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1,069 results for “Data managment”
Data from: Using structured eradication feasibility assessment to prioritise the management of new and emerging invasive alien species in Europe
<p>Prioritising the management of invasive alien species (IAS) is of global importance and within Europe integral to the EU IAS regulation. To prioritise management effectively the risks posed by IAS need to be assessed, but so too does the feasibility of their management. While risk of IAS to the EU has been assessed, the feasibility of management has not. We assessed the feasibility of eradicating 60 new (not yet established) and 35 emerging (established with limited distribution) species that pose a threat to the EU, as identified by horizon scanning. The assessment was carried out by 34 experts in invasion management from across Europe, applying the Non-Native Risk Management scheme to defined invasion scenarios and eradication strategies for each species, assessing the feasibility of eradication using seven key risk management criteria. Management priorities were identified by combining scores for risk (derived from horizon scanning) and feasibility of eradication. The results show eradication feasibility score and risk score were not correlated, indicating that risk management evaluates different information than risk assessment. Seventeen new species were identified as particularly high priorities for eradication should they establish in the future, while fourteen emerging species were identified as priorities for eradication now. A number of species considered highest priority for eradication were terrestrial vertebrates, a group that has been the focus of a number of eradication attempts in the EU. However, eradication priorities also included a diverse range of other taxa (plants, invertebrates and fish) suggesting there is scope to broaden the taxonomic range of attempted eradication in the EU. We demonstrate that broad scale structured assessments of management feasibility can help prioritise IAS for management. Such frameworks are needed to support evidence based decision making.</p>
Survey on Research Data Management at a Technical University
<p>This dataset is based on a survey with researchers and engineers about data management practices. The survey was hosted via LimeSurvey. The data displayed here were retrieved directly from LimeSurvey. For analysis, we recoded the survey items as most of them were in a textual format (e.g. answer options such as "To a large extent" etc.). Here, only the original data are provided. Here, the answers and questions should be fairly self-explanatory, eliminating the need for extensive metadata.</p> <p>In total, 498 people started to fill in the survey, but only 259 completed the process.</p>
Research Data Management in Health and Biomedical Citizen Science: Practices and Prospects
<p><b>Background:</b> Public engagement in health and biomedical research is being influenced by the paradigm of citizen science. However, conventional health and biomedical research relies on sophisticated research data management tools and methods. Considering these, what contribution can citizen science make in this field of research? How can it follow research protocols and produce reliable results?</p> <p><b>Objective:</b> The aim of this paper is to analyse research data management practices in existing biomedical citizen science studies, so as to provide insights for members of the public and of the research community considering this approach to research.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> A scoping review was conducted on this topic to determine data management characteristics of health and bio medical citizen science research. From this review and related web searching, we chose five online platforms and a specific research project associated with each, to understand their research data management approaches and enablers.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Health and biomedical citizen science platforms and projects are diverse in terms of types of work with data and data management activities that in themselves may have scientific merit. However, consistent approaches in the use of research data management models or practices seem lacking, or at least are not evident.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> There is potential for important data collection and analysis activities to be opaque or irreproducible in health and biomedical citizen science initiatives without the implementation of a research data management model that is transparent and accessible to team members and to external audiences. This situation might be improved with participatory development of standards that can be applied to diverse projects and platforms, across the research data life cycle.<b> </b></p>
Manuscript code & data: Foster et al. (2020) "Satellite-based monitoring of irrigation water use: assessing measurement errors and their implications for agricultural water management policy"
<p>Data to reproduce results presented in Foster, T., Mieno, T. and Brozovic, N. (2020). <em>Satellite-based monitoring of irrigation water use: assessing measurement errors and their implications for agricultural water management policy.</em> Water Resources Research. In Review. Files provide include:</p> <ul> <li>"ReviewMetadata_FosterWRR_2020.xlsx" - data needed to reproduce meta-analysis presented in the paper</li> <li>"MeasurementErrorCode_FosterWRR_2020.m" and "Foster2018_ProductionFunction.mat" - Matlab code and data needed to reproduce welfare loss analysis presented in the paper.</li> </ul>
Data from: Manipulating plant community composition to steer efficient N-cycling in intensively managed grasslands
<p>1. Minimizing nitrogen (N) losses and increasing plant N uptake in agroecosystems is a major global challenge. Ecological concepts from (semi)natural grasslands suggest that manipulating plant community composition using plants species with different traits may represent a promising opportunity to face this challenge. Here we translate these trait-based concepts to agricultural systems in a field experiment, aiming to reveal the main determinants of how plant community composition regulates N-cycling in intensively managed grasslands.</p> <p>2. We focused on key N pools (plant N from soil and from biological N-fixation, soil mineral N, and N<sub>2</sub>O emissions) as well as on biological drivers of N-cycling in soil (abundance of N-cycling microbial communities, earthworm populations, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi), using three common grass and one legume species in monoculture, 2- and 4-species mixtures. We hypothesized that: (1) plant species mixtures increase plant N uptake, reduce soil mineral N concentrations and N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, and promote the abundance of biological N-cyclers; (2) legume presence stimulates N pools, fluxes, and biological N-cycling activity, (3) but in combination with a grass with acquisitive traits, more N is retained in the plant community, while N<sub>2</sub>O emissions are reduced.</p> <p>3. We found that mixtures increased plant N and lowered the soil mineral N pool compared to monocultures. However, plant species identity played an overarching role: legume presence increased N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, plant N pools, soil mineral N, and the abundance of N-cycling microbes and earthworms. Combining the legume with a grass with low leaf dry matter content and high root length density (and with high root biomass) reduced the higher soil mineral N and N<sub>2</sub>O emissions induced by the legume, while harnessing positive effects on plant N pools and biological N-fixation.</p> <p>4. Synthesis and applications. Our results unfold the potential of plant community composition to steer N-cycling in fertilized agroecosystems, paving the way for a more biologically-based <a>agriculture</a>. Legumes will play a crucial role, but selecting an optimum companion species is key for the sustainability of the agroecosystem.</p>
Data from: Community-based wildlife management area supports similar mammal species richness and densities compared to a national park
<p>Community-based conservation models have been widely implemented across Africa to improve wildlife conservation and livelihoods of rural communities. In Tanzania, communities can set aside land and formally register it as Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which allows them to generate revenue via consumptive or non-consumptive utilization of wildlife. The key, yet often untested, assumption of this model is that economic benefits accrued from wildlife motivate sustainable management of wildlife. To test the ecological effectiveness (here defined as persistence of wildlife populations) of Burunge Wildlife Management Area (BWMA), we employed a participatory monitoring approach involving WMA personnel. At intermittent intervals between 2011 and 2018, we estimated mammal species richness and population densities of ten mammal species (African elephant, giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, warthog, impala, Kirk's dik-dik, and vervet monkey) along line transectss . We compared mammal species accumulation curves and density estimates with those of time-matched road transect surveys conducted in adjacent Tarangire National Park (TNP). Mammal species richness estimates were similar in both areas, yet observed species richness per transect was greater in TNP compared to BWMA. Species-specific density estimates of time-matched surveys were mostly not significantly different between BWMA and TNP, but elephants occasionally reached greater densities in TNP compared to BWMA. In BWMA, elephant, wildebeest, and impala populations showed significant increases from 2011 to 2018. These results suggest that community-based conservation models can support mammal communities and densities that are similar to national park baselines. In light of the ecological success of this case study, we emphasize the need for continued efforts to ensure that the BWMA is effective. This will require adaptive management to counteract potential negative repercussions of wildlife populations on peoples' livelihoods. This study can be used as a model to evaluate the effectiveness of wildlife management areas across Tanzania. Community-based conservation models have been widely implemented across Africa to improve wildlife conservation and livelihoods of rural communities. In Tanzania, communities can set aside land and formally register it as Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which allows them to generate revenue via consumptive or non-consumptive utilization of wildlife. The key, yet often untested, assumption of this model is that economic benefits accrued from wildlife motivate sustainable management of wildlife. To test the ecological effectiveness (here defined as persistence of wildlife populations) of Burunge Wildlife Management Area (BWMA), we employed a participatory monitoring approach involving WMA personnel. At intermittent intervals between 2011 and 2018, we estimated mammal species richness and population densities of ten mammal species (African elephant, giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, warthog, impala, Kirk's dik-dik, and vervet monkey) along line transectss . We compared mammal species accumulation curves and density estimates with those of time-matched road transect surveys conducted in adjacent Tarangire National Park (TNP). Mammal species richness estimates were similar in both areas, yet observed species richness per transect was greater in TNP compared to BWMA. Species-specific density estimates of time-matched surveys were mostly not significantly different between BWMA and TNP, but elephants occasionally reached greater densities in TNP compared to BWMA. In BWMA, elephant, wildebeest, and impala populations showed significant increases from 2011 to 2018. These results suggest that community-based conservation models can support mammal communities and densities that are similar to national park baselines. In light of the ecological success of this case study, we emphasize the need for continued efforts to ensure that the BWMA is effective. This will require adaptive management to counteract potential negative repercussions of wildlife populations on peoples' livelihoods. This study can be used as a model to evaluate the effectiveness of wildlife management areas across Tanzania.</p>
Data from: Changes in ecosystem properties after postfire management strategies in wildfire affected areas
<p>1. Forest are highly vulnerable to global change drivers, such as an increase in wildfire events. Learning more about how and why different postfire management strategies regulate the ability of forest ecosystem properties (e.g., plant diversity and function) to simultaneously recover after wildfire and provide multiple ecosystem functions is of critical importance.</p> <p>2. This study aims to evaluate how unburned, burned managed and burned unmanaged plots regulate the responses of multiple forest ecosystem properties (e.g., plant diversity, nutrient cycling, soil carbon stocks, water regulation, and decomposition and wood production) and overall multifunctionality to wildfires. In September 2017, we selected two postfire management strategies in a 3 km2 watershed previously affected by a wildfire in July 2012: contour-felled log debris (CFD), log erosion barriers area (LEB), and also unburned and unmanaged plots (BNA). We randomly distributed 12 plots among the three postfire management strategies (3 plots per treatment) and unburned.</p> <p>3. The results showed that multiple forest ecosystem properties were significantly affected by wildfire and that specific postfire management treatment (e.g., LEB and CFD) can be used to efficiently support plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. Our results revealed that the general indicators of ecosystem functions decreased in Mediterranean forests after wildfires and postfire management strategies (LEB and CFD) significantly helped to recover the ecosystems' short-term community-level properties and ecosystem functions (5 years after a wildfire event) to prefire levels. </p> <p>4. Synthesis and applications: These findings demonstrate that multiple ecosystem functions are affected by wildfires in Mediterranean forests and show that postfire management treatments can promote multifunctionality and plant diversity. Our results unfold the potential of LEB and CFD as effective strategies for recovering community-level properties and forest functions in the short term.</p>
Data from: Functional genetic diversity in an exploited marine species and its relevance to fisheries management
<p>The timing of reproduction influences key evolutionary and ecological processes in wild populations. Variation in reproductive timing may be an especially important evolutionary driver in the marine environment, where the high mobility of many species and few physical barriers to migration provide limited opportunities for spatial divergence to arise, and where many species synchronize their reproduction to seasonal cycles of planktonic productivity. Using genomic data collected from spawning aggregations of Pacific herring (<i>Clupea pallasii</i>) across 1,600 km of coastline, we show that reproductive timing drives population structure in these pelagic fish. Within a specific spawning season we observed isolation by distance, indicating that gene flow is limited over our study area. These results emphasize the importance of considering both seasonal and spatial variation in reproductive timing when delineating management units for Pacific herring. On several chromosomes we detected linkage disequilibrium extending over millions of base pairs, suggesting the presence of chromosomal rearrangements. The frequencies of putative chromosomal rearrangements differed between populations spawning at different times of year. Spawning phenology was highly correlated with polymorphisms in several genes, in particular <i>SYNE2</i>, which influences the development of retinal photoreceptors in vertebrates. <i>SYNE2 </i>is likely within a chromosomal rearrangement in Pacific herring and is also associated with spawn timing in Atlantic herring (<i>Clupea harengus</i>). The observed genetic diversity likely underlies resource waves provided by spawning herring and demonstrates how population-level genetic diversity can influence ecosystem processes. Given the ecological, economic, and cultural significance of herring, our results support that conserving intraspecific genetic diversity is important for maintaining current and future ecosystem processes.</p>
Data from: Can multi-species shark longline fisheries be managed sustainably using size limits? Theoretically, yes. Realistically, No.
<p>This is the raw data used in :</p> <p>Smart J, White W, Baje L<span>,</span> Chin A, D'Alberto B, Grant M, Mukherji S and Simpfendorfer C (2020) Can multi-species shark longline fisheries be managed sustainably using size limits? Theoretically, yes. Realistically, No. Journal of Applied Ecology</p> <p>Included are two R scripts which create data inputs and then perform the articles analsysis.</p>
Data from: A consensus study to define appropriate inaction and inappropriate inertia in the management of hypertensive patients in primary care
Objectives. To elaborate and validate operational definitions for appropriate inaction and for inappropriate inertia in the management of hypertensive patients in primary care. Design. A two-step approach was used to reach a definition consensus. First, nominal groups provided practice-based information on the two concepts. Second, a Delphi procedure was used to modify and validate the two definitions created from the nominal groups results. Participants. 14 French practicing GPs participated in each of the two nominal groups, held in two different areas in France. For the Delphi procedure, 30 academics, international experts in the field, were contacted; 20 agreed to participate, and 19 completed the procedure. Results. Inappropriate inertia was defined as: to not initiate or intensify an antihypertensive treatment for a patient who is not at the blood pressure goals defined for this patient in the guidelines when all following conditions are fulfilled: (1) elevated blood pressure has been confirmed by self-measurement or ambulatory BP monitoring, (2) there is no legitimate doubt on the reliability of the measurements, (3) there is no observance issue regarding pharmacological treatment, (4) there is no specific iatrogenic risk (which alters the risk-benefit balance of treatment for this patient), in particular orthostatic hypotension in the elderly, (5) there is no other medical priority more important and more urgent, (6) access to treatment is not difficult. Appropriate inaction was defined as the exact mirror, i.e. when at least one of the above conditions is not met. Conclusion. Definitions of appropriate inaction and inappropriate inertia in the management of hypertensive patients have been established from empirical practice-based data and validated by an international panel of academics as useful for practice and research.
Data from: Assessing the efficacy and ecology of biocontrol and biomanipulation for managing invasive pest fish
1. Management of non-native species aims to prevent biological invasions using actions including control and containment of the potential invader. Biocontrol and biomanipulation strategies are used frequently to reduce population sizes of non-native species and reduce their ecological impacts and dispersal rates. 2. Assessments of the efficacy of biocontrol and biomanipulation actions for managing non-native pest fish, and the ecological mechanisms involved, were studied here using lentic populations of the invasive fish Pseudorasbora parva. Biocontrol was through release of the indigenous piscivorous fish Perca fluviatilis and biomanipulation through intensive fish removals. 3. A combined biocontrol and removal programme was completed in an invaded pond over two reproductive seasons. Almost 10 000 P. parva were removed, with cumulative removal numbers significantly related to their decreased abundance (>60 to <0·1 m−2). Ten adult P. fluviatilis were also released initially and reproduced each season. Analyses revealed P. parva contribution to P. fluviatilis diet was high initially, but decreased as P. parva abundance reduced. Individual contributions of the management actions to declined P. parva abundance were difficult to isolate. 4. The individual effects of biocontrol and removals on P. parva populations were then tested using a field trial in replicated pond mesocosms over three reproductive seasons. Replicates started with 1500 P. parva. The control (no interventions) revealed no significant temporal changes in P. parva abundances. In the removal treatment, where over 17 000 P. parva were removed per replicate over the trial, abundance declined initially, but increased significantly after each reproductive season as remaining fish compensated through increased reproductive output. In the biocontrol, abundance declined and remained low; analyses revealed P. parva were an important dietary component of larger P. fluviatilis, with predation suppressing compensatory responses. 5. Synthesis and applications. Biocontrol and removals can significantly reduce abundances of lentic populations of small invasive fishes. Removals provide short-term population suppression, but high effort is needed to overcome compensatory responses. Biocontrol can provide longer-term suppression but could invoke unintended ecological consequences via 'stocking-up' food webs. Application of these results to decision-making frameworks should enable managers to make more objective decisions on risk-commensurate methodologies for controlling small invasive fishes.
Data from: Interactive effects of pasture management intensity, release from grazing and prescribed fire on forty subtropical wetland plant assemblages
Pasture management intensity, livestock grazing and prescribed fire are three widespread agricultural practices that affect small, isolated wetlands, but few studies have investigated their individual and interactive effects. Pasture management intensity refers to the degree of human alteration of grassland, ranging from intensively managed pastures planted with introduced forage, fertilizer/lime additions and artificial drainage to semi-natural pastures with mixed native and non-native vegetation, no fertilizer/lime additions and little or no artificial drainage. We examined individual and interactive effects of these three agricultural practices on individual, isolated wetlands using a replicated, full-factorial experiment on 40 entire wetlands in south Florida, USA. Wetlands were embedded in two pasture management intensities: intensively managed and semi-natural. After three years of treatment initiation, vegetation of wetlands released from grazing and unburned embedded in semi-natural pastures had significantly lower evenness and coefficient of conservatism scores compared to wetlands released from grazing and burned, grazed unburned wetlands and grazed burned wetlands in the same pasture management intensity. For wetlands embedded in intensively managed pastures, evenness and coefficient of conservatism scores did not differ among treatments. Release from grazing increased abundance of the native, weedy herb, Eupatorium capillifolium. Grazing interacted with prescribed fire to affect shrub abundance and non-native richness; relative abundance of shrubs and non-native richness were greater in wetlands released from grazing and burned and did not differ among burn treatments in grazed wetlands. Interactive effects, especially three-way interactions, were uncommon and not as important as differences between the two pasture management intensities. Synthesis and applications. Vegetation diversity and floristic quality of wetlands embedded in intensively managed pastures resisted common restoration management techniques such as release from grazing and prescribed fire, at least in the short term. In contrast, removing all top-down disturbances from wetlands embedded in semi-natural grasslands can negatively affect vegetation species diversity and floristic quality. Future studies should examine how intensity and seasonality of grazing and prescribed fire affect wetland vegetation, and track long-term responses to evaluate lag effects.
Data from: Sequential infection can decrease virulence in a fish-bacterium-fluke interaction: implications for aquaculture disease management
Hosts are typically infected with multiple strains or genotypes of one or several parasite species. These infections can take place simultaneously, but also at different times, i.e. sequentially, when one of the parasites establishes first. Sequential parasite dynamics are common in nature, but also in intensive farming units such as aquaculture. However, knowledge of effects of previous exposures on virulence of current infections in intensive farming is very limited. This is critical as consecutive epidemics and infection history of a host could underlie failures in management practises and medical intervention of diseases. Here, we explored effects of timing of multiple infection on virulence in two common aquaculture parasites, the bacterium Flavobacterium columnare and the fluke Diplostomum pseudospathaceum. We exposed fish hosts first to flukes and then to bacteria in two separate experiments, altering timing between the infections from few hours to several weeks. We found that both short-term and long-term difference in timing of the two infections resulted in significant, genotype-specific decrease in bacterial virulence. Second, we developed a mathematical model, parameterized from our experimental results, to predict the implications of sequential infections for epidemiological progression of the disease, and levels of fish population suppression, in an aquaculture setting. Predictions of the model showed that sequential exposure of hosts can decrease the population-level impact of the bacterial epidemic, primarily through the increased recovery rate of sequentially infected hosts, thereby substantially protecting the population from the detrimental impact of infection. However, these effects depended on bacterial strain – fluke genotype combinations, suggesting the genetic composition of the parasite populations can greatly influence the degree of host suppression. Overall, these results suggest that host infection history can have significant consequences for the impact of infection at host population level, potentially shaping parasite epidemiology, disease dynamics and evolution of virulence in farming environments.
Data from: Flexibility, variability and constraint in energy management strategies across vertebrate taxa revealed by long-term heart rate measurements
1) Animals are expected to be judicious in the use of the energy they gain due to the costs and limits associated with its intake. The management of energy expenditure (EE) exhibited by animals has previously been considered in terms of three patterns: the constrained, independent and performance patterns of energy management. These patterns can be interpreted by regressing daily EE against maintenance EE measured over extended periods. From the multiple studies on this topic, there is equivocal evidence about the existence of universal patterns in certain aspects of energy management. 2) The implicit assumption that animals exhibit specifically one of three discrete energy management patterns, and without variation, seems simplistic. We suggest that animals can exhibit gradations of different energy management patterns and that the exact pattern will fluctuate as their environmental context changes. 3) To investigate these ideas, and for possible large-scale patterns in energy management pattern, we analysed long-term heart rate data – a strong proxy for EE – across and within individuals in 16 species of birds, mammals, and fish. 4) Our analyses of 292 individuals representing 46 539 observation-days suggest that vertebrates typically exhibit predominantly the independent or performance energy patterns at the across-individual level, and that the pattern does not associate with taxonomic group. Within individuals, however, animals generally exhibit some degree of energy constraint. Together, these findings indicate that across diverse species, some individuals supply more energy to all aspects of their life than do others, however all individuals must trade-off deployment of their available energy between competing functions. This demonstrates that within-individual analyses are essential for interpretation of energy management patterns. 5) We also found that species do not necessarily exhibit a fixed energy management pattern but rather temporal variation in their energy management over the year. Animals' energy management exhibited stronger energy constraint during periods of higher EE, which typically coincided with clear and key life cycle events such as reproduction, suggesting an adaptive plasticity to respond to fluctuating energy demands.
Data from: Suburban watershed nitrogen retention: estimating the effectiveness of stormwater management structures
Excess nitrogen (N) is a primary driver of freshwater and coastal eutrophication globally, and urban stormwater is a rapidly growing source of N pollution. Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are used widely to remove excess N from runoff in urban and suburban areas, and are expected to perform under a wide variety of environmental conditions. Yet the capacity of BMPs to retain excess N varies; and both the variation and the drivers thereof are largely unknown, hindering the ability of water resource managers to meet water quality targets in a cost-effective way. Here, we use structured expert judgment (SEJ), a performance-weighted method of expert elicitation, to quantify the uncertainty in BMP performance under a range of site-specific environmental conditions and to estimate the extent to which key environmental factors influence variation in BMP performance. We hypothesized that rain event frequency and magnitude, BMP type and size, and physiographic province would significantly influence the experts' estimates of N retention by BMPs common to suburban Piedmont and Coastal Plain watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay region. Expert knowledge indicated wide uncertainty in BMP performance, with N removal efficiencies ranging from <0% (BMP acting as a source of N during a rain event) to >40%. Experts believed that the amount of rain was the primary identifiable source of variability in BMP efficiency, which is relevant given climate projections of more frequent heavy rain events in the mid-Atlantic. To assess the extent to which those projected changes might alter N export from suburban BMPs and watersheds, we combined downscaled estimates of rainfall with distributions of N loads for different-sized rain events derived from our elicitation. The model predicted higher and more variable N loads under a projected future climate regime, suggesting that current BMP regulations for reducing nutrients may be inadequate in the future.
Data from: Assessment of healthcare delivery in the early management of bacterial meningitis in UK young infants: an observational study
OBJECTIVE: To define early presenting features of bacterial meningitis in young infants in England and to review the adequacy of individual case management as compared with relevant national guidelines and an expert panel review. DESIGN: Retrospective medical case note review and parental recall using standardised questionnaires. SETTING: England and Wales. PARTICIPANTS: Infants aged <90 days with bacterial meningitis diagnosed between July 2010 and July 2013. RESULTS: Of the 97 cases recruited across England and Wales, 66 (68%) were admitted from home and 31 (32%) were in hospital prior to disease onset. Almost all symptoms reported by parents appeared at the onset of the illness, with very few new symptoms appearing subsequently. Overall, 20/66 (30%) infants were assessed to have received inappropriate pre hospital management. The median time from onset of first symptoms to first help was 5 hours (IQR: 2-12) and from triage to receipt of first antibiotic dose was 2.0 hours (IQR: 1.0-3.3) hours, significantly shorter in infants with fever or seizures at presentation compared to those without (1.7 [IQR, 1.0-3.0] vs. 4.2 [1.8-6.3] hours, p=0.02). Overall, 26 (39%) infants had a poor outcome in terms of death or neurological complication; seizures at presentation was the only significant independent risk factor (OR, 7.9; 95% CI: 2.3- 207.0). For cases in hospital already, the median time from onset to first dose of antibiotics was 2.6 (IQR: 1.3-9.8) hours and 12/31 (39%) of infants had serious neurological sequelae at hospital discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Young infants with bacterial meningitis have non-specific symptoms and signs, with no clear progression of illness over time, highlighting the difficulties in early recognition by parents and healthcare professionals alike. A substantial proportion of infants received inappropriate pre- and post-hospital management. We propose a targeted campaign for education and harmonisation of practice with evidence-based management algorithms.
Data from: When to monitor and when to act: value of information theory for multiple management units and limited budgets
1.The question of when to monitor and when to act is fundamental to applied ecology, and notoriously difficult to answer. Value of information (VOI) theory holds great promise to help answer this question for many management problems. However, VOI theory in applied ecology has only been demonstrated in single-decision problems, and has lacked explicit links between monitoring and management costs. 2.Here, we present an extension of VOI theory for solving multi-unit decisions of whether to monitor before managing, while explicitly accounting for monitoring costs. Our formulation helps to choose the optimal monitoring/management strategy among groups of management units (e.g. species, habitat patches), and can be used to examine the benefits of partial and repeat monitoring. 3.To demonstrate our approach, we use case simulated studies of single-species protection that must choose among potential habitat areas, and classification and management of multiple species threatened with extinction. We provide spreadsheets and code to illustrate the calculations and facilitate application. Our case studies demonstrate the utility of predicting the number of units with a given outcome for problems with probabilities of discrete states, and the efficiency of having a flexible approach to manage according to monitoring outcomes. 4.Synthesis and applications. The decision to act or gather more information can have serious consequences for management. No decision, including the decision to monitor, is risk-free. Our multi-unit expansion of Value of Information (VOI) theory can reduce the risk in monitoring/acting decisions for many applied ecology problems. While our approach cannot account for the potential value of discovering previously unknown threats or ecological processes via monitoring programs, it can provide quantitative guidance on whether to monitor before acting, and which monitoring/management actions are most likely to meet management objectives.
Data from: Patient factors that influence decision-making in self-management support: a clinical vignette study
Background and aim: Self-management support is an integral part of current chronic care guidelines. The success of self-management interventions varies between individual patients, suggesting a need for tailored self-management support. Understanding the role of patient factors in the current decision making of health professionals can support future tailoring of self-management interventions. The aim of this study is to identify the relative importance of patient factors in health professionals' decision making regarding self-management support. Method: A factorial survey was presented to primary care physicians and nurses. The survey consisted of clinical vignettes (case descriptions), in which 11 patient factors were systematically varied. Each care provider received a set of 12 vignettes. For each vignette, they decided whether they would give this patient self-management support and whether they expected this support to be successful. The associations between respondent decisions and patient factors were explored using ordered logit regression. Results: The survey was completed by 60 general practitioners and 80 nurses. Self-management support was unlikely to be provided in a third of the vignettes. The most important patient factor in the decision to provide self-management support as well as in the expectation that self-management support would be successful was motivation, followed by patient-provider relationship and illness perception. Other factors, such as depression or anxiety, education level, self-efficacy and social support, had a small impact on decisions. Disease, disease severity, knowledge of disease, and age were relatively unimportant factors. Conclusion: This is the first study to explore the relative importance of patient factors in decision making and the expectations regarding the provision of self-management support to chronic disease patients. By far, the most important factor considered was patient's motivation; unmotivated patients were less likely to receive self-management support. Future tailored interventions should incorporate strategies to enhance motivation in unmotivated patients. Furthermore, care providers should be better equipped to promote motivational change in their patients.
Data from: Linking genotype, ecotype, and phenotype in an intensively managed large carnivore
Numerous factors influence fitness of free-ranging animals, yet often these are uncharacterized. We integrated GPS habitat use data and genetic profiling to determine their influence on fitness proxies (mass, length, and body condition) in a threatened population of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in Alberta, Canada. We detected distinct genetic and habitat use (ecotype) clusters, with individual cluster assignments, or genotype/ecotype, being correlated (Pearson r = 0.34, P < 0.01). Related individuals showed evidence of similar habitat use patterns, irrespective of geographic distance and sex. Fitness proxies were influenced by sex, age, and habitat use, and homozygosity had a positive effect on these proxies that could be indicative of outbreeding depression. We further documented over 300 translocations occurring in the province since the 1970s, often to areas with significantly different habitat. We argue this could be unintentionally causing the pattern of outbreeding, although the heterozygosity correlation may instead be explained by the energetic costs associated with larger body size. The observed patterns, together with the unprecedented human-mediated migrations, make understanding the link between genotype, ecotype, and phenotype and mechanisms behind the negative heterozygosity-fitness correlations critical for management and conservation of this species.
Data from: Water-repellent plant surface structure induced by gall-forming insects for waste management
Many animals and plants have evolved elaborate water-repellent microstructures on their surface, which often play important roles in their ecological adaptation. Here we report a unique type of water-repellent structure on plant surface, which develops as an insect-induced plant morphology in a social context. Some social aphids form galls on their host plant, in which they produce large amount of hydrophobic wax. Excreted honeydew is coated by the powdery wax to form "honeydew balls", which are actively disposed by soldier nymphs through an opening on their gall. These activities are enabled by a highly water-repellent inner gall surface, and we discovered that this surface is covered with dense trichomes that are not found on normal plant surface. The trichomes are coated by fine particles of the insect-produced wax, thereby realizing a high water repellency with a cooperative interaction between aphids and plants. The plant leaves on which the gall is formed often exhibit patchy areas with dense trichomes, representing an ectopic expression of the insect-induced plant morphology. In the pouch-shaped closed galls of a related social aphid species, by contrast, the inner surface was not covered with trichomes. Our findings provide a convincing example of how the extended phenotype of an animal, expressed in a plant, plays a pivotal role in maintaining sociality.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.