Trait modality distribution of aquatic macrofauna communities as explained by pesticides and water chemistry

Analyzing functional species’ characteristics (species traits) that represent physiological, life history and morphological characteristics of species help understanding the impacts of various stressors on aquatic communities at field conditions. This research aimed to study the combined effects of pesticides and other environmental factors (temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, floating macrophytes cover, phosphate, nitrite, and nitrate) on the trait modality distribution of aquatic macrofauna communities. To this purpose, a field inventory was performed in a flower bulb growing area of the Netherlands with significant variation in pesticides pressures. Macrofauna community composition, water chemistry parameters and pesticide concentrations in ditches next to flower bulb fields were determined. Trait modalities of nine traits (feeding mode, respiration mode, locomotion type, resistance form, reproduction mode, life stage, voltinism, saprobity, maximum body size) likely to indicate pesticides impacts were analyzed. According to a redundancy analysis, phosphate -and not pesticides- constituted the main factor structuring the trait modality distribution of aquatic macrofauna. The functional composition could be ascribed for 2–4 % to pesticides, and for 3–11 % to phosphate. The lack of trait responses to pesticides may indicate that species may have used alternative strategies to adapt to ambient pesticides stress. Biomass of animals exhibiting trait modalities related to feeding by predation and grazing, presence of diapause form or dormancy, reproduction by free clutches and ovoviviparity, life stage of larvae and pupa, was negatively correlated to the concentration of phosphate. Hence, despite the high pesticide pollution in the area, variation in nutrient-related stressors seems to be the dominant driver of the functional composition of aquatic macrofauna assembly in agricultural ditches.     

Uncertainty evaluation at three spatial scales for the NDVI-based VWC estimation method used in the SMAP algorithm

Vegetation water content (VWC) is the key input parameter for a soil moisture retrieval algorithm based on microwave remote sensing, and VWC uncertainty can limit the estimated accuracy of soil moisture. There has been little research on VWC algorithm development and validation in China, and the uncertainty of the VWC estimation method has not been well evaluated. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the uncertainty of the VWC estimation method used in the SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) algorithm on three spatial scales (the point-scale, 30 m scale, and 1 km scale) for maize in northeast China. Results from three ground experimental datasets showed that the SMAP VWC estimation method was strongly biased with an average overestimation of 1.16 kg m^?2,1.04 kg m^?2, and 1.13 kg m^?2 for the point-scale, 30 m scale, and 1 km scale respectively, and maximum bias occurred in the mid-stage of maize. Also, a new power relationship between NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and VWC was proposed for the 30 m scale based on Sentinel 2 NDVI and field VWC values from 2017 experiment, with respective R² (coefficient of determination) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) values of 0.80 and 0.67 kg m^?2. The results confirmed that this power relationship was still suitable for VWC estimation at the 1 km scale, and it has smaller bias than the original SMAP VWC method. Future work will be carried out to evaluate the applicability of this VWC estimation method over a lager region. It is expected that it can improve the accuracy of soil moisture by providing high precision VWC input parameters.     

A Tool to Assess Patient and Surrogate Knowledge About the POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) Program

ContextIt is especially important that patients are well informed when making high-stakes, preference-sensitive decisions like those on the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form. However, there is currently no way to easily evaluate whether patients understand key concepts when making these important decisions.ObjectivesTo develop a POLST knowledge survey.MethodsExpert (n = 62) ratings of key POLST facts were used to select items for a POLST knowledge survey. The survey was administered to nursing facility residents (n = 97) and surrogate decision-makers (n = 112). A subset (n = 135) were re-administered the survey after a standardized advance care planning discussion to assess the scale's responsiveness to change.ResultsThe 19-item survey demonstrated adequate reliability (α = 0.72.). Residents' scores (x = 11.4, standard deviation 3.3) were significantly lower than surrogate scores (x = 14.7, standard deviation 2.5) (P < 0.001). Scores for both groups increased significantly after administration of a standardized advance care planning discussion (P < 0.001). Although being a surrogate, age, race, education, cognitive functioning, and health literacy were significantly associated with higher POLST Knowledge Survey scores in univariate analyses, only being a surrogate (P < 0.001) and being white (P = 0.028) remained significantly associated with higher scores in multivariate analyses.ConclusionThe 19-item POLST Knowledge Survey demonstrated adequate reliability and responsiveness to change. Findings suggest the survey could be used to identify knowledge deficits and provide targeted education to ensure adequate understanding of key clinical decisions when completing POLST.