Attempted re-establishment of a sooty tern Onychoprion fuscatus breeding colony on Denis Island, Seychelles

Seychelles supports around three million nesting pairs of sooty terns. However, there have been recent declines and the colonies continue to face ongoing threats from habitat change and excessive commercial harvesting of their eggs, as well as potential threats by commercial fishing and climate change. A possible method to counter these threats is to re-establish breeding colonies on islands from which they have disappeared. An attempt was made to attract birds to a previously occupied island through habitat management, decoy birds and playback of recorded sooty tern calls. Habitat preparation involved predator eradication and tree removal to provide open ground with bare sandy areas and low herb vegetation. Overflying birds were attracted by broadcast calls, with some circling over and landing among the decoys. Large three-dimensional plastic models were superior to other models presented. This study demonstrated that large numbers of birds can be attracted by these means and that the birds then undertook behaviour associated with breeding, including egg laying by a few birds. However, after five seasons a breeding colony has not yet been established; one possible cause is the emergence of unexpected egg predators, common moorhen Gallinula chloropus and common myna Acridotheres tristis

2022 Update of the consensus on the rational use of antithrombotics and thrombolytics in Veterinary Critical Care (CURATIVE) Domain 1‐ Defining populations at risk

Objectives To expand the number of conditions and interventions explored for their associations with thrombosis in the veterinary literature and to provide the basis for prescribing recommendations. Design A population exposure comparison outcome format was used to represent patient, exposure, comparison, and outcome. Population Exposure Comparison Outcome questions were distributed to worksheet authors who performed comprehensive searches, summarized the evidence, and created guideline recommendations that were reviewed by domain chairs. The revised guidelines then underwent the Delphi survey process to reach consensus on the final guidelines. Diseases evaluated in this iteration included heartworm disease (dogs and cats), immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (cats), protein-losing nephropathy (cats), protein-losing enteropathy (dogs and cats), sepsis (cats), hyperadrenocorticism (cats), liver disease (dogs), congenital portosystemic shunts (dogs and cats) and the following interventions: IV catheters (dogs and cats), arterial catheters (dogs and cats), vascular access ports (dogs and cats), extracorporeal circuits (dogs and cats) and transvenous pacemakers (dogs and cats). Results Of the diseases evaluated in this iteration, a high risk for thrombosis was defined as heartworm disease or protein-losing enteropathy. Low risk for thrombosis was defined as dogs with liver disease, cats with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, protein-losing nephropathy, sepsis, or hyperadrenocorticism. Conclusions Associations with thrombosis are outlined for various conditions and interventions and provide the basis for management recommendations. Numerous knowledge gaps were identified that represent opportunities for future studies

Evolution of African cassava mosaic virus by recombination between bipartite and monopartite begomoviruses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is a major constraint on cassava cultivation in Africa. The disease is endemic and is caused by seven distinct cassava mosaic geminiviruses (CMGs), some of them including several variants.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>From cassava leaf samples presenting CMD symptoms collected in Burkina Faso, four DNA-A begomovirus components were cloned and sequenced, showing 99.9% nucleotide identity among them. These isolates are most closely related to <it>African cassava mosaic virus </it>(ACMV) but share less than 89% nucleotide identity (taxonomic threshold) with any previously described begomovirus. A DNA-B genomic component, sharing 93% nucleotide identity with DNA-B of ACMV, was also characterized. Since all genomic components have a typical genome organization of Old World bipartite begomoviruses, this new species was provisionally named African cassava mosaic Burkina Faso virus (ACMBFV). Recombination analysis of the new virus demonstrated an interspecies recombinant origin, with major parents related to West African isolates of ACMV, and minor parents related to <it>Tomato leaf curl Cameroon virus </it>and <it>Cotton leaf curl Gezira virus</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first report of an ACMV-like recombinant begomovirus arisen by interspecific recombination between bipartite and monopartite African begomoviruses.</p

Overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health status, 2015

The main purpose of the Overview is to provide a comprehensive summary of the most recent indicators of the health and current health status of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people. It has been prepared by Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet staff as part of our contribution to supporting those who work in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector. The Overview is a key element of the HealthInfoNet commitment to authentic and engaged knowledge development and exchange. The initial sections of this Overview provide information about the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, population, and various measures of population health status. Most of the subsequent sections about specific health conditions comprise an introduction about the condition and evidence of the current burden of the condition among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Information is provided for state and territories and for demographics such as sex and age when it is available and appropriate

Maïdo observatory: a new high-altitude station facility at Reunion Island (21° S, 55° E) for long-term atmospheric remote sensing and in situ measurements

Since the nineties, atmospheric measurement systems have been deployed at Reunion Island, mainly for monitoring the atmospheric composition in the framework of NDSC/NDACC (Network for the Detection of <i>Stratospheric</i> Change/Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change). The location of Reunion Island presents a great interest because there are very few multi-instrumented stations in the tropics and particularly in the southern hemisphere. In 2012, a new observatory was commissioned in Maïdo at 2200 m above sea level: it hosts various instruments for atmospheric measurements, including lidar systems, spectro-radiometers and in situ gas and aerosol measurements. <br><br> This new high-altitude Maïdo station provides an opportunity:<br> 1. to improve the performance of the optical instruments above the marine boundary layer, and to open new perspectives on upper troposphere and lower stratosphere studies;<br> 2. to develop in situ measurements of the atmospheric composition for climate change surveys, in a reference site in the tropical/subtropical region of the southern hemisphere;<br> 3. to offer trans-national access to host experiments or measurement campaigns for focused process studies

The Effect of Wnt Pathway Modulators on Human iPSC-Derived Pancreatic Beta Cell Maturation

Current published protocols for targeted differentiation of human stem cells toward pancreatic β-cells fail to deliver sufficiently mature cells with functional properties comparable to human islet β-cells. We aimed to assess whether Wnt-modulation could promote the final protocol stages of β-cell maturation, building our hypothesis on our previous findings of Wnt activation in immature hiPSC-derived stage 7 (S7) cells compared to adult human islets and with recent data reporting a link between Wnt/PCP and in vitro β-cell maturation. In this study, we stimulated canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling in hiPSC-derived S7 cells using syntetic proteins including WNT3A, WNT4, WNT5A and WNT5B, and we inhibited endogenous Wnt signaling with the Tankyrase inhibitor G007-LK (TKi). Whereas neither canonical nor non-canonical Wnt stimulation alone was able to mature hiPSC-derived S7 cells, WNT-inhibition with TKi increased the fraction of monohormonal cells and global proteomics of TKi-treated S7 cells showed a proteomic signature more similar to adult human islets, suggesting that inhibition of endogenous Wnt contributes toward final β-cell maturation