Across South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini, long-term citizen science atlas data have suggested concerning declines in the population of Black Stork Ciconia nigra. Unlike the Asian and European populations, the southern African Black Stork population is described as resident and is listed as “Vulnerable” in South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini. Here we report on surveys of historical nesting locations across northern South Africa, finding evidence for nest site abandonment and limited evidence of recent breeding. We undertook detailed species distribution modelling within a maximum entropy framework, using occurrence records from the BirdLasser mobile app. We cross-validated the models against information in the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2) database, highlighting Lesotho as an important potential breeding area. Additionally, we used SABAP2 to assess population trends by investigating interannual patterns in reporting rate. Comparing current reporting rates with those from SABAP1 (1987–1992), we found that there has been a dramatic decrease. We noted that a large proportion of the population occurs outside the breeding range during the breeding season, suggesting a considerable non-breeding population, especially in the extensive wildlife refuge of the Kruger National Park. The slow declines observed might be indicative of a population which is not losing many adults but is failing to recruit significant numbers of juveniles due to limited breeding. Using densities derived from transect surveys, we used predictive models to derive estimates of breeding range carrying capacity and a population estimate, which suggested declines to numbers around 600 for this subregion. Minimising disturbance at breeding sites of this cliff-nesting species and improving water quality at key population strongholds are pathways to improving the status of the species in the subregion.

Background: Efficient monitoring of devices to ensure timely removal is an ongoing challenge. There is a need for data visualization products that can aggregate disparate data streams to support device reviews, increase consistency across changes in caregiver teams, and synergize with people and operational processes within and across regional acute-care facilities. Methods: A data display application was developed to provide data from nearly any source in a consistent visual representation that could be used in real time. The infection prevention (IP) overlay combined data related to urinary catheters, central vascular catheters, and femoral vascular catheters from the electronic health record system. Clinical and data experts collaborated to develop data definitions, inclusion criteria, and report components. The application display indicated the current catheter or device status of each patient facility-wide, organized by service unit (Fig. 1). Additional patient information could be accessed from within the application, and a comment feature allowed caregivers to communicate directly through the tool (Fig. 2). Results: Pilot implementation began February 2021, and the NATE IP application was live for all users (unit and facility leaders, providers, infection preventionists, etc) as of July 2021. The tool is currently available for use at 171 acute-care hospitals within the HCA healthcare system, and it accommodated 3 different electronic medical record systems. Usage peaked in August 2021, with an average of 1,700 views per day. Daily utilization maximum ranges from 1,100 to 1,500 views per day, with an average of ~1,300 views per day. The tool is used during daily patient safety rounds, including weekends and holidays. User feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with users reporting an increase in communication, streamlined documentation, improved tracking of reasons to retain, and increased accountability for daily updates. During the proof-of-concept implementation, zero bugs were identified and several feature enhancements were implemented, including addition of port status and device-day reporting counts. Planned enhancements include mupirocin and chlorhexidine bathing use, isolation precaution use, and blood cultures ordered >3 days after admission. Conclusions: The NATE IP tool brings together data related devices into a single view for use by direct caregivers and all levels of leadership. Development of this or similar tools to consolidate various data streams into a central tool facilitates improved communication and consistency between caregiver teams. It also drives operational efficiencies and improves safety. Expansion to incorporate notifications related to potential issue will expand the proactive utility of this tool.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

The Hawaiian archipelago was formerly home to one of the most species-rich land snail faunas (> 752 species), with levels of endemism > 99%. Many native Hawaiian land snail species are now extinct, and the remaining fauna is vulnerable. Unfortunately, lack of information on critical habitat requirements for Hawaiian land snails limits the development of effective conservation strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine the plant host preferences of native arboreal land snails in Puʻu Kukui Watershed, West Maui, Hawaiʻi, and compare these patterns to those from similar studies on the islands of Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi. Concordant with studies on other islands, we found that four species from three diverse families of snails in Puʻu Kukui Watershed had preferences for a few species of understorey plants. These were not the most abundant canopy or mid canopy species, indicating that forests without key understorey plants may not support the few remaining lineages of native snails. Preference for Broussaisia arguta among various island endemic snails across all studies indicates that this species is important for restoration to improve snail habitat. As studies examining host plant preferences are often incongruent with studies examining snail feeding, we suggest that we are in the infancy of defining what constitutes critical habitat for most Hawaiian arboreal snails. However, our results indicate that preserving diverse native plant assemblages, particularly understorey plant species, which facilitate key interactions, is critical to the goal of conserving the remaining threatened snail fauna.

Samples taken from the Dome C ice core, Antarctica, and the GRIP ice core, Greenland, are examined using the scanning electron microscope to determine their microstructure. In both cores, samples are taken from two differing climatic periods: the Holocene and the last glacial period. Many of the usual features observed in similar samples under the light microscope are observed, including: bubbles, grain boundaries and clathrate hydrates. Features not resolvable using the light microscope are also found. Dust particles are found in situ. Eighty-five per cent of those observed contained silicon, which was generally associated with aluminium and magnesium. An estimation is made of the relative proportions of dust particles located at grain boundaries and in the bulk of the ice grain. At Dome C a higher proportion than expected from a random distribution of particles was found located at grain boundaries, although in Greenland this was not found to be the case for most samples. Direct evidence is also presented indicating the role of dust particles and microscopical inclusions in impeding or ``pinning’’ grain-boundary migration. Soluble impurities are also detected at some triple junctions and grain boundaries.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Chosòn Korea government designed and utilized hierarchical tribute systems for managing interactions, in particular, trade, with Japanese and Jurchen elites. Korean officials separated maritime and overland contacts, divided the contacts further into carefully delineated reception grades and diplomatic statuses, and designed detailed procedures for interaction. More specifically, diplomatic status determined the regulations by which the court provided reception and then trade to a contact.

The free market-based policies of the corporate community model have skewed economic development across the South. For many small, rural communities, the consequences of global capitalism have resulted in declining real wages, high underemployment, and increasing rates of income inequality. Backed by recent scholarship and grassroots movements that suggest that both civic engagement and the presence of smaller-scale, locally controlled enterprises can help determine whether communities prosper or decline, this paper explores the links between social structure and rural development in the South. The goal is to expand our understanding of civic community theory as an alternative to the neoclassical economic model of development. Using a local problem-solving framework, we suggest that a departure from the traditional, neoclassical path of development is in order. We conclude that rural policy makers must establish a role for civic community in the rural development process if they wish to protect the welfare of workers and communities, while increasing the prospects of economic growth with prosperity.

Although much information about such processes as cell cycle control, second messenger systems, protein kinases and steroid hormone action has been collected from studies of Xenopus oocyte maturation, we still have very little idea about how the steroid hormone, progesterone, signals the resumption of meiosis from the oocyte plasma membrane. In this review we re-examine the data on second messenger systems in Xenopus oocytes and discuss some of the unresolved questions about hormone signal transduction during maturation. We outline some reasons for the contradictions in the literature and offer some suggestions for avenues of future research.

Functional relationships between the biomaterial interface and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are intimately involved in cellular adhesion and function. Structural changes of ECM proteins upon adsorption to a surface alter the protein's biological activity by varying the availability of molecular binding sites. Recent work using native and organically modified sol-gel silica as a neuronal biointerface revealed that changes in surface nanotopography of bulk versus thin film materials result in dramatic differences in fibronectin structure, cell survival, and neuronal differentiation. In order to further investigate interactions between chemical functionality and surface topography, we evaluated the global conformation of human fibronectin adsorbed to seven different organically modified silica gels and thin films. Chemical functional groups were introduced into the materials either by altering the starting precursor or by doping with poly-l-lysine or polyethylenimine. Surface topography measurements by atomic force microscopy show that films have surface features less than 25 nm while bulk materials of the same precursor chemistry have features ranging from 50 – 100 nm in size. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer spectroscopy (FRET) revealed a strong interaction between surface topography and chemical functionality. Fibronectin remain globular on all bulk materials regardless of chemical modification. The same changes in precursors or dopant chemistry, however, induced changes in the conformation of fibronectin on the thin films. The differentiation of PC12 cells on the surface indicated a strong impact of the surface features and suggest a possible optimal fibronectin folding state.