A First-Class Simulation: In-Situ In-Flight Medical Emergencies Curriculum for Emergency Medicine Residents Aboard a Commercial Airliner.

Introduction: In-flight medical emergencies occur in an estimated one out of 604 flights. Responding in this environment poses a unique set of challenges unfamiliar to most emergency medicine (EM) providers, including physical space and resource limitations. We developed a novel high-fidelity in-situ training curriculum focused on frequent or high-risk in-flight medical scenarios while replicating this austere environment.

Antarctic Evacuation: A Retrospective Epidemiological Study of Medical Evacuations on US Military Aircraft in Antarctica.

Background: The international community has shown increasing interest in the Arctic and Antarctic due to the value polar regions have in terms of environmental research, natural resources, and national defense. The US Government maintains several permanent research and military facilities in polar regions. Medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) from these facilities can be limited for prolonged periods of time due to their extreme climates.

Novel technique for continuous pressure monitoring of esophageal balloon in balloon tamponade device for acute variceal bleed.

Acute variceal bleeding is a life-threatening emergency associated with high mortality. Balloon tamponade is required for refractory bleeding to allow stabilization for definitive therapy. Unfortunately, these devices are associated with iatrogenic complications such as esophageal necrosis and perforation.

Simulating environmentally-sensitive tree recruitment in vegetation demographic models.

Vegetation demographic models (VDMs) endeavor to predict how global forests will respond to climate change. This requires simulating which trees, if any, are able to recruit under changing environmental conditions. We present a new recruitment scheme for VDMs in which functional-type-specific recruitment rates are sensitive to light, soil moisture and the productivity of reproductive trees.

Variation in hydroclimate sustains tropical forest biomass and promotes functional diversity.

The fate of tropical forests under climate change is unclear as a result, in part, of the uncertainty in projected changes in precipitation and in the ability of vegetation models to capture the effects of drought-induced mortality on aboveground biomass (AGB). We evaluated the ability of a terrestrial biosphere model with demography and hydrodynamics (Ecosystem Demography, ED2-hydro) to simulate AGB and mortality of four tropical tree plant functional types (PFTs) that operate along light- and water-use axes. Model predictions were compared with observations of canopy trees at Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama.

Vegetation demographics in Earth System Models: A review of progress and priorities.

Numerous current efforts seek to improve the representation of ecosystem ecology and vegetation demographic processes within Earth System Models (ESMs). These developments are widely viewed as an important step in developing greater realism in predictions of future ecosystem states and fluxes. Increased realism, however, leads to increased model complexity, with new features raising a suite of ecological questions that require empirical constraints.

Differences in xylem and leaf hydraulic traits explain differences in drought tolerance among mature Amazon rainforest trees.

Considerable uncertainty surrounds the impacts of anthropogenic climate change on the composition and structure of Amazon forests. Building upon results from two large-scale ecosystem drought experiments in the eastern Brazilian Amazon that observed increases in mortality rates among some tree species but not others, in this study we investigate the physiological traits underpinning these differential demographic responses. Xylem pressure at 50% conductivity (xylem-P ), leaf turgor loss point (TLP), cellular osmotic potential (π ), and cellular bulk modulus of elasticity (ε), all traits mechanistically linked to drought tolerance, were measured on upper canopy branches and leaves of mature trees from selected species growing at the two drought experiment sites.

Confronting model predictions of carbon fluxes with measurements of Amazon forests subjected to experimental drought.

Considerable uncertainty surrounds the fate of Amazon rainforests in response to climate change. Here, carbon (C) flux predictions of five terrestrial biosphere models (Community Land Model version 3.5 (CLM3.

Deforestation and climate feedbacks threaten the ecological integrity of south-southeastern Amazonia.

A mosaic of protected areas, including indigenous lands, sustainable-use production forests and reserves and strictly protected forests is the cornerstone of conservation in the Amazon, with almost 50 per cent of the region now protected. However, recent research indicates that isolation from direct deforestation or degradation may not be sufficient to maintain the ecological integrity of Amazon forests over the next several decades. Large-scale changes in fire and drought regimes occurring as a result of deforestation and greenhouse gas increases may result in forest degradation, regardless of protected status.