The Pierre Auger Observatory III: Other Astrophysical Observations

Astrophysical observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryComment: Contributions to the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Beijing, China, August 201

Emigration of hatchery‐reared Pallid Sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus albus (Forbes and Richardson), through a Missouri River dam

The middle Missouri River (MMR; Fort Randall Dam, SD to Gavins Point Dam, NE‐SD) is stocked with hatchery‐reared pallid sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus albus (Forbes and Richardson), from upper Missouri River broodstock to aid recovery of this federally endangered species. Emigration of these fish through Gavins Point Dam restores genetic connectivity that likely existed pre‐impoundment but could lead to outbreeding depression in the future. Recapture data of hatchery‐reared pallid sturgeon stocked in the MMR were evaluated to improve understanding of pallid sturgeon emigration. From 2004 to 2015, 219 emigrants were caught: 4 stocked at age ≥2 years and 215 stocked at age ≤1 year. Emigration of the 2001‐2007 year classes stocked at age 1 was a consistent phenomenon and appeared higher than emigration of year classes stocked at ages 2–3. Little evidence suggested emigration was associated with an unusually high‐water event in 2011. The annual emigration probability of individuals stocked at age 1 estimated from multi‐state mark–recapture models was 0.05 [95% confidence interval = 0.04–0.06] for fish ages ≥1 year. This study suggests that alterations to stocking practices (e.g. stocking age) may affect emigration rates and, therefore, connectivity among pallid sturgeon populations

Evaluation of the effects of biochar on diet digestibility and methane production from growing and finishing steers

The objectives of these studies were to evaluate the effects of biochar (0%, 0.8%, or 3% of diet dry matter) on diet digestibility and methane and carbon dioxide production from cattle on growing and finishing diets. The growing diet consisted of 21% brome hay, 20% wheat straw, 30% corn silage, 22% wet distillers grains plus solubles, and 7% supplement. The finishing diet consisted of 53% dry-rolled corn, 15% corn silage, 25% wet distillers grains plus solubles, and 7% supplement. In both trials biochar replaced fine ground corn in the supplement. Six crossbred steers (initial body weight [BW] 529 kg; SD = 16 kg) were used in both the growing and finishing trial. The growing diets were evaluated over 6 periods followed by the finishing trial with 3 periods. Digestibility measures were taken over 4 d after at least 8 d of adaptation to diets followed by 2 d of gas emission measurements using headbox calorimeters. Dry matter intake (DMI) was not affected (P ≥ 0.43; 7.91 kg/d) by biochar inclusion in the growing study and increased quadratically (P = 0.07) in the finishing study with 0.8% biochar inclusion having the greatest DMI (12.9 kg/d). Organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility increased quadratically (P = 0.10) in the growing study whereas OM digestibility tended to linearly decrease (P = 0.13) and NDF digestibility was not affected (P ≥ 0.39) by biochar inclusion in the finishing diet. Digestible energy intake (Mcal/d) was not affected (P ≥ 0.25) by biochar inclusion in the growing or finishing study. Methane production (g/d) tended to decrease quadratically (P = 0.14) in the growing study and was decreased 10.7% for the 0.8% biochar treatment relative to the control. There were no statistical differences in methane production (g/d) in the finishing study (P ≥ 0.32) but cattle on the 0.8% biochar treatment produced numerically less (9.6%) methane than the control. Methane production as g/kg DMI of the 0.8% biochar treatment relative to the control was numerically reduced 9.5% and 18.4% in the growing and finishing studies, respectively (P ≥ 0.13). Carbon dioxide production (g/d and g/kg of intake) quadratically decreased (P ≤ 0.06) in the growing study but was not affected by treatment in the finishing study (P ≥ 0.34). Although biochar is not a U.S. Food and Drug Administration -approved feed for cattle, the initial research shows potential as a methane mitigation strategy in both growing and finishing diets

Evidence of Limited Recruitment of Pallid Sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River

Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus are endemic to the Missouri and Mississippi river basins and are rare throughout their range. The species was listed as federally endangered with little to no evidence of natural recruitment. Since population augmentation was initiated as a recovery objective in the early 1990s, thousands of hatchery-origin Pallid Sturgeon have been stocked in the lower Missouri River (Gavins Point Dam [river kilometer 1,305.1] to the confluence of the Mississippi River [river kilometer 0.0]). Efforts to discriminate natural reproduction and recruitment of wild-origin Pallid Sturgeon from hatchery-origin fish has been hampered by tag loss in hatchery-origin sturgeon, inconsistent documentation of hatchery parental crosses, and the failure to collect tissue samples for genotyping all broodstock. However, the recent reconstruction of missing parental genotypes from known hatchery-origin progeny and from cryopreserved milt made it possible to examine Pallid Sturgeon recruitment. Therefore, our objectives were to 1) determine the likelihood that unmarked Pallid Sturgeon captured from the lower Missouri River were the result of natural recruitment and 2) examine the length distribution of wild- and hatchery-origin fish to determine if a difference exists by origin and examine the life-stage distribution. Genetic analysis showed that from 2003 to 2015, 358 ‘‘presumptive wild-origin’’ Pallid Sturgeon were captured in the lower Missouri River and the comparison between the length distributions of wild- and hatchery-origin fish did not provide any additional clarification into potential wildorigin fish. Low recruitment may be due to a small breeding population, high mortality of early life stages, hybridization with Shovelnose Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, or transport of drifting free embryos or larvae into inhospitable habitats. Determining what factors are limiting recruitment is the important next step for the recovery of Pallid Sturgeon in the lower Missouri River

Biochar Supplementation in Growing and Finishing Diets

Two metabolism studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of biochar (0, 0.8, or 3% of diet dry matter) on digestibility and methane production in growing and finishing diets. Intake was not affected by biochar inclusion in the growing diet and increased with 0.8% biochar inclusion in the finishing study. Digestibility tended to increase quadratically with biochar inclusion in the growing study while digestibility tended to linearly decrease with biochar inclusion in the finishing study. Methane production (g/d) decreased 10.7% in the growing study and 9.9% in the finishing study with 0.8% biochar compared to no biochar. Methane production was reduced 10.6% and 18.4% in the growing and finishing studies, respectively, when measured as g/lb of intake. Although biochar is not FDA approved for animal feeding, the initial research shows potential as a methane mitigation strategy in both growing and finishing diets

Best Practice Advice for Asthma Exacerbation Prevention and Management in Primary Care: An International Expert Consensus

Primary care clinicians play a key role in asthma and asthma exacerbation management worldwide because most patients with asthma are treated in primary care settings. The high burden of asthma exacerbations persists and important practice gaps remain, despite continual advances in asthma care. Lack of primary care-specific guidance, uncontrolled asthma, incomplete assessment of exacerbation and asthma control history, and reliance on systemic corticosteroids or short-acting beta2-agonist-only therapy are challenges clinicians face today with asthma care. Evidence supports the use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) + fast-acting bronchodilator treatments when used as needed in response to symptoms to improve asthma control and reduce rates of exacerbations, and the symptoms that occur leading up to an asthma exacerbation provide a window of opportunity to intervene with ICS. Incorporating patient perspectives and preferences when designing asthma regimens will help patients be more engaged in their therapy and may contribute to improved adherence and outcomes. This expert consensus contains 10 Best Practice Advice Points from a panel of primary care clinicians and a patient representative, formed in collaboration with the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG), a clinically led charitable organization that works locally and globally in primary care to improve respiratory health. The panel met virtually and developed a series of best practice statements, which were drafted and subsequently voted on to obtain consensus. Primary care clinicians globally are encouraged to review and adapt these best practice advice points on preventing and managing asthma exacerbations to their local practice patterns to enhance asthma care within their practice

The Ups and Downs of Jobs in Georgia: What Can We Learn about Employment Dynamics from State Administrative Data?

This paper demonstrates how state administrative data (from Georgia) can be used to decompose net employment growth in order to track establishment births, deaths, contractions, and expansions over time. Even though net employment growth can look quite similar across industries, the composition of that employment change can look quite different. The panel nature of the data allow the authors to see that overall lack of expansion and continued contraction among large establishments were the driving forces behind the weak employment growth immediately following the 2001 recession

Pragmatic Evaluation of an Improvement Program for People Living With Modifiable High-Risk COPD Versus Usual Care: Protocol for the Cluster Randomized PREVAIL Trial

Background: The burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is well established, but opportunities for earlier diagnosis and improved management are still missed. Compared to the general COPD population, patients with a history of exacerbations and suboptimal treatment (“modifiable high-risk”) are at greater risk of future exacerbations and adverse health outcomes. To date there is no systematic approach for identifying and treating this patient group. Methods: Two cluster randomized controlled trials (CRTs) in the United Kingdom and United States will assess the impact of a primary care-based quality improvement program (COllaboratioN on QUality improvement initiative for achieving Excellence in STandards of COPD care [CONQUEST]), compared to routine care. In each trial, 126 primary care clusters will be randomized 1:1 to intervention or control arms. Three groups of modifiable high-risk patients will be identified using electronic medical records: undiagnosed with potential COPD, newly diagnosed COPD, and already diagnosed COPD. Eligible patients will be aged ≥40 years, have experienced ≥2 moderate/≥1 severe exacerbation(s) in the prior 24 months, including ≥1 in the last 12 months, and not be prescribed inhaled triple therapy. Patients in the undiagnosed group will also be required to have a positive smoking history. Primary trial outcomes will be the annual rate of exacerbations and the annual rate of major adverse cardiac or respiratory events, comparing the quality improvement program against routine care. Discussion: These will be the first CRTs assessing such a comprehensive primary care-based COPD quality improvement program. Intention-to-treat analysis of trial outcomes after 24 months will inform its effectiveness in targeting the identification, assessment, treatment, and follow-up of patients with modifiable high-risk COPD