Comparison of transabdominal ultrasound and electromagnetic transponders for prostate localization.

The aim of this study is to compare two methodologies of prostate localization in a large cohort of patients. Daily prostate localization using B-mode ultrasound has been performed at the Nebraska Medical Center since 2000. More recently, a technology using electromagnetic transponders implanted within the prostate was introduced into our clinic (Calypso(R)). With each technology, patients were localized initially using skin marks. Localization error distributions were determined from offsets between the initial setup positions and those determined by ultrasound or Calypso. Ultrasound localization data was summarized from 16619 imaging sessions spanning 7 years; Calypso localization data consists of 1524 fractions in 41 prostate patients treated in the course of a clinical trial at five institutions and 640 localizations from the first 16 patients treated with our clinical system. Ultrasound and Calypso patients treated between March and September 2007 at the Nebraska Medical Center were analyzed and compared, allowing a single institutional comparison of the two technologies. In this group of patients, the isocenter determined by ultrasound-based localization is on average 5.3 mm posterior to that determined by Calypso, while the systematic and random errors and PTV margins calculated from the ultrasound localizations were 3 - 4 times smaller than those calculated from the Calypso localizations. Our study finds that there are systematic differences between Calypso and ultrasound for prostate localization

A preliminary report on the contact-independent antagonism of Pseudogymnoascus destructans by Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain DAP96253.

BackgroundThe recently-identified causative agent of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has been responsible for the mortality of an estimated 5.5 million North American bats since its emergence in 2006. A primary focus of the National Response Plan, established by multiple state, federal and tribal agencies in 2011, was the identification of biological control options for WNS. In an effort to identify potential biological control options for WNS, multiply induced cells of Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain DAP96253 was screened for anti-P. destructans activity.ResultsConidia and mycelial plugs of P. destructans were exposed to induced R. rhodochrous in a closed air-space at 15°C, 7°C and 4°C and were evaluated for contact-independent inhibition of conidia germination and mycelial extension with positive results. Additionally, in situ application methods for induced R. rhodochrous, such as fixed-cell catalyst and fermentation cell-paste in non-growth conditions, were screened with positive results. R. rhodochrous was assayed for ex vivo activity via exposure to bat tissue explants inoculated with P. destructans conidia. Induced R. rhodochrous completely inhibited growth from conidia at 15°C and had a strong fungistatic effect at 4°C. Induced R. rhodochrous inhibited P. destructans growth from conidia when cultured in a shared air-space with bat tissue explants inoculated with P. destructans conidia.ConclusionThe identification of inducible biological agents with contact-independent anti- P. destructans activity is a major milestone in the development of viable biological control options for in situ application and provides the first example of contact-independent antagonism of this devastating wildlife pathogen

Financing Universal Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Under the Sustainable Development Goals: UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2017 Report

This GLAAS 2017 report is the fourth periodic report, and first thematic report, following on from earlier reports in 2010, 2012, and 2014. It presents an analysis of the most reliable and up-to-date data from 75 countries and 25 external support agencies (ESAs) on the issues related to WASH financing and other elements of the enabling environment, including plans, targets, data availability and measures to reach vulnerable populations

Review of Rabies Preventions and Control

Rabies is an acute viral infection of the central nervous system, caused by a lyssavirus in the family Rhabdoviridae. It is zoonotic viral disease that can affect all mammals, including humans, cats, dogs, and wildlife and farm animals. The virus is present in the saliva of affected animals, and the most frequent method of transmission to humans is by bites, scratches or licks to broken skin or mucous membranes. The disease has a long incubation period (six months) and symptoms may take several weeks to appear after infection. The first clinical symptom is neuropathic pain at the site of infection or wound due to viral replication. Diagnosis can only be confirmed by laboratory tests preferably conducted post mortem on central nervous system tissue removed from cranium. This paper reviews the possible prevention and control of rabies. Essential components of rabies prevention and control include ongoing public education, responsible pet ownership, routine veterinary care and vaccination, and professional continuing education. Control strategies include quarantine, confirmation of diagnosis, determining the origin and spread of an outbreak. Since rabies is invariably fatal and deadly viral disease that can only be prevented the collaborative effort between Veterinarians and human health care professionals are needed in the prevention and control of rabies

Conservation planning with spatially explicit models : a case for horseshoe bats in complex mountain landscapes

This work was partly Funded by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, France in support of the development of the DEB-MOCHAB project (2013–2015) (Species distribution modelling: a tool for evaluation the conservation of species’ habitats and ecological continuities). This work was also partially supported by the OpenNESS project funded from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n° 308428.Context Bats are considered as an ecological indicator of habitat quality due to their sensitivity to human-induced ecosystem changes. Hence, we will focus the study on two indicator species of bats as a proxy to evaluate structure and composition of the landscape to analyze anthropic pressures driving changes in patterns. Objectives This study develops a spatially-explicit model to highlight key habitat nodes and corridors which are integral for maintaining functional landscape connectivity for bat movement. We focus on a complex mountain landscape and two bat species: greater (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and lesser (Rhinolophus hipposideros) horseshoe bats which are known to be sensitive to landscape composition and configuration. Methods Species distribution models are used to delineate high-quality foraging habitat for each species using opportunistic ultrasonic bat data. We then performed connectivity analysis combining (modelled) suitable foraging habitat and (known) roost sites. We use graph-theory and the deviation in the probability of connectivity to quantify resilience of the landscape connectivity to perturbations. Results Both species were confined to lowlands (<1000 m elevation) and avoided areas with high road densities. Greater horseshoe bats were more generalist than lesser horseshoe bats which tended to be associated with broadleaved and mixed forests. Conclusions The spatially-explicit models obtained were proven crucial for prioritizing foraging habitats, roost sites and key corridors for conservation. Hence, our results are being used by key stakeholders to help integrate conservation measures into forest management and conservation planning at the regional level. The approach used can be integrated into conservation initiatives elsewhere.PostprintPeer reviewe

Editorial: Ecology and behaviour of free-ranging animals studied by advanced data-logging and tracking techniques

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Wassmer, T., Jensen, F. H., Fahlman, A., & Murray, D. L. Editorial: Ecology and behaviour of free-ranging animals studied by advanced data-logging and tracking techniques. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 8, (2020): 113, doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.00113.Many details of the behavior, life history and eco-physiology of animals, even among intensively-studied species, remain unknown. Direct observation is a laborious process only amenable for accessible and non-cryptic species, whereas traditional radio telemetry does not directly provide information on the diversity and complexity of animal physiology and behavior. Further, both methods are laborious and/or expensive, and may lead to biased data when physiology and/or behaviors are altered by marking or tracking (Boyer-Ontl and Pruetz, 2014; Nowak et al., 2014; Welch et al., 2018; see also Le Grand et al.). Ultimately, these methods provide only a fragmentary overview of animal behavior patterns during periods when individuals can be readily detected and surveyed while leaving activities during other times obscured. However, the ongoing miniaturization, sensor development, and increased affordability of data logging and advanced telemetric devices offers the potential for continuous and intensive data collection, thereby potentially allowing researchers to more rigorously investigate both physiology and behavior of animals that are difficult to study using traditional observational methods. Owing to these new technologies, we are at the cusp of a truly revolutionary opportunity to address important and longstanding knowledge gaps in animal eco-physiology. To that end, the special section entitled Ecology and Behaviour of Free-Ranging Animals Studied by Advanced Data-Logging and Tracking Techniques includes 22 papers that report on and quantify otherwise hidden aspects of the biology of a variety of mammals, birds, and even invertebrates, across diverse environments including land, water, and air. The highlighted studies focus on fields ranging from basic animal behavior and ecology to eco-physiology; several papers adopt an integrative approach, providing a rather comprehensive understanding of individual time budgets and their implications. Ultimately and collectively, these contributions serve as testament to the drastic improvement in the level of ecological inference that can be derived from research studies involving the use of data-logging and tracking devices that are currently available

Nature-inspired Methods for Stochastic, Robust and Dynamic Optimization

Nature-inspired algorithms have a great popularity in the current scientific community, being the focused scope of many research contributions in the literature year by year. The rationale behind the acquired momentum by this broad family of methods lies on their outstanding performance evinced in hundreds of research fields and problem instances. This book gravitates on the development of nature-inspired methods and their application to stochastic, dynamic and robust optimization. Topics covered by this book include the design and development of evolutionary algorithms, bio-inspired metaheuristics, or memetic methods, with empirical, innovative findings when used in different subfields of mathematical optimization, such as stochastic, dynamic, multimodal and robust optimization, as well as noisy optimization and dynamic and constraint satisfaction problems

Winter Torpor and Roosting Ecology of Tri-Colored Bats (\u3ci\u3ePerimyotis subflavus\u3c/i\u3e) in Trees and Bridges

Subterranean hibernating tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) have experienced precipitous declines from white-nose syndrome (WNS). However, tri-colored bats also use thermally unstable roosts like tree cavities, bridges, and foliage during winter. Our objective was to determine where tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) using thermally unstable roosts lie on the torpor continuum to understand their potential WNS susceptibility, as well as determine roost use and selection in an area devoid of subterranean roosts. From November to March 2017-2019, we used temperature-sensitive radio-transmitters to track bats to their day roosts and document their torpor and activity patterns on the Savannah River Site in south-central South Carolina. We measured habitat and tree characteristics of 24 used trees and 153 random trees and used discrete choice models to determine selection. Torpid bout duration (mean 2.7 ± 2.8 days SD) was negatively related to ambient temperature and positively related to precipitation. Bats maintained a non-random arousal pattern focused near dusk and were active on 33.6% of tracked days. Of arousals, 51% contained a passive rewarming component. Normothermic bout duration, general activity, and activity away from the roost were positively related to ambient temperature, and activity away from the roost was negatively related to barometric pressure. Days were cooler (8.7°C ± 5.0) when bats used bridges than on days that they used trees (11.3°C ± 5.4). Roost selection was negatively related to stream distance and tree decay state and positively related to canopy closure and cavity abundance. Bats also appeared to favor hardwood forests and avoid pine forests. Tri-colored bats using thermally unstable roosts at SRS displayed winter torpor more reminiscent of daily torpor than classic hibernation. Our results suggest tri-colored bats in thermally unstable roosts may be less susceptible to white-nose syndrome than hibernating tri-colored bats in thermally stable roosts. Our results also suggest that access to multiple roost microclimates may be important for tri-colored bats during winter and forest management practices which retain live trees near streams with multiple roosting structures and foster cavity formation in hardwood forests will likely benefit this population. An understanding of tri-colored bat winter torpor and roosting ecology in areas devoid of subterranean roosts is increasingly important due to WNS-related declines of populations using subterranean hibernacula

Stable isotope analyses of bat fur: Applications for investigating North American bat migration

Many aspects of North American bat migration are not well documented. Stable isotope analyses of animal tissues can elucidate migratory origin, but this technique has not been widely applied to bats. This dissertation i) uses fur stable isotope analyses to investigate North American bat migration and ii) highlights some of the strengths and weaknesses of this analytical technique when applied to bat systems. I conducted stable hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen isotope analyses on fur from five bat species. I documented δDfur heterogeneity in summer resident populations of Myotis lucifugus, Lasiurus borealis, Lasiurus cinereus, and Lasionycteris noctivagans. Stable hydrogen isotope composition varied systematically within and among individuals, age groups, species, sites, and over time. Bats from proximate colonies were discriminated using multi- isotope analyses and stable isotope correlations existed in some species. I investigated the origins of fall migrant L. noctivagans and L. borealis in Ontario. Stable isotope evidence did not indicate that migrant L. noctivagans originated from a wide range of latitudes, or that latitudinal origin varied with time or migrant “wave”. Lasiurus borealis results were highly variable and further work is required before ecological conclusions can be drawn from stable isotope results from this species. I investigated the annual migratory movements of tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus), a presumed regional migrant. Stable hydrogen isotope results indicated that some bats engaged in southern migration, a behavior not previously described for this species. More males than females migrated south and southern migrants were at the latitudinal extremes of the species’ range