A critical analysis of the potential for EU Common Agricultural Policy measures to support wild pollinators on farmland.

Agricultural intensification and associated loss of high-quality habitats are key drivers of insect pollinator declines. With the aim of decreasing the environmental impact of agriculture, the 2014 EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) defined a set of habitat and landscape features (Ecological Focus Areas: EFAs) farmers could select from as a requirement to receive basic farm payments. To inform the post-2020 CAP, we performed a European-scale evaluation to determine how different EFA options vary in their potential to support insect pollinators under standard and pollinator-friendly management, as well as the extent of farmer uptake.

Effective diabetes complication management is a step toward a carbon-efficient planet: an economic modeling study.

Background: The management of diabetes-related complications accounts for a large share of total carbon dioxide equivalent (COe) emissions. We assessed whether improving diabetes control in people with type 2 diabetes reduces COe emissions, compared with those with unchanging glycemic control.

Methods: Using the IQVIA Core Diabetes Model, we estimated the impact of maintaining glycated hemoglobin (HbA) at 7% (53 mmol/mol) or reducing it by 1% (11 mmol/mol) on total COe/patient and COe/life-year (LY).

Mass-abundance scaling in avian communities is maintained after tropical selective logging.

Selective logging dominates forested landscapes across the tropics. Despite the structural damage incurred, selectively logged forests typically retain more biodiversity than other forest disturbances. Most logging impact studies consider conventional metrics, like species richness, but these can conceal subtle biodiversity impacts.

What does recovery mean to young people with mental health difficulties? - "It's not this magical unspoken thing, it's just recovery".

There is extensive literature documenting the nature of recovery in mental health in adult populations, but there is very little exploring its nature and meaning for young people. To gain a detailed understanding from the perspective of young people about the concept of recovery in young people's mental health. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 23 young people.

Dynamical Malaria Forecasts Are Skillful at Regional and Local Scales in Uganda up to 4 Months Ahead.

Malaria forecasts from dynamical systems have never been attempted at the health district or local clinic catchment scale, and so their usefulness for public health preparedness and response at the local level is fundamentally unknown. A pilot preoperational forecasting system is introduced in which the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts ensemble prediction system and seasonal climate forecasts of temperature and rainfall are used to drive the uncalibrated dynamical malaria model VECTRI to predict anomalies in transmission intensity 4 months ahead. It is demonstrated that the system has statistically significant skill at a number of sentinel sites in Uganda with high-quality data.

A hidden cause of infertility in hypothyroid patients.

Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutations could be the cause of infertility in hypothyroid patients. Hence, it is worthy to screen for MTHFR gene mutations in infertile hypothyroid females and their partners if infertility persists after optimizing thyroid function.

Effect of delay between nuclear medicine scanning and sentinel node biopsy on outcome in patients with cutaneous melanoma.

Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is an important staging tool for the management of melanoma. A multicentre study was done to validate previous findings that the timing of lymphoscintigraphy influences the accuracy of SLNB and patient outcomes, particularly survival.

Methods: Data were reviewed on patients undergoing SLNB for melanoma at three centres in the UK and Sweden, examining the effect of timing of SLNB after nuclear medicine scanning.

Resource-dependent evolution of female resistance responses to sexual conflict.

Sexual conflict can promote the evolution of dramatic reproductive adaptations as well as resistance to its potentially costly effects. Theory predicts that responses to sexual conflict will vary significantly with resource levels-when scant, responses should be constrained by trade-offs, when abundant, they should not. However, this can be difficult to test because the evolutionary interests of the sexes align upon short-term exposure to novel environments, swamping any selection due to sexual conflict.

Field cricket genome reveals the footprint of recent, abrupt adaptation in the wild.

Evolutionary adaptation is generally thought to occur through incremental mutational steps, but large mutational leaps can occur during its early stages. These are challenging to study in nature due to the difficulty of observing new genetic variants as they arise and spread, but characterizing their genomic dynamics is important for understanding factors favoring rapid adaptation. Here, we report genomic consequences of recent, adaptive song loss in a Hawaiian population of field crickets ().

Evolutionary genomics can improve prediction of species' responses to climate change.

Global climate change (GCC) increasingly threatens biodiversity through the loss of species, and the transformation of entire ecosystems. Many species are challenged by the pace of GCC because they might not be able to respond fast enough to changing biotic and abiotic conditions. Species can respond either by shifting their range, or by persisting in their local habitat.

Multi-century trends to wetter winters and drier summers in the England and Wales precipitation series explained by observational and sampling bias in early records.

Globally, few precipitation records extend to the 18th century. The England Wales Precipitation (EWP) series is a notable exception with continuous monthly records from 1766. EWP has found widespread use across diverse fields of research including trend detection, evaluation of climate model simulations, as a proxy for mid-latitude atmospheric circulation, a predictor in long-term European gridded precipitation data sets, the assessment of drought and extremes, tree-ring reconstructions and as a benchmark for other regional series.

Unrecognized controls on microbial functioning in Blue Carbon ecosystems: The role of mineral enzyme stabilization and allochthonous substrate supply.

Tidal wetlands are effective carbon sinks, mitigating climate change through the long-term removal of atmospheric CO. Studies along surface-elevation and thus flooding-frequency gradients in tidal wetlands are often used to understand the effects of accelerated sea-level rise on carbon sequestration, a process that is primarily determined by the balance of primary production and microbial decomposition. It has often been hypothesized that rates of microbial decomposition would increase with elevation and associated increases in soil oxygen availability; however, previous studies yield a wide range of outcomes and equivocal results.

Ultrafast Excited State Dynamics in a First Generation Photomolecular Motor.

Efficient photomolecular motors will be critical elements in the design and development of molecular machines. Optimisation of the quantum yield for photoisomerisation requires a detailed understanding of molecular dynamics in the excited electronic state. Here we probe the primary photophysical processes in the archetypal first generation photomolecular motor, with sub-50 fs time resolved fluorescence spectroscopy.

Climate change and epilepsy: Time to take action.

Climate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity today. The associated global warming and humidification, increases in the severity and frequency of extreme climate events, extension of the ranges of vector-borne diseases, and the consequent social and economic stresses and disruption will have major negative consequences on many aspects of health care. People whose resilience to change is already impaired may suffer disproportionately from these environmental changes, which are of unprecedented reach and magnitude.

Adaptive landscape genetics and malaria across divergent island bird populations.

Environmental conditions play a major role in shaping the spatial distributions of pathogens, which in turn can drive local adaptation and divergence in host genetic diversity. Haemosporidians, such as (malaria), are a strong selective force, impacting survival and fitness of hosts, with geographic distributions largely determined by habitat suitability for their insect vectors. Here, we have tested whether patterns of fine-scale local adaptation to malaria are replicated across discrete, ecologically differing island populations of Berthelot's pipits .

Disagreement Between Randomized and Observational Evidence on the Use of Bilateral Internal Thoracic Artery Grafting: A Meta-Analytic Approach.

Background The ART (Arterial Revascularization Trial) showed no difference in survival at 10 years between patients assigned to the single versus bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting strategies. This finding is in contrast with the results of most observational studies, where the use of 2 internal thoracic arteries has been associated with improved survival. Methods and Results We selected propensity-matched studies from the most comprehensive observational meta-analysis on the long-term outcomes of patients receiving 1 versus 2 internal thoracic arteries.

Diagnostic Assessment Strategies and Disease Subsets in Giant Cell Arteritis: Data From an International Observational Cohort.

Objective: Diagnostic assessment in giant cell arteritis (GCA) is rapidly changing as vascular imaging becomes more available. This study was undertaken to determine if clinical GCA subsets have distinct profiles or reflect differential diagnostic assessments.

Methods: Patients were recruited from an international cohort and divided into 4 subsets based on a temporal artery (TA) abnormality (positive TA biopsy [TAB] or halo sign on TA ultrasound [TA-US]) and/or evidence of large vessel (LV) involvement on imaging: 1) both TA abnormality and LV involvement (TA+/LV+ GCA); 2) TA abnormality without LV involvement (TA+/LV- GCA); 3) LV involvement without TA abnormality (TA-/LV+ GCA); and 4) clinically diagnosed GCA without LV involvement or TA abnormality (TA-/LV- GCA).

Improving pulse crops as a source of protein, starch and micronutrients.

Pulse crops have been known for a long time to have beneficial nutritional profiles for human diets but have been neglected in terms of cultivation, consumption and scientific research in many parts of the world. Broad dietary shifts will be required if anthropogenic climate change is to be mitigated in the future, and pulse crops should be an important component of this change by providing an environmentally sustainable source of protein, resistant starch and micronutrients. Further enhancement of the nutritional composition of pulse crops could benefit human health, helping to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies and reduce risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach.

Introduction: Since the Alma-Ata Declaration 40 years ago, primary healthcare (PHC) has made great advances, but there is insufficient research on models of care and outcomes-particularly for low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Systematic efforts to identify these gaps and develop evidence-based strategies for improvement in LMICs has been lacking. We report on a global effort to identify and prioritise the knowledge needs of PHC practitioners and researchers in LMICs about PHC organisation.

Primary care financing: a systematic assessment of research priorities in low- and middle-income countries.

Introduction: Financing of primary healthcare (PHC) is the key to the provision of equitable universal care. We aimed to identify and prioritise the perceived needs of PHC practitioners and researchers for new research in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) about financing of PHC.

Methods: Three-round expert panel consultation using web-based surveys of LMIC PHC practitioners, academics and policy-makers sampled from global networks.

Oral antibiotic use and risk of colorectal cancer in the United Kingdom, 1989-2012: a matched case-control study.

Background: Microbiome dysbiosis predisposes to colorectal cancer (CRC), but a population-based study of oral antibiotic exposure and risk patterns is lacking.

Objective: To assess the association between oral antibiotic use and CRC risk.

Design: A matched case-control study (incident CRC cases and up to five matched controls) was performed using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink from 1989 to 2012.

Why do earlier-arriving migratory birds have better breeding success?

In migratory birds, early arrival on breeding sites is typically associated with greater breeding success, but the mechanisms driving these benefits are rarely known. One mechanism through which greater breeding success among early arrivers can potentially be achieved is the increased time available for replacement clutches following nest loss. However, the contribution of replacement clutches to breeding success will depend on seasonal variation in nest survival rates, and the consequences for juvenile recruitment of hatching at different times in the season.

Within study comparisons and risk of bias in international development: Systematic review and critical appraisal.

Background: Many systematic reviews incorporate nonrandomised studies of effects, sometimes called quasi-experiments or natural experiments. However, the extent to which nonrandomised studies produce unbiased effect estimates is unclear in expectation or in practice. The usual way that systematic reviews quantify bias is through "risk of bias assessment" and indirect comparison of findings across studies using meta-analysis.