Coexistence with large carnivores in the north west of Spain

Relationships between humans and large carnivores are multi-layered and built on a variety of values, beliefs and interactions. When the experience of coexistence is predominantly negative, both local livelihoods and carnivore conservation can suffer. By focusing on an area of Spain where local communities have always lived alongside wolves and bears, this research aims to study how local experiences of coexistence are shaped by governance approaches. The study is a comparison between four different sites with distinct socio-political characteristics and with different large carnivore management policies. Semi-structured and informal interviews were carried out with over 60 informants, and both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a sample of livestock farmers (n=271), hunters (n=157) and beekeepers (n=40), in order to compare carnivore acceptance levels and narrative constructs across the study sites. // The thesis begins by introducing the broader context in which interactions with carnivores take place, and by exploring how changes in the landscape and in traditional livestock farming practices driven by agricultural policy have shaped local perceptions of the environment and of resource user’s role within it. The thesis then presents a synthesis the wolf governance systems in place across the study sites, and explores their effects on coexistence between wolves and local resource users. Using theories on environmentality, I analyse the ideological approaches underlying carnivore governance, and then look at how these approaches are received on the ground, by examining how local resource users either assimilate or resist governance approaches. The final chapter then focusses on two study areas with similar bear presence, to investigate the sociopolitical drivers that result in different levels of acceptance of bears among resource users. In doing so, it looks at the ways in which narratives over bear recovery, protected area management and land tenure resonate with each other and serve to reinforce one another

Quantitative Evaluation of Very Low Levels of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase by a Novel Highly Sensitive RT-qPCR Assay

Based on previous experience in our laboratory, we developed a real-time reverse transcriptase (RT) quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assay for the assessment of very low levels of HIV-1 RT activity. The RNA, acting as a template for reverse transcription into cDNA by HIV-1 RT, consisted of a synthetic RNA ad hoc generated by in vitro transcription and included a coding sequence for HSV-1 gD (gD-RNA-synt). Different conditions of variables involved in the RT-qPCR reaction, notably different amounts of gD-RNA-synt, different mixes of the reaction buffer, and different dNTP concentrations, were tested to optimize the assay. The results indicated that the gD-RNA-synt-based RT assay, in its optimized formulation, could detect a specific cDNA reverse transcription even in the presence of 1 x 10(-9) U of HIV RT. This achievement greatly improved the sensitivity of the assay over previous versions. In summary, this constructed RT-qPCR assay may be considered a promising tool for providing accurate information on very low HIV-1 RT activity

Managing wolf impacts on sheep husbandry: a collaborative implementation and assessment of damage prevention measures in an agricultural landscape

Wolves in Europe are expanding their range and significantly impacting farming livelihoods and landscapes. Damage prevention measures such as livestock guarding dogs and night-time enclosures have proven successful in mitigating losses. However, they are often implemented as top-down measures without a proper understanding of the farming dynamics they are meant to alter, making them unappealing and difficult to implement for farmers. Semi-extensive, small scale livestock farming systems are particularly vulnerable and diverse, requiring specific care and catered support when addressing issues related to wildlife management. In these contexts, it is crucial to employ adaptive management approaches that enable solutions to be collaboratively designed at the grassroots level. Here we propose a method for centring the experiences and knowledge of local farmers to co-produce damage prevention practices that better address their needs. We developed this approach in the course of the LIFE MEDWOLF project, which was implemented in the province of Grosseto, Italy, between 2012 and 2017. The project brought together local authorities, environmental associations, farming unions and individual farmers to develop tailor-made damage prevention measures and assess their technical and economic impact, through a stepwise process. Collaboration with 86 local farmers resulted in >50 modifications to the original project plan, and an overall 50% reduction of preyed livestock in farms that participated in the project. Our findings highlight the benefits of collaboratively designing, implementing, and monitoring damage prevention measures with farmers. Based on these results, we reflect on the importance of integrating local and scientific knowledge, on the implications this has had on stakeholder relations, and on the challenges that we faced in upscaling this management approach

Environmentalities of coexistence with wolves in the Cantabrian mountains of Spain

A. Marino was supported by a NERC doctoral scholarship and the Royal Geographic Society Frederick Soddy Award. The research contributes to the “María de Maeztu” Programme for Units of Excellence of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CEX2019-000940-M). J.V. López-Bao was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (RYC-2015-18932; CGL2017-87528-R AEI/FEDER EU) and by a GRUPIN research grant IDI/2021/000075 from the Regional Government of Asturias. The other authors were not funded by any agency for their work.[Abstract]: Coexistence between humans and large carnivores is mediated by diverse values and interactions. We focus on four sites in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain with a history of continuous wolf presence to examine how perceptions of coexistence vary across contexts. We conducted semi-structured and informal interviews with livestock farmers (n = 271), hunters (n = 157), and local community members (n = 60) to collect quantitative and qualitative data on people's experiences of coexistence with wolves. We use an environmentality framework to analyse approaches to wolf governance across sites and explore how local resource users perceive, negotiate, and respond to different governance approaches. Our analysis is firstly structured around coexistence subjectivities associated with pastoralist and hunter cultures. These encompass ambivalent and multi-layered relations founded on notions of reciprocity with nature and on resource users' roles as producers and land stewards. Secondly, we explore encounters between local cultures, interests, and environmental regulations in the context of different site-based environmentalities. The framework we adopt enables coexistence to be conceived as a space of competing knowledges and practices, arising from everyday embodied interactions with wolves and the cultural politics through which local communities negotiate different ways of governing, knowing, and relating to nature.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; CEX2019-000940-MMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad; RYC-2015-18932Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; CGL2017-87528-RPrincipado de Asturias; IDI/2021/00007

Governing dual objectives within single policy mixes : an empirical analysis of large carnivore policies in six European countries

Policy mixes (i.e. the total structure of policy processes, strategies, and instruments) are complex constructs that can quickly become incoherent, inconsistent, and incomprehensive. This is amplified when the policy mix strives to meet multiple objectives simultaneously, such as in the case of large carnivore policy mixes. Building on Rogge and Reichardt's analytical framework for the analysis of policy mixes, we compare the policy mixes of Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany (specifically Saxony and Bavaria), and Spain (specifically Castilla y Leon). The study shows that the large carnivore policy mixes in the case countries show signs of lacking vertical and horizontal coherence in the design of policy processes, weak consistency between objectives and designated policy instruments, and, as a consequence, lacking comprehensiveness. We conclude that creating consistent, coherent, and comprehensive policy mixes that build on multiple objectives requires stepping away from sectorized policy development, toward a holistic, systemic approach, strong collaborative structures across policy boundaries and regions, the inclusion of diverse stakeholders, and constant care and attention to address all objectives simultaneously rather than in isolation.Peer reviewe

Molecular Approach for the Laboratory Diagnosis of Periprosthetic Joint Infections

The incidence of total joint arthroplasty is increasing over time since the last decade and expected to be more than 4 million by 2030. As a consequence, the detection of infections associated with surgical interventions is increasing and prosthetic joint infections are representing both a clinically and economically challenging problem. Many pathogens, from bacteria to fungi, elicit the immune system response and produce a polymeric matrix, the biofilm, that serves as their protection. In the last years, the implementation of diagnostic methodologies reduced the error rate and the turn-around time: polymerase chain reaction, targeted or broad-spectrum, and next-generation sequencing have been introduced and they represent a robust approach nowadays that frees laboratories from the unique approach based on culture-based techniques

Viral Population Heterogeneity and Fluctuating Mutational Pattern during a Persistent SARS‐CoV‐2 Infection in an Immunocompromised Patient

Literature offers plenty of cases of immunocompromised patients, who develop chronic and severe SARS‐CoV‐2 infections. The aim of this study is to provide further insight into SARS-CoV‐2 evolutionary dynamic taking into exam a subject suffering from follicular lymphoma, who developed a persistent infection for over 7 months. Eight nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained, and were analyses by qRT‐PCR for diagnostic purposes. All of them were considered eligible (Ct < 30) for NGS sequencing. Sequence analysis showed that all sequences matched the B.1.617.2 AY.122 lineage, but they differed by few mutations identifying three genetically similar subpopulations, which evolved during the course of infection, demonstrating that prolonged replication is paralleled with intra‐host virus evolution. These evidences support the hypothesis that SARS‐CoV‐2 adaptive capacities are able to shape a heterogeneous viral population in the context of immunocompromised patients. Spill‐over of viral variants with enhanced transmissibility or immune escape capacities from these subjects is plausible

Ethical considerations when conservation research involves people

Social science is becoming increasingly important in conservation, with more studies involving methodologies that collect data from and about people. Conservation science is a normative and applied discipline designed to support and inform management and practice. Poor research practice risks harming participants, researchers, and can leave negative legacies. Often, those at the forefront of field‐based research are early‐career researchers, many of whom enter their first research experience ill‐prepared for the ethical conundrums they may face. Here, we draw on our own experiences as early‐career researchers to illuminate how ethical challenges arise during conservation research that involves human participants. Specifically, we discuss ethical review procedures, conflicts of values, and power relations, and provide broad recommendations on how to navigate ethical challenges when they arise during research. We encourage greater engagement with ethical review processes and highlight the pressing need to develop ethical guidelines for conservation research that involves human participants.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin

Fostering Coexistence Between People and Large Carnivores in Africa: Using a Theory of Change to Identify Pathways to Impact and Their Underlying Assumptions

Coexistence with large carnivores poses challenges to human well-being, livelihoods, development, resource management, and policy. Even where people and carnivores have historically coexisted, traditional patterns of behavior toward large carnivores may be disrupted by wider processes of economic, social, political, and climate change. Conservation interventions have typically focused on changing behaviors of those living alongside large carnivores to promote sustainable practices. While these interventions remain important, their success is inextricably linked to broader socio-political contexts, including natural resource governance and equitable distribution of conservation-linked costs and benefits. In this context we propose a Theory of Change to identify logical pathways of action through which coexistence with large carnivores can be enhanced. We focus on Africa’s dryland landscapes, known for their diverse guild of large carnivores that remain relatively widespread across the continent. We review the literature to understand coexistence and its challenges; explain our Theory of Change, including expected outcomes and pathways to impact; and discuss how our model could be implemented and operationalized. Our analysis draws on the experience of coauthors, who are scientists and practitioners, and on literature from conservation, political ecology, and anthropology to explore the challenges, local realities, and place-based conditions under which expected outcomes succeed or fail. Three pathways to impact were identified: (a) putting in place good governance harmonized across geographic scales; (b) addressing coexistence at the landscape level; and (c) reducing costsand increasing benefits of sharing a landscape with large carnivores. Coordinated conservation across the extensive, and potentially transboundary, landscapes needed by large carnivores requires harmonization of top-down approaches with bottom-up community-based conservation. We propose adaptive co-management approaches combined with processes for active community engagement and informed consent as useful dynamic mechanisms for navigating through this contested space, while enabling adaptation to climate change. Success depends on strengthening underlying enabling conditions, including governance, capacity, local empowerment, effective monitoring, and sustainable financial support. Implementing the Theory of Change requires ongoing monitoring and evaluation to inform adaptation and build confidence in the model. Overall, the model provides a flexible and practical framework that can be adapted to dynamic local socio-ecological contexts. large carnivore conservation, African semi-arid, community-based conservation, human wildlife conflict, community-based natural resource management, adaptive co-management, rangeland management, climate change adaptationpublishedVersio

Assessing ChatGPT’s theoretical knowledge and prescriptive accuracy in bacterial infections: a comparative study with infectious diseases residents and specialists

Objectives: Advancements in Artificial Intelligence(AI) have made platforms like ChatGPT increasingly relevant in medicine. This study assesses ChatGPT's utility in addressing bacterial infection-related questions and antibiogram-based clinical cases. Methods: This study involved a collaborative effort involving infectious disease (ID) specialists and residents. A group of experts formulated six true/false, six open-ended questions, and six clinical cases with antibiograms for four types of infections (endocarditis, pneumonia, intra-abdominal infections, and bloodstream infection) for a total of 96 questions. The questions were submitted to four senior residents and four specialists in ID and inputted into ChatGPT-4 and a trained version of ChatGPT-4. A total of 720 responses were obtained and reviewed by a blinded panel of experts in antibiotic treatments. They evaluated the responses for accuracy and completeness, the ability to identify correct resistance mechanisms from antibiograms, and the appropriateness of antibiotics prescriptions. Results: No significant difference was noted among the four groups for true/false questions, with approximately 70% correct answers. The trained ChatGPT-4 and ChatGPT-4 offered more accurate and complete answers to the open-ended questions than both the residents and specialists. Regarding the clinical case, we observed a lower accuracy from ChatGPT-4 to recognize the correct resistance mechanism. ChatGPT-4 tended not to prescribe newer antibiotics like cefiderocol or imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam, favoring less recommended options like colistin. Both trained- ChatGPT-4 and ChatGPT-4 recommended longer than necessary treatment periods (p-value = 0.022). Conclusions: This study highlights ChatGPT's capabilities and limitations in medical decision-making, specifically regarding bacterial infections and antibiogram analysis. While ChatGPT demonstrated proficiency in answering theoretical questions, it did not consistently align with expert decisions in clinical case management. Despite these limitations, the potential of ChatGPT as a supportive tool in ID education and preliminary analysis is evident. However, it should not replace expert consultation, especially in complex clinical decision-making