electronic intradepartmental AP consultation system.

Hinfluences severe disease-mediated population declines in two of the most common garden bird species in Great Britain.

The influence of supplementary feeding of wildlife on disease transmission and its consequent impacts on population dynamics are underappreciated. In Great Britain, supplementary feeding is hypothesised to have enabled the spread of the protozoan parasite, Trichomonas gallinae, from columbids to finches, leading to epidemic finch trichomonosis and a rapid population decline of greenfinch (Chloris chloris). More recently, chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), has also declined markedly from the second to fifth commonest bird in Britain.

Differential changes in life cycle-event phenology provide a window into regional population declines.

Climate change affects the phenology of annual life cycle events of organisms, such as reproduction and migration. Shifts in the timing of these events could have important population implications directly, or provide information about the mechanisms driving population trajectories, especially if they differ between life cycle event. We examine if such shifts occur in a declining migratory passerine bird (willow warbler, ), which exhibits latitudinally diverging population trajectories.

Combining host and vector data informs emergence and potential impact of an Usutu virus outbreak in UK wild birds.

Following the first detection in the United Kingdom of Usutu virus (USUV) in wild birds in 2020, we undertook a multidisciplinary investigation that combined screening host and vector populations with interrogation of national citizen science monitoring datasets to assess the potential for population impacts on avian hosts. Pathological findings from six USUV-positive wild passerines were non-specific, highlighting the need for molecular and immunohistochemical examinations to confirm infection. Mosquito surveillance at the index site identified USUV RNA in Culex pipiens s.

Demographic variation in space and time: implications for conservation targeting.

The dynamics of wild populations are governed by demographic rates which vary spatially and/or temporally in response to environmental conditions. Conservation actions for widespread but declining populations could potentially exploit this variation to target locations (or years) in which rates are low, but only if consistent spatial or temporal variation in demographic rates occurs. Using long-term demographic data for wild birds across Europe, we show that productivity tends to vary between sites (consistently across years), while survival rates tend to vary between years (consistently across sites), and that spatial synchrony is more common in survival than productivity.

Frozen Section Quality Assurance.

Objectives: Composite frozen section turnaround time has limited value, precluding assessment of certain processes: slide preparation (technical) and diagnosis (interpretation). We examined whether measuring these elements could identify delays, hypothesizing that longer times were related to (1) inefficient technical processes and (2) case-specific diagnostic challenges.

Methods: Technical and interpretive times were determined for 1,992 specimens submitted for frozen section in 2017; the data were sorted by surgical specialty.

Covariation in population trends and demography reveals targets for conservation action.

Wildlife conservation policies directed at common and widespread, but declining, species are difficult to design and implement effectively, as multiple environmental changes are likely to contribute to population declines. Conservation actions ultimately aim to influence demographic rates, but targeting actions towards feasible improvements in these is challenging in widespread species with ranges that encompass a wide range of environmental conditions. Across Europe, sharp declines in the abundance of migratory landbirds have driven international calls for action, but actions that could feasibly contribute to population recovery have yet to be identified.

Basal Cell Adenoma and Basal Cell Adenocarcinoma.

Basal cell adenoma (BCA) and basal cell adenocarcinoma (BCAC) are uncommon biphasic salivary gland tumors having morphologic similarities to other biphasic salivary gland neoplasms having differentiation toward the intercalated ducts of the salivary gland. Both tumors show mixtures of trabecular, tubular, solid, and membranous solid patterns. BCAC is separated from BCA primarily by the presence of invasion in the former.

Rapid Validation of Whole-Slide Imaging for Primary Histopathology Diagnosis.

Objectives: The ongoing global severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic necessitates adaptations in the practice of surgical pathology at scale. Primary diagnosis by whole-slide imaging (WSI) is a key component that would aid departments in providing uninterrupted histopathology diagnosis and maintaining revenue streams from disruption. We sought to perform rapid validation of the use of WSI in primary diagnosis meeting recommendations of the College of American Pathologists guidelines.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-Related Carcinoma of the Oropharynx with Squamous Cell and Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma-Like Features: Report of a Case.

We describe the heretofore unreported case of an HPV-related carcinoma of the palatine tonsil with distinct areas of squamous cell- and adenoid cystic carcinoma-like differentiation in a 54-year old patient. The morphological, immunophenotypic and molecular findings of the tumor are illustrated. We discuss the parallels between the tumor and HPV-related multiphenotypic sinonasal carcinoma (HMSC) which is well-known to exhibit adenoid cystic carcinoma-like features.

Survival varies seasonally in a migratory bird: Linkages between breeding and non-breeding periods.

Migratory species form an important component of biodiversity; they link ecosystems across the globe, but are increasingly threatened by global environmental change. Understanding and mitigating threats requires knowledge of how demographic processes operate throughout the annual cycle, but this can be difficult to achieve when breeding and non-breeding grounds are widely separated. Our goal is to quantify the importance of variability in survival during the breeding and non-breeding seasons in determining variation in annual survival using a single population and, more broadly, the extent to which annual survival across species reflects variation in probability of surviving the migratory period.

Pure Primary Ovarian Carcinoid Tumor.

Primary ovarian carcinoid tumors are uncommon neoplasms that typically arise in the context of a mature cystic teratoma. Pure primary ovarian carcinoid tumors (PPOCTs) are rare and present as a solid ovarian mass in which, by definition, elements of an associated teratoma or other neoplasm are absent. We report a case of a middle-aged woman who presented with abdominal distension.

Histologic effect of the potassium-titanyl phosphorous laser on laryngeal papilloma.

Objectives: Tissue effects occurring with potassium-titanyl phosphorous (KTP) laser treatment are difficult to quantify due to the multiple variables that affect not only the fluence (energy delivered) but also the laser-tissue interaction. This histopathologic analysis of recurrent respiratory papilloma (RRP) removed after treatment with KTP laser therapy permits correlation of histologic effect with method of laser treatment.

Methods: The histopathology of RRP resected specimens in a single patient was compared following treatment with KTP laser in contact and non-contact modes as documented with intraoperative photography and video imaging.

Integrating dynamic environmental predictors and species occurrences: Toward true dynamic species distribution models.

While biological distributions are not static and change/evolve through space and time, nonstationarity of climatic and land-use conditions is frequently neglected in species distribution models. Even recent techniques accounting for spatiotemporal variation of species occurrence basically consider the environmental predictors as static; specifically, in most studies using species distribution models, predictor values are averaged over a 50- or 30-year time period. This could lead to a strong bias due to monthly/annual variation between the climatic conditions in which species' locations were recorded and those used to develop species distribution models or even a complete mismatch if locations have been recorded more recently.

Avian malaria-mediated population decline of a widespread iconic bird species.

Parasites have the capacity to affect animal populations by modifying host survival, and it is increasingly recognized that infectious disease can negatively impact biodiversity. Populations of the house sparrow () have declined in many European towns and cities, but the causes of these declines remain unclear. We investigated associations between parasite infection and house sparrow demography across suburban London where sparrow abundance has declined by 71% since 1995.

Creating Pathologists From a Post-Sophomore Pathology Fellowship: 21 Years and 126 Fellows at an Academic Pathology Department.

Medical student exposure to pathology is a continued concern for departments across the country as traditional pathology content is trimmed from medical school curricula. In a longstanding effort to recruit and expose more medical students to the practice of pathology, our institution has supported a year-long post-sophomore fellowship in pathology since the 1930s. The program employs 6 full-time medical students per year to function as junior residents, taking an active role in delivering surgical pathology and autopsy services, with additional opportunities for teaching, research, and electives.