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Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, for which no satisfactory treatment presently exists, accounts for most of the disability in patients with multiple sclerosis. Simvastatin, which is widely used for treatment of vascular disease, with its excellent safety profile, has immunomodulatory and neuroprotective properties that could make it an appealing candidate drug for patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. We undertook a double-blind, controlled trial between Jan 28, 2008, and Nov 4, 2011, at three neuroscience centres in the UK. Patients aged 18–65 years with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis were randomly assigned (1:1), by a centralised web-based service with a block size of eight, to receive either 80 mg of simvastatin or placebo. Patients, treating physicians, and outcome assessors were masked to treatment allocation. The primary outcome was the annualised rate of whole-brain atrophy measured from serial volumetric MRI. Analyses were by intention to treat and per protocol. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00647348. 140 participants were randomly assigned to receive either simvastatin (n=70) or placebo (n=70). The mean annualised atrophy rate was significantly lower in patients in the simvastatin group (0·288% per year [SD 0·521]) than in those in the placebo group (0·584% per year [0·498]). The adjusted difference in atrophy rate between groups was −0·254% per year (95% CI −0·422 to −0·087; p=0·003); a 43% reduction in annualised rate. Simvastatin was well tolerated, with no differences between the placebo and simvastatin groups in proportions of participants who had serious adverse events (14 [20%] vs nine [13%]). High-dose simvastatin reduced the annualised rate of whole-brain atrophy compared with placebo, and was well tolerated and safe. These results support the advancement of this treatment to phase 3 testing. The Moulton Foundation [charity number 1109891], Berkeley Foundation [268369], the Multiple Sclerosis Trials Collaboration [1113598], the Rosetrees Trust [298582] and a personal contribution from A Pidgley, UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals/UCL Biomedical Research Centres funding scheme.

Wright fishhook cactus is a small globose cactus endemic to an area of 280,000 ha in south-central Utah and was listed as endangered in October of 1979 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). There is a general paucity of information about this species, and no published data on the seed bank for any species in the genus. Our objective with this study was to provide insight into the established seed bank density for this species. We processed 500 soil samples from various locations near individual cacti and potential neighboring nurse plants. We found that the species had a detectable seed bank of a size similar to other members of the Cactaceae family. Seed bank densities were the highest immediately adjacent to, and downslope from, parent plants. Our data indicate that areas within 20 cm of seed-producing cacti contain by far the greatest density of seeds. These areas should be given special consideration in future management plans for this species.

Public lands, managed for multiple uses such as logging, mining, grazing, and recreation, also support vital environmental services like wild bee pollination. A trending decline in wild bees has heightened interest in documenting these key pollinators in their native habitats. Accurate assessment of pollinator community diversity is crucial for population monitoring and informing land management practices. In this study, we evaluate the efficiency of Malaise traps and pan traps in sampling wild bees over three growing seasons in subalpine meadow communities in central Utah. Sixteen trapping sites were established, each with a Malaise trap and an array of blue, white, and yellow pan traps, nine at each site. Weekly collections were made through summer months and a comparison of their effectiveness in capturing bee abundance and species richness was made. Malaise traps captured significantly greater abundance of bees on average, though this was species-dependent. Malaise traps were especially effective at capturing Bombus spp. and larger species. Pan traps were generally more effective with smaller species such as Hylaeus spp. White pan traps outperformed yellow and blue pan traps in terms of abundance and only yellow pan traps in terms of richness. Both methods contributed unique species to the overall collection effort, suggesting that a combination of trapping methods provides a more comprehensive understanding of bee communities. Species accumulation curves indicate that species existing within the community went unencountered in our samples and that more time or perhaps additional methods could aid in best describing the entire community.

Floral resources for native pollinators that live in wildland settings are diverse and vary across and within growing seasons. Understanding floral resource dynamics and management is becoming increasingly important as honeybee farms seek public land for summer pasture. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUASs) present a viable approach for accurate broad floristic surveys and present an additional solution to more traditional alternative methods of vegetation assessment. This methodology was designed as a simplified approach using tools frequently available to land managers. The images of three subalpine meadows were captured from a DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone platform three times over the growing season in 2019 in Sanpete County, Utah. The images were composited using Pix4D software 4.5.6 and classified using a simple supervised approach in ENVI 4.8 and ArcGIS Pro 2.4.3 These same meadows were assessed using two traditional ocular methods of vegetation cover–meter-squared quadrats and macroplot estimation. The areas assessed with these methods were compared side by side with their classified counterparts from drone imagery. Classified images were not only found to be highly accurate when detecting overall floral cover and floral color groups (76–100%), but they were also strongly correlated with quadrat estimations, suggesting that these methods used in tandem may be a conducive strategy toward increased accuracy and efficiency when determining floral cover at broad spatial scales.

Two species of Psilochalcis (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) wasps occurring in the Great Basin region of the western United States were sampled from three locations in central Utah (USA) over a two-year period using Malaise traps. Each location is composed of four contiguous habitat types: pinyon/juniper (Pinus edulis or P. monophylla and Juniperus osteosperma), sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), and crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum). Seasonal trap abundance for each Psilochalcis species was determined. Psilochalcis minuta Petersen and Psilochalcis quadratis Petersen occur in highest abundance from mid-May to early August. Psilochalcis minuta demonstrates a significant association with pinyon/juniper habitat, specifically at the Utah; Juab County, Yuba Valley sample site, whereas P. quadratis demonstrates a significant association with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) habitat at the same location.

Cattle grazing has been a historic use of rangelands in Utah since pioneer settlement in the mid-1800’s. Wright fishhook cactus is a small globose cactus endemic to an area of 280,000 ha in south–central Utah and was listed as endangered in October of 1979, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). By 2010, concerns were expressed that soil compaction in proximity to the cactus posed a threat to this species, though there were no empirical data to support such concerns. In order to assess the impact of cattle traffic on Wright fishhook cactus, we used an imprint device to simulate a cow track’s impact. We applied a treatment of either zero, one, or four hoof imprints within 15 cm evenly of 146 cacti within the same population cluster on the same day. We monitored subsequent plant survival as well as reproductive success. Each cactus in the study was visited multiple times and all developed seed was collected. We found that cattle traffic of any amount had no effect on plant survival or seed production and, therefore, concluded that cattle traffic poses no threat to Wright fishhook cactus. The status of this cactus yields no justification for changing the historic land management use of cattle grazing on these rangelands.

In 1979, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Wright fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus wrightiae L.D. Benson) as endangered. Since that time, the potential impacts associated with cattle grazing have been a central focus of land management policies and debate. To better understand and monitor the impacts of cattle disturbance on Wright fishhook cactus population trends, the Bureau of Land Management established 30 macroplots (25 × 50 m). These macroplots were placed in multiple grazing allotments and located in areas representing different levels of disturbance (high, moderate, and low). Our objective was to evaluate the effects of cattle soil disturbance on change in population densities (individuals/macroplot), flowering plant frequency (%), and flowering density (number of reproductive structures/macroplot) of Wright fishhook cactus across 7 years (2011–2017). Our analysis suggests that decreased flowering frequency (%) is significantly associated with high cattle disturbance. However, we observed no significant association between level of disturbance and flower density or change in population density. These results indicate that soil disturbance by cattle may not be significantly impacting Wright fishhook cactus populations or contributing to their range-wide population decline. En el año 1979, el United States Fish and Wildlife Service declaró a la especie de cacto anzuelo de Wright (Sclerocactus wrightiae L.D. Benson) en peligro de extinción. Desde entonces, se han disputado las políticas de manejo de tierras y los impactos potenciales asociados con el pastoreo de ganado. Para comprender mejor y monitorear los impactos de la ganadería sobre los cambios poblacionales del cacto anzuelo de Wright, el Bureau of Land Management estableció 30 macroparcelas (25 m × 50 m). Las macroparcelas fueron instaladas en múltiples sectores de pastoreo en lugares representando diferentes niveles de perturbación (alto, mediano, y bajo). Nuestro objetivo fue la evaluación de los efectos de la perturbación del suelo causados por el ganado en cambios en la densidad poblacional (individuales/macroparcela), la frecuencia de floración (%), y la densidad de floración (número de estructuras reproductivas/macroparcela) del cacto azuelo de Wright durante siete años (2011–2017). Nuestro análisis sugiere que la frecuencia decreciente de floración (%) está significativamente asociada con la alta perturbación de pastoreo de ganado. Sin embargo, no observamos ninguna asociación significativa entre el nivel de perturbación y la densidad de floración ni el cambio en la densidad poblacional. Estos resultados indican que la alteración del suelo por ganado no tiene un impacto significativo sobre la población del cacto anzuelo de Wright, ni contribuye a su disminución poblacional en toda su distribución geográfica.

Two species of Psilochalcis wasps (P. minuta and P. quadratis) were recently described from Utah’s eastern Great Basin. The extent of their known distributions is extremely limited, based on few data points. We developed species distribution models (SDMs) using Maxent modeling software for each Psilochalcis species to identify areas of probable suitable habitat for targeted collecting to improve our knowledge of their distributions. We used six occurrence data points for P. minuta and eight occurrence data points for P. quadratis, along with ten environmental variables as inputs into the Maxent modeling software. Model-predicted areas with a potential suitable habitat value greater than 0.69 were mapped using ArcGIS Pro to help select locations for model accuracy assessment. Employing Malaise traps, eighteen sites were sampled to evaluate each SDM’s ability to predict the occurrence of Psilochalcis species. Psilochalcis minuta occurred at eight of nine juniper-dominated sample sites that were predicted as having high suitability by the model for this species. Likewise, P. quadratis occurred at two of four cheatgrass-dominated sample sites predicted by the model. Psilochalcis minuta occurred at three of nine sampled sites that were not predicted by the model, and P. quadratis occurred at seven of fourteen non-predicted sites. The Maxent SDM results yielded an AUC value of 0.70 and p-value of 0.02 for P. minuta and 0.68 and 0.02. for P. quadratis. These results were reflected in our model accuracy assessment. Of the selected environmental variables, aspect, historic fire disturbance, and elevation yielded the greatest percent contributions to both species’ models. Sympatric distributions were observed for P. minuta and P. quadratis. Elevation, vegetation type, NDVI, and soil type are the most important environmental variables in differentiating areas of optimal suitable habitat for the two species.

New host records are reported for Campiglossa snowi (Hering), Tephritis leavittensis Blanc, and Trupanea nigricornis (Coquillett) on Arnica chamissonis Less. and C. snowi on Arnica mollis Hook. Campiglossa snowi was the only fruit fly reared from A. chamissonis from 3 different populations from the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, over 5 sample years. A total of 1114 specimens of C. snowi were reared from the flower heads of 337 plants averaging 5 flower heads per plant. Seed damage from fly larvae ranged from 0% to 54.8% per capitulum, with an overall average of 18.3% across all years and between 3 sites on the Kenai Peninsula. Infestation rates for individual capitula and entire plants averaged 56.4% and 79.0%, respectively, across all years and sites. Fly abundance was not consistent from year to year, but peaked during 2010, with substantially lower values in years preceding and following the peak. Campiglossa snowi individuals reared from flower heads at additional sites and across multiple states expand the species' known distribution range.

New host records are reported for Campiglossa snowi (Hering), Tephritis leavittensis Blanc, and Trupanea nigricornis (Coquillett) on Arnica chamissonis Less. and C. snowi on Arnica mollis Hook. Campiglossa snowi was the only fruit fly reared from A. chamissonis from 3 different populations from the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, over 5 sample years. A total of 1114 specimens of C. snowi were reared from the flower heads of 337 plants averaging 5 flower heads per plant. Seed damage from fly larvae ranged from 0% to 54.8% per capitulum, with an overall average of 18.3% across all years and between 3 sites on the Kenai Peninsula. Infestation rates for individual capitula and entire plants averaged 56.4% and 79.0%, respectively, across all years and sites. Fly abundance was not consistent from year to year, but peaked during 2010, with substantially lower values in years preceding and following the peak. Campiglossa snowi individuals reared from flower heads at additional sites and across multiple states expand the species' known distribution range.