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Native tallgrass prairies once covered much of the North American Great Plains but have largely been converted to agriculture and other land uses. The remaining areas of native prairie thus serve as critical benchmarks for understanding global change. Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS) is located within one of the largest remaining areas of native tallgrass prairie. Streams within the biological station are characterized by hydrologic extremes, including prolonged periods of drying in some reaches. Additionally, experimental grazing and prescribed burn treatments vary among sub‐watersheds. To examine the effects of surface water permanence, grazing, and prescribed burns, we collected stream aquatic macroinvertebrate samples from 10 sites annually for 2 years. We targeted both benthic and edge aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in our sampling. We also used continuous logger data from each site to classify sites as one of three stream types: short‐flowing, long‐flowing, or perennial. We expected aquatic macroinvertebrate richness and diversity to increase with surface water permanence and to be greater at sites located in sub‐watersheds where no grazing or prescribed burns occur. Our analysis showed that benthic and edge macroinvertebrate richness varied with stream type and sampling year. Richness tended to increase with surface water permanence and was greater in the first year of sampling. The composition of benthic and edge communities also varied with stream type and sampling year. Macroinvertebrate diversity did not vary with any of the variables considered. Additionally, we found no impact of grazing or burn regime on aquatic macroinvertebrate community richness, diversity, or composition. In many parts of the Great Plains, streamflow is not sufficiently protected, and the spatial and temporal extent of stream drying is expanding. Our work underscores the importance of protecting streamflow in the Great Plains and that doing so is likely to benefit stream ecosystems even in the presence of potential co‐occurring disturbances. Konza Prairie Biological Station, located within one of the largest remaining areas of native tallgrass prairie, is unique in that grazing and prescribed burn treatments, as well as surface water permanence, vary spatially. We found that aquatic macroinvertebrate communities vary with streamflow permanence, but not grazing presence or prescribed burns treatments. Research that takes place in remaining native prairies, like Konza Prairie Biological Station, is critical to inform the conservation of streams in these rare, native ecosystems as well as the restoration of prairie streams that are more impacted.

Extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles constitute the major neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is now apparent that parenchymal Aβ plaque deposition precedes behavioral signs of disease by several years. The development of agents that can target these plaques may be useful as diagnostic or therapeutic tools. In this study, we synthesized an Aβ-targeted lipid conjugate, incorporated it in stealth liposomal nanoparticles and tested their ability to bind amyloid plaque deposits in an AD mouse model. The results show that the particles maintain binding profiles to synthetic Aβ aggregates comparable to the free ligand, and selectively bind Aβ plaque deposits in brain tissue sections of an AD mouse model (APP/PSEN1 transgenic mice) with high efficiency. When administered intravenously, these long circulating nanoparticles appear to cross the blood-brain barrier and bind to Aβ plaque deposits, labeling parenchymal amyloid deposits and vascular amyloid characteristic of cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

Interdisciplinary teams are on the rise as scientists attempt to address complex environmental issues. While the benefits of team science approaches are clear, researchers often struggle with its implementation, particularly for new team members. The challenges of large projects often weigh on the most vulnerable members of a team: trainees, including undergraduate students, graduate students, and post‐doctoral researchers. Trainees on big projects have to navigate their role on the team, with learning project policies, procedures, and goals, all while also training in key scientific tasks such as co‐authoring papers. To address these challenges, we created and participated in a project‐specific, graduate‐level team science course. The purposes of this course were to: (1) introduce students to the goals of the project, (2) build trainees' understanding of how big projects operate, and (3) allow trainees to explore how their research interests dovetailed with the overall project. Additionally, trainees received training regarding: (1) diversity, equity & inclusion, (2) giving and receiving feedback, and (3) effective communication. Onboarding through the team science course cultivated psychological safety and a collaborative student community across disciplines and institutions. Thus, we recommend a team science course for onboarding students to big projects to help students establish the skills necessary for collaborative research. Project‐based team science classes can benefit student advancement, enhance the productivity of the project, and accelerate the discovery of solutions to ecological issues by building community, establishing a shared project vocabulary, and building a workforce with collaborative skills to better answer ecological research questions. Team Science is on the rise to address complex ecological issues which cannot be tackled in individual research labs or management programs. Students on big projects often struggle with a clear understanding of the projects goals, their role on the team, project policies and procedures, and knowing how to engage in key scientific tasks such as co‐authoring papers. We recommend that big, collaborative projects begin with formal Team Science courses for trainees, which benefits student advancement, enhances the productivity of the project, and accelerates the discovery of solutions to ecological issues.

Eutrophication has become one of the most widespread anthropogenic forces impacting freshwater biological diversity. One potentially important mechanism driving biodiversity changes in response to eutrophication is the alteration of seasonal patterns of succession, particularly among species with short, synchronous, life cycles. We tested the hypothesis that eutrophication reduces seasonally driven variation in species assemblages by focusing on an understudied aspect of biodiversity: temporal beta diversity (βt). We estimated the effect of eutrophication on βt by sampling benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages bimonthly for two years across 35 streams spanning a steep gradient of total phosphorus (P) and benthic algal biomass (as chlorophyll a [chl a]). Two widely used metrics of β diversity both declined sharply in response to increasing P and chl a, regardless of covariates. The most parsimonious explanatory model for βt included an interaction between P and macroinvertebrate biomass, which revealed that βt was lower when macroinvertebrate biomass was relatively high. Macroinvertebrate biomass explained a greater amount of deviance in βt at lower to moderate concentrations of P, providing additional explanatory power where P concentration alone was unable to fully explain declines in βt. Chl a explained similar amounts of deviance in βt in comparison to the best P model, but only when temperature variability, which was positively related to βt, also was included in the model. Declines in βt suggest that nutrient enrichment decreases the competitive advantage that specialists gain by occupying particular temporal niches, which leads to assemblages dominated by generalists that exhibit little seasonal turnover. The collapse of seasonal variation in assemblage composition we observed in our study suggests that treating dynamic communities as static assemblages is a simplification that may fail to detect the full impact of anthropogenic stressors. Our results show that eutrophication leads to more temporally homogenous communities and therefore degrades a fundamental facet of biodiversity.

Adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) presents a unique and growing patient population, but there are no data to suggest there are sufficient training programs available to train specialists to meet the needs of this population. The objective of this national survey was to determine the current status of ACHD fellowship curricula and training. An online questionnaire was provided to adult and pediatric cardiology fellowship programs to determine program demographics, status, duration, faculty teaching responsibilities, volume or patient exposure, and institutional obstacles. Of the 225 programs surveyed, 81 responded (36%). Nearly all were university affiliated (93%) with <1/3 (29%) reporting an ACHD fellowship program. Most offered either a 1- (42%) or a 2-year (47%) fellowship. ACHD fellowship funding was provided by hospital budget (68%). Half reported an increase in applicants to their fellowship. Applicants were more likely to have had previous training in adult cardiovascular medicine (56%). Respondents ranked “Volume of Outpatients/Year” and “Lack of Institutional Support” as the most important aspect of an ACHD program to applicants and greatest obstacle to ACHD training, respectively. After training, ACHD fellows obtained adult cardiology/ACHD positions (47%) and were within an academic center (88%). In conclusion, the results demonstrate a deficiency in the number of currently available ACHD fellowship programs. Measures should be taken to strengthen and standardize ACHD training to meet the increasing workforce requirements of this population.

One important mechanism governing the temporal maintenance of biodiversity is asynchrony in co-occurring competitors due to fluctuating environments (i.e., compensatory dynamics). Temporal niche partitioning has evolved in response to predictable oscillations in environmental conditions so that species may offset competition, but we do not yet have a clear understanding of how novel anthropogenic stressors alter seasonal patterns of succession. Many primary producers are nutrient limited, and enrichment may decrease the importance of environmental fluctuations that govern which species are effective competitors under naturally low nutrient regimes. Consequently, elevated nutrient concentrations may synchronize species responses to seasonality. By studying benthic algal assemblages over 2 years from 35 streams that spanned a wide gradient of nutrient enrichment, we found that compensatory dynamics characterizing seasonal succession under natural nutrient regimes broke down at relatively low levels of total phosphorus (P) enrichment (∼ 25 μg/L). With increasing P more species were able to coexist at any given time, and seasonal variation in assemblage composition was characterized by synchronous swings in species biovolumes. We also observed much higher instability in assemblage biovolumes with declines in compensatory dynamics, which indicates that anthropogenic alteration of nutrient regimes can affect community stability by changing the dominant mode of seasonal succession. Our findings indicate that compensatory fluctuations of stream algae are driven by seasonality and provide insight about how nutrient enrichment alters evolved drivers of species coexistence.

More adults than children are now living in the United States with congenital heart disease (CHD). To accommodate the needs of this burgeoning population, there are an increasing number of centers providing care for adults with CHD. We sought to identify pertinent obstacles encountered in the development of a newly established adult CHD program. A survey regarding CHD knowledge, insurance, and cardiovascular counseling was provided to new clinic patients aged ≥18 years. Crosstab correlations were performed to identify relations among categorical variables. Of 145 subjects (54% women; mean age 31 ± 11 years), 84% had at least moderately complex CHD. Household income was <$40,000 for 51% of subjects. There were a significantly greater number of adults, aged 30 to 54 years, with public insurance compared with the national average (p = 0.005). Of 83% of subjects reporting CHD knowledge, 71% correctly identified their defect. Self-reported CHD knowledge correlated positively with higher education (p = 0.019), higher income (p = 0.036), health maintenance organization or preferred provider organization insurance (p = 0.01), and higher level of CHD complexity (p = 0.012); however, none of these factors significantly affected correct identification of one's CHD. In fact, patients with the most complex disease were the least likely to correctly identify their defects. In general, cardiovascular and sexual health screening was lacking. In conclusion, adult patients with CHD require robust ancillary services and special attention to lifelong insurance and counseling. Implementation of a health-care strategy to identify patients' needs can help to overcome socioeconomic obstacles and contribute to the success of the newly established adult CHD program.

Purpose of the ReviewTo review the current state of literature on sexual dysfunction in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD).Recent FindingsThe prevalence of sexual dysfunction in ACHD is approximately 28%. Compared to age-matched cohorts, the prevalence of sexual dysfunction among ACHD cohorts demonstrates significant variability. ACHD have a lower rate of ever having sexual intercourse and often at a later age. Regardless of complexity, ACHD with sexual dysfunction have higher level of distress, decreased quality of life, and worse New York Heart Association classification. Patients, including heart failure and ACHD, treated with dual angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor have reported improved sexual relationships.SummaryThe prevalence of sexual dysfunction in ACHD patients is high and sexual dysfunction research in ACHD remains limited. Therefore, the relationship between sexual dysfunction and ACHD remains ill-defined. Cardiologists that participate in the care of these patients should proactively discuss sexual health and provide counseling and therapies to provide high-quality healthcare for ACHD.

Lack of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data creates barriers for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people in health care. Barriers to SOGI data collection include physician misperception that patients do not want to answer these questions and discomfort asking SOGI questions. This study aimed to assess patient comfort towards SOGI questions across five quaternary care adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) centres. A survey administered to ACHD patients (≥18 years) asked (1) two-step gender identity and birth sex, (2) acceptance of SOGI data, and (3) the importance for ACHD physicians to know SOGI data. Chi-square tests were used to analyse differences among demographic groups and logistic regression modelled agreement with statement of patient disclosure of SOGI improving patient-physician communication. Among 322 ACHD patients, 82% identified as heterosexual and 16% identified as LGBTQ+, across the age ranges 18-29 years (39.4%), 30-49 years (47.8%), 50-64 years (8.7%), and > 65 years (4.0%). Respondents (90.4%) felt comfortable answering SOGI questions. Respondents with bachelor's/higher education were more likely to \"agree\" that disclosure of SOGI improves patient-physician communication compared to those with less than bachelor's education (OR = 2.45; 95% CI 1.41, 4.25; p = .0015). These findings suggest that in this largely heterosexual population, SOGI data collection is unlikely to cause patient discomfort. Respondents with higher education were twice as likely to agree that SOGI disclosure improves patient-physician communication. The inclusion of SOGI data in future studies will provide larger samples of underrepresented minorities (e.g. LGBTQ+ population), thereby reducing healthcare disparities within the field of cardiovascular research.

The relationship between smoking and illness perceptions among congenital heart disease (CHD) survivors is unknown. The primary aims of the present study were to compare the smoking prevalence among CHD survivors to a nationally representative U.S. sample and examine the relationship between smoking and illness perceptions. CHD survivors (N = 744) from six U.S. sites participated in the study. The smoking prevalence among CHD survivors (9.3%) was lower than the general population (15.3%). However, 23.3% of CHD survivors with severe functional limitations smoked. Smoking prevalence differed by U.S. region, with a greater proportion of those attending CHD care in the Midwest reporting smoking (11.8%). The illness perception dimensions of Concern and Emotional Response were independently associated with smoking. Differences in illness perceptions enhance our understanding of smoking among CHD survivors and may guide interventions promoting positive health behaviors. The protocol for the study from which the present analyses were conducted was recorded at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02150603.