Quantifying the impacts of future shoreline modification on biodiversity in a case study of coastal Georgia, United States.

People often modify the shoreline to mitigate erosion and protect property from storm impacts. The 2 main approaches to modification are gray infrastructure (e.g., bulkheads and seawalls) and natural or green infrastructure (NI) (e.g., living shorelines). Gray infrastructure is still more often used for coastal protection than NI, despite having more detrimental effects on ecosystem parameters, such as biodiversity. We assessed the impact of gray infrastructure on biodiversity and whether the adoption of NI can mitigate its loss. We examined the literature to quantify the relationship of gray infrastructure and NI to biodiversity and developed a model with temporal geospatial data on ecosystem distribution and shoreline modification to project future shoreline modification for our study location, coastal Georgia (United States). We applied the literature-derived empirical relationships of infrastructure effects on biodiversity to the shoreline modification projections to predict change in biodiversity under different NI versus gray infrastructure scenarios. For our study area, which is dominated by marshes and use of gray infrastructure, when just under half of all new coastal infrastructure was to be NI, previous losses of biodiversity from gray infrastructure could be mitigated by 2100 (net change of biodiversity of +0.14%, 95% confidence interval -0.10% to +0.39%). As biodiversity continues to decline from human impacts, it is increasingly imperative to minimize negative impacts when possible. We therefore suggest policy and the permitting process be changed to promote the adoption of NI.

Cuantificación del impacto de la futura modificación de la costa sobre la biodiversidad en un estudio de caso de la costa de Georgia, Estados Unidos Resumen Las personas modifican con frecuencia la costa para mitigar la erosión o proteger su propiedad del impacto de las tormentas. Los dos enfoques principales para la modificación son la infraestructura gris (p. ej.: mamparos y malecones) y la infraestructura verde o natural (IN) (p.ej.: costas vivientes). La infraestructura gris es más común que la IN, a pesar de que tiene efectos dañinos sobre los parámetros ambientales, como la biodiversidad. Evaluamos el impacto de la infraestructura gris sobre la biodiversidad y si la adopción de la IN puede mitigar su pérdida. Analizamos la literatura para cuantificar la relación de la infraestructura gris y la IN con la biodiversidad. También desarrollamos un modelo con datos geoespaciales temporales sobre la distribución de los ecosistemas y la modificación de la costa para proyectar la modificación costera en el futuro en nuestra localidad de estudio: la costa de Georgia, Estados Unidos. Aplicamos las relaciones empíricas derivadas de la literatura de los efectos de la infraestructura sobre la biodiversidad a las proyecciones de modificación de la costa para predecir el cambio en la biodiversidad bajo diferentes escenarios de infraestructura gris versus IN. En nuestra área de estudio, que está dominada por marismas y usa infraestructura gris, cuando un poco menos de la mitad de toda la infraestructura costera nueva debería ser IN, las pérdidas previas de biodiversidad a partir de la infraestructura gris podrían mitigarse para 2100 (cambio neto de la biodiversidad de +0.14%, 95% intervalo de confianza ­0.10% a +0.39%). Conforme la biodiversidad siga en declive por el impacto humano, cada vez es más imperativo minimizar el impacto negativo cuando sea posible. Por lo tanto, sugerimos que se modifiquen las políticas y el proceso de permisos para promover la adopción de la IN.

Policy and market forces delay real estate price declines on the US coast.

Despite increasing risks from sea-level rise (SLR) and storms, US coastal communities continue to attract relatively high-income residents, and coastal property values continue to rise. To understand this seeming paradox and explore policy responses, we develop the Coastal Home Ownership Model (C-HOM) and analyze the long-term evolution of coastal real estate markets. C-HOM incorporates changing physical attributes of the coast, economic values of these attributes, and dynamic risks associated with storms and flooding. Resident owners, renters, and non-resident investors jointly determine coastal property values and the policy choices that influence the physical evolution of the coast. In the coupled system, we find that subsidies for coastal management, such as beach nourishment, tax advantages for high-income property owners, and stable or increasing property values outside the coastal zone all dampen the effects of SLR on coastal property values. The effects, however, are temporary and only delay precipitous declines as total inundation approaches. By removing subsidies, prices would more accurately reflect risks from SLR but also trigger more coastal gentrification, as relatively high-income owners enter the market and self-finance nourishment. Our results suggest a policy tradeoff between slowing demographic transitions in coastal communities and allowing property markets to adjust smoothly to risks from climate change.

Socioeconomic and environmental predictors of estuarine shoreline hard armoring.

Rising sea levels and growing coastal populations are intensifying interactions at the land-sea interface. To stabilize upland and protect human developments from coastal hazards, landowners commonly emplace hard armoring structures, such as bulkheads and revetments, along estuarine shorelines. The ecological and economic consequences of shoreline armoring have garnered significant attention; however, few studies have examined the extent of hard armoring or identified drivers of hard armoring patterns at the individual landowner level across large geographical areas. This study addresses this knowledge gap by using a fine-scale census of hard armoring along the entire Georgia U.S. estuarine coastline. We develop a parsimonious statistical model that accurately predicts the probability of armoring emplacement at the parcel level based on a set of environmental and socioeconomic variables. Several interacting influences contribute to patterns of shoreline armoring; in particular, shoreline slope and the presence of armoring on a neighboring parcel are strong predictors of armoring. The model also suggests that continued sea level rise and coastal population growth could trigger future increases in armoring, emphasizing the importance of considering dynamic patterns of armoring when evaluating the potential effects of sea level rise. For example, evolving distributions of armoring should be considered in predictions of future salt marsh migration. The modeling approach developed in this study is adaptable to assessing patterns of hard armoring in other regions. With improved understanding of hard armoring distributions, sea level rise response plans can be fully informed to design more efficient scenarios for both urban development and coastal ecosystems.

Comparative Effectiveness of Coalitions Versus Technical Assistance for Depression Quality Improvement in Persons with Multiple Chronic Conditions.

Significance: Prior research suggests that Community Engagement and Planning (CEP) for coalition support compared with Resources for Services (RS) for program technical assistance to implement depression quality improvement programs improves 6- and 12-month client mental-health related quality of life (MHRQL); however, effects for clients with multiple chronic medical conditions (MCC) are unknown. Objective: To explore effectiveness of CEP vs RS in MCC and non-MCC subgroups. Design: Secondary analyses of a cluster-randomized trial. Setting: 93 health care and community-based programs in two neighborhoods. Participants: Of 4,440 clients screened, 1,322 depressed (Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ8) provided contact information, 1,246 enrolled and 1,018 (548 with ≥3 MCC) completed baseline, 6- or 12-month surveys. Intervention: CEP or RS for implementing depression quality improvement programs. Outcomes and Analyses: Primary: depression (PHQ9 <10), poor MHRQL (Short Form Health Survey, SF-12<40); Secondary: mental wellness, good physical health, behavioral health hospitalization, chronic homelessness risk, work/workloss days, services use at 6 and 12 months. End-point regressions were used to estimate intervention effects on outcomes for subgroups with ≥3 MCC, non-MCC, and intervention-by-MCC interactions (exploratory). Results: Among MCC clients at 6 months, CEP vs RS lowered likelihoods of depression and poor MHRQL; increased likelihood of mental wellness; reduced work-loss days among employed and likelihoods of ≥4 behavioral-health hospitalization nights and chronic homelessness risk, while increasing faith-based and park community center depression services; and at 12 months, likelihood of good physical health and park community center depression services use (each P<.05). There were no significant interactions or primary outcome effects for non-MCC. Conclusions: CEP was more effective than RS in improving 6-month primary outcomes among depressed MCC clients, without significant interactions.

Case Study of Resilient Baton Rouge: Applying Depression Collaborative Care and Community Planning to Disaster Recovery.

BACKGROUND: Addressing behavioral health impacts of major disasters is a priority of increasing national attention, but there are limited examples of implementation strategies to guide new disaster responses. We provide a case study of an effort being applied in response to the 2016 Great Flood in Baton Rouge. METHODS: Resilient Baton Rouge was designed to support recovery after major flooding by building local capacity to implement an expanded model of depression collaborative care for adults, coupled with identifying and responding to local priorities and assets for recovery. For a descriptive, initial evaluation, we coupled analysis of documents and process notes with descriptive surveys of participants in initial training and orientation, including preliminary comparisons among licensed and non-licensed participants to identify training priorities. RESULTS: We expanded local behavioral health service delivery capacity through subgrants to four agencies, provision of training tailored to licensed and non-licensed providers and development of advisory councils and partnerships with grassroots and government agencies. We also undertook initial efforts to enhance national collaboration around post-disaster resilience. CONCLUSION: Our partnered processes and lessons learned may be applicable to other communities that aim to promote resilience, as well as planning for and responding to post-disaster behavioral health needs.

Comparative Effectiveness of Two Models of Depression Services Quality Improvement in Health and Community Sectors.

OBJECTIVE: The effectiveness of community coalition building and program technical assistance was compared in implementation of collaborative care for depression among health care and community sector clients. METHODS: In under-resourced communities, within 93 programs randomly assigned to coalition building (Community Engagement and Planning) or program technical assistance (Resources for Services) models, 1,018 clients completed surveys at baseline and at six, 12, or 36 months. Regression analysis was used to estimate intervention effects and intervention-by-sector interaction effects on depression, mental health-related quality of life, and community-prioritized outcomes and on services use. RESULTS: For outcomes, there were few significant intervention-by-sector interactions, and stratified findings suggested benefits of coalition building in both sectors. For services use, at 36 months, increases were found for coalition building in primary care visits, self-help visits, and appropriate treatment for community clients and in community-based services use for health care clients. CONCLUSIONS: Relative to program technical assistance, community coalition building benefited clients across sectors and shifted long-term utilization across sectors.

Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio and duration of prior anti-angiogenic therapy as biomarkers in metastatic RCC receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

BACKGROUND: There is an unmet need to determine factors predictive of clinical benefit, to guide therapeutic sequencing and selection in metastatic RCC (mRCC). We evaluated clinical factors such as the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and duration of prior anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors, as predictors of response rate, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in mRCC patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI). METHODS: Regulatory approval was obtained. A single center retrospective chart review of mRCC patients at Karmanos Cancer Institute, treated with ICI based therapy (PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors) was conducted. Data were collected on demographics, smoking status, prognostic scoring (Memorial Sloan Kettering and Heng criteria), NLR pretherapy, post 1 and 4 doses of ICI, and duration of prior anti-VEGF therapy ≥6 months or <6. RESULTS: 42 patients were evaluated with median age of 61 years (range, 24-85). Pretherapy NLR < 3 and ≥3 was seen in 19 (45%) and 23 (55%) patients, respectively. 24 (57%) and 18 (43%) patients had prior anti-VEGF inhibitors for a duration of ≥6 months and <6 months, respectively. 12 (29%), 22 (52%) and 8 (19%) patients had favorable, intermediate and poor risk disease based on Heng criteria, respectively. Multivariable analysis showed pretherapy NLR ≥3 was predictive of shorter PFS and OS when treated with ICI with median 3.08 months and 13.50 months, respectively, versus 15.57 months and not reached for NLR < 3 (adjusted p-values =0.003 and 0.025, respectively). Prior anti-VEGF therapy <6 months was predictive of increased likelihood of benefit from ICI therapies (adjusted p = 0.028). The median PFS was 3.72 months and 14.33 months, respectively, in cases with prior anti-VEGF therapy for ≥6 months and <6 months. CONCLUSION: Pretherapy NLR <3 and duration of prior anti-VEGF therapy of <6 months, are independent statistically significant predictors of longer PFS and OS with ICI therapy in mRCC. Validation is required in a larger sample size with multi-institutional collaboration.

A Community-Partnered, Participatory, Cluster-Randomized Study of Depression Care Quality Improvement: Three-Year Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Community Partners in Care, a community-partnered, cluster-randomized trial with depressed clients from 93 Los Angeles health and community programs, examined the added value of a community coalition approach (Community Engagement and Planning [CEP]) versus individual program technical assistance (Resources for Services [RS]) for implementing depression quality improvement in underserved communities. CEP was more effective than RS in improving mental health-related quality of life, reducing behavioral health hospitalizations, and shifting services toward community-based programs at six months. At 12 months, continued evidence of improvement was found. This study examined three-year outcomes. METHODS: Among 1,004 participants with depression who were eligible for three-year follow-up, 600 participants from 89 programs completed surveys. Multiple regression analyses estimated intervention effects on poor mental health-related quality of life and depression, physical health-related quality of life, behavioral health hospital nights, and use of services. RESULTS: At three years, no differences were found in the effects of CEP versus RS on depression or mental health-related quality of life, but CEP had modest effects in improving physical health-related quality of life and reducing behavioral health hospital nights, and CEP participants had more social- and community-sector depression visits and greater use of mood stabilizers. Sensitivity analyses with longitudinal modeling reproduced these findings but found no significant differences between groups in change from baseline to three years. CONCLUSIONS: At three years, CEP and RS did not have differential effects on primary mental health outcomes, but CEP participants had modest improvements in physical health and fewer behavioral health hospital nights.

The Effects of Collaborative Care Training on Case Managers' Perceived Depression-Related Services Delivery.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of a depression care quality improvement (QI) intervention implemented by using Community Engagement and Planning (CEP), which supports collaboration across health and community-based agencies, or Resources for Services (RS), which provides technical assistance, on training participation and service delivery by primarily unlicensed, racially and ethnically diverse case managers in two low-income communities in Los Angeles. METHODS: The study was a cluster-randomized trial with program-level assignment to CEP or RS for implementation of a QI initiative for providing training for depression care. Staff with patient contact in 84 health and community-based programs that were eligible for the provider outcomes substudy were invited to participate in training and to complete baseline and one-year follow-up surveys; 117 case managers (N=59, RS; N=58, CEP) from 52 programs completed follow-up. Primary outcomes were time spent providing services in community settings and use of depression case management and problem-solving practices. Secondary outcomes were depression knowledge and attitudes and perceived system barriers. RESULTS: CEP case managers had greater participation in depression training, spent more time providing services in community settings, and used more problem-solving therapeutic approaches compared with RS case managers (p<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Training participation, time spent providing services in community settings, and use of problem-solving skills among primarily unlicensed, racially and ethnically diverse case managers were greater in programs that used CEP rather than RS to implement depression care QI, suggesting that CEP offers a model for including case managers in communitywide depression care improvement efforts.

The content of substance abuse and mental health counseling reported by patients in a national survey.

This study examined counseling content reported by a national sample of persons receiving care for alcohol, drug or mental health (ADM) problems in a year. The sample included 2,722 individuals over 18 who reported past year mental health or substance abuse care or assessments in a nationally representative survey conducted in 2000-2001. Counseling domains approximating commonly practiced or evidence-based approaches for depression, anxiety, or substance abuse were assessed. Patient self-report may be one useful way of tracking whether components of standard therapies are implemented in practice.