This study investigated sex differences in Fe status, and associations between Fe status and endurance and musculoskeletal outcomes, in military training. In total, 2277 British Army trainees (581 women) participated. Fe markers and endurance performance (2·4 km run) were measured at the start (week 1) and end (week 13) of training. Whole-body areal body mineral density (aBMD) and markers of bone metabolism were measured at week 1. Injuries during training were recorded. Training decreased Hb in men and women (mean change (–0·1 (95 % CI –0·2, –0·0) and –0·7 (95 % CI –0·9, –0·6) g/dl, both P < 0·001) but more so in women (P < 0·001). Ferritin decreased in men and women (–27 (95 % CI –28, –23) and –5 (95 % CI –8, –1) µg/l, both P ≤ 0·001) but more so in men (P < 0·001). Soluble transferrin receptor increased in men and women (2·9 (95 % CI 2·3, 3·6) and 3·8 (95 % CI 2·7, 4·9) nmol/l, both P < 0·001), with no difference between sexes (P = 0·872). Erythrocyte distribution width increased in men (0·3 (95 % CI 0·2, 0·4)%, P < 0·001) but not in women (0·1 (95 % CI –0·1, 0·2)%, P = 0·956). Mean corpuscular volume decreased in men (–1·5 (95 % CI –1·8, –1·1) fL, P < 0·001) but not in women (0·4 (95 % CI –0·4, 1·3) fL, P = 0·087). Lower ferritin was associated with slower 2·4 km run time (P = 0·018), sustaining a lower limb overuse injury (P = 0·048), lower aBMD (P = 0·021) and higher beta C-telopeptide cross-links of type 1 collagen and procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (both P < 0·001) controlling for sex. Improving Fe stores before training may protect Hb in women and improve endurance and protect against injury.

Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) TL1 trainees and KL2 scholars were surveyed to determine the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on training and career development. The most negative impact was lack of access to research facilities, clinics, and human subjects, plus for KL2 scholars lack of access to team members and need for homeschooling. TL1 trainees reported having more time to think and write. Common strategies to maintain research productivity involved time management, virtual connections with colleagues, and shifting to research activities not requiring laboratory/clinic settings. Strategies for mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on training and career development are described.

We present a workflow to track icebergs in proglacial fjords using oblique time-lapse photos and the Lucas-Kanade optical flow algorithm. We employ the workflow at LeConte Bay, Alaska, where we ran five time-lapse cameras between April 2016 and September 2017, capturing more than 400 000 photos at frame rates of 0.5–4.0 min−1. Hourly to daily average velocity fields in map coordinates illustrate dynamic currents in the bay, with dominant downfjord velocities (exceeding 0.5 m s−1 intermittently) and several eddies. Comparisons with simultaneous Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements yield best agreement for the uppermost ADCP levels (~ 12 m and above), in line with prevalent small icebergs that trace near-surface currents. Tracking results from multiple cameras compare favorably, although cameras with lower frame rates (0.5 min−1) tend to underestimate high flow speeds. Tests to determine requisite temporal and spatial image resolution confirm the importance of high image frame rates, while spatial resolution is of secondary importance. Application of our procedure to other fjords will be successful if iceberg concentrations are high enough and if the camera frame rates are sufficiently rapid (at least 1 min−1 for conditions similar to LeConte Bay).

The patterns and drivers of late Quaternary vegetation dynamics in the southeastern United States are poorly understood due to low site density, problematic chronologies, and a paucity of independent paleoclimate proxy records. We present a well-dated (15 accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dates) 30,000-yr record from White Pond, South Carolina that consists of high-resolution analyses of fossil pollen, macroscopic charcoal, and Sporormiella spores, and an independent paleotemperature reconstruction based on branched glycerol dialkyl tetraethers. Between 30,000 and 20,000 cal yr BP, open Pinus-Picea forest grew under cold and dry conditions; elevated Quercus before 26,000 cal yr BP, however, suggest warmer conditions in the Southeast before the last glacial maximum, possibly corresponding to regionally warmer conditions associated with Heinrich event H2. Warming between 19,700 and 10,400 cal yr BP was accompanied by a transition from conifer-dominated to mesic hardwood forest. Sporormiella spores were not detected and charcoal was low during the late glacial period, suggesting megaherbivore grazers and fire were not locally important agents of vegetation change. Pinus returned to dominance during the Holocene, with step-like increases in Pinus at 10,400 and 6400 cal yr BP, while charcoal abundance increased tenfold, likely due to increased biomass burning associated with warmer conditions. Low-intensity surface fires increased after 1200 cal yr BP, possibly related to the establishment of the Mississippian culture in the Southeast.

The fossil record displays remarkable stasis in many species over long time periods, yet studies of extant populations often reveal rapid phenotypic evolution and genetic differentiation among populations. Recent advances in our understanding of the fossil record and in population genetics and evolutionary ecology point to the complex geographic structure of species being fundamental to resolution of how taxa can commonly exhibit both short-term evolutionary dynamics and long-term stasis.

GLEAM, the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA survey, is a survey of the entire radio sky south of declination + 25° at frequencies between 72 and 231 MHz, made with the MWA using a drift scan method that makes efficient use of the MWA’s very large field-of-view. We present the observation details, imaging strategies, and theoretical sensitivity for GLEAM. The survey ran for two years, the first year using 40-kHz frequency resolution and 0.5-s time resolution; the second year using 10-kHz frequency resolution and 2 s time resolution. The resulting image resolution and sensitivity depends on observing frequency, sky pointing, and image weighting scheme. At 154 MHz, the image resolution is approximately 2.5 × 2.2/cos (δ + 26.7°) arcmin with sensitivity to structures up to ~ 10° in angular size. We provide tables to calculate the expected thermal noise for GLEAM mosaics depending on pointing and frequency and discuss limitations to achieving theoretical noise in Stokes I images. We discuss challenges, and their solutions, that arise for GLEAM including ionospheric effects on source positions and linearly polarised emission, and the instrumental polarisation effects inherent to the MWA’s primary beam.

The first starfish bed to be recognized from the Antilles is a lensoid body in the middle Miocene Grand Bay Formation of Carriacou, The Grenadines (West Indies). This unit was deposited in a turbidite basin in a region of active volcanism fed from one centre and preserves common deep-water taxa more typical of the Palaeozoic, such as crinoids and brachiopods. The starfish bed is a channel-fill deposit laid down in at least 150–200 m water depth, although the specimens may have been derived from shallower water. A goniasterid asteroid and an ophiacanthid ophiuroid have been recognized. The first articulated asteroid from the Antillean fossil record is Paragonaster(?) haldixoni sp. nov. In all skeletal features it appears close to the extant Atlantic species Paragonaster grandis H. L. Clark and P. subtilis (Perrier), but differs in having a single row of rectangular abactinal ossicles extending to the arm tip; these are longer than wide. The brittlestar, Ophiocamax ventosa sp. nov., is described on the basis of a fragmentary disc and arms from this deposit. The closest similarities are with the extant tropical western Atlantic species Ophiocamax hystrix Lyman and O. austera Verrill. However, the new species has thorns covering the entire surface of dorsal arm plates, while arm spines have a multitude of small thorns, loosely arranged in numerous rows and dorsal arm plate shape differs markedly. The occurrence of O. ventosa sp. nov. suggests that Ophiocamax has been a deep-sea taxon at least since the Miocene.

Vascular dysfunction is recognised as an integrative marker of CVD. While dietary strategies aimed at reducing CVD risk include reductions in the intake of SFA, there are currently no clear guidelines on what should replace SFA. The purpose of this review was to assess the evidence for the effects of total dietary fat and individual fatty acids (SFA, MUFA and n-6 PUFA) on vascular function, cellular microparticles and endothelial progenitor cells. Medline was systematically searched from 1966 until November 2010. A total of fifty-nine peer-reviewed publications (covering fifty-six studies), which included five epidemiological, eighteen dietary intervention and thirty-three test meal studies, were identified. The findings from the epidemiological studies were inconclusive. The limited data available from dietary intervention studies suggested a beneficial effect of low-fat diets on vascular reactivity, which was strongest when the comparator diet was high in SFA, with a modest improvement in measures of vascular reactivity when high-fat, MUFA-rich diets were compared with SFA-rich diets. There was consistent evidence from the test meal studies that high-fat meals have a detrimental effect on postprandial vascular function. However, the evidence for the comparative effects of test meals rich in MUFA or n-6 PUFA with SFA on postprandial vascular function was limited and inconclusive. The lack of studies with comparable within-study dietary fatty acid targets, a variety of different study designs and different methods for determining vascular function all confound any clear conclusions on the impact of dietary fat and individual fatty acids on vascular function.