DISPATCHES FROM TWO COLD WATER OIL CULTURES: Norway and Newfoundland and Labrador

Describing the quickly changing conversations about offshore oil development in the COVID-19 pre-pandemic and pandemic years, Dale and Farquharson present the deep historical connections across the North Atlantic between Norway and Newfoundland and Labrador in contrast to the profound differences in how the two places are currently managing offshore oil production and futures. Offshore oil matters in these two locations, but in increasingly diverse ways for their political leaders and communities. Dale and Farquharson analyse social media, government documents, and traditional media sources within the context of their own experiences to provide snapshots of two cold water oil cultures. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Fiona Polack and Danine Farquharson;individual chapters, the contributors.

“It’s in Our DNA”: Climate Change and Perceived Resilience and Adaptive Capacity in Nature-Based Tourism in Lofoten, Norway

In 2018, tourism was the fastest growing sector in the world, accounting for 10% of all jobs worldwide and 10.4% of the world’s gross domestic product. Tourism is often cited as a strategy for future development at national, regional, and local levels. This paper takes a closer look at the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway, where the increase in nature-based tourism over the last two decades has occurred in parallel with the restructuring of the traditional fisheries. Nature-based tourism in rural regions relies heavily on a broad range of ecosystem services (ES). This paper will present how stakeholders in nature-based tourism assess the influence of climate change on ES crucial for their activities and for the destination and will outline and explain how the practitioners perceive their ability to withstand or adapt to these changes. With the aid of models depicting potential future climate scenarios, we initiated discussions with stakeholders and found that tourism actors have only to a minor degree sought to develop strategies to increase adaptive capacity and there-fore resilience to climate change. Based on our findings, we discuss how the adaptive capacity of individual actors in nature-based tourism forms the basis for the system’s resilience, and that a general resilience focus also forms the basis for transformational capacity, a capacity needed for future resilience. In light of our findings and analyses, we will conclude by reflecting on overarching systemic transformative tendencies in the wake of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and obligations contained in the Paris Agreement on reducing global emissions. © 2022 American Meteorological Society.

Performance of Donor Derived Cell-Free DNA in Routine Clinical Care of Lung Transplant Recipients, a Multi-Center Study

Purpose Prior observational data suggest that donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) increases in lung transplant acute rejection and infection. The performance of dd-cfDNA in routine clinical care remains undefined. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to mitigate the risk of exposing patients to infection, four centers used dd-cfDNA for surveillance instead of surveillance bronchoscopy, providing a unique opportunity to assess the performance of dd-cfDNA in routine clinical care. Methods As part of routine care during the COVID-19 pandemic, four lung transplant centers implemented a home-based surveillance program using plasma dd-cfDNA (Allosure®) in preference to surveillance bronchoscopy. Based on prior data, dd-cfDNA > 1% triggered further work-up including bronchoscopy. dd-cfDNA testing was also performed in response to a decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), symptoms or treatment follow up. Data was retrospectively analyzed from 4/1/2020 - 9/1/2020 to assess the performance of dd-cfDNA in diagnosing a composite of ACR, AMR and/or infection. Results 169 patients underwent 380 dd-cfDNA measurements over the study period. The mean age was 58.5 years, 54% of patients were male and 82% bilateral lung transplants. 99 (58%) patients were <1 year post-transplant. 327 of 380 dd-cfDNA values were drawn for surveillance reasons. 31 patients had a surveillance level > 1%. Of these, 19/31 (61%) had evidence of ACR, AMR or infection. 115 patients had surveillance levels that remained < 1% over the study period with 109/115 (95%) displaying no clinical evidence of ACR, AMR, infection or decline in FEV1 or symptoms. The remaining 23 patients had levels drawn for clinical indications (non-surveillance). 45 surveillance bronchoscopies were performed with concomitant dd-cfDNA (23 triggered by dd-cfDNA > 1%). For diagnosis of ACR, AMR or infection in these patients, dd-cfDNA > 1% yielded a sensitivity of 84%, specificity of 77%, positive predictive value of 73% and negative predictive value of 87%. Conclusion In this study, dd-cfDNA identified ACR, AMR and/or infection in asymptomatic lung transplant patients that may not have been identified by clinically indicated biopsy alone. Low levels of dd-cfDNA may also be useful in ruling out AMR, ACR and/or infection, supporting its use as a potential non-invasive marker for surveillance monitoring.