Complete mitochondrial genomes of the African clawless (Aonyx capensis) and spotted necked (Hydrictis maculicollis) otter: structure, annotation, and interspecies variation

Otters are flagship species for pristine habitats and their southernmost distribution in Africa includes two species; Aonyx capensis and Hydrictis maculicollis. Here, we present novel full mitochondrial genomes of these otter species. The comparable mitogenomes consist of 36 genes including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, and 22 tRNAs including a hypervariable region. Only 19 out of the 36 genes showed some level of variation between species with the smallest being trnV (68 bp difference) and the biggest being nad5 (1830 bp difference). Such variations may provide guidance in selecting gene regions during marker development for phylogenetic assessments

Malnutrition screening and assessment in the cancer care ambulatory setting: Mortality predictability and validity of the patient-generated subjective global assessment short form (PG-SGA SF) and the GLIM criteria

Background: A valid malnutrition screening tool (MST) is essential to provide timely nutrition support in ambulatory cancer care settings. The aim of this study is to investigate the validity of the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form (PG-SGA SF) and the new Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria as compared to the reference standard, the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA). Methods: Cross-sectional observational study including 246 adult ambulatory patients with cancer receiving in-chair intravenous treatment at a cancer care centre in Australia. Anthropometrics, handgrip strength and patient descriptive data were assessed. Nutritional risk was identified using MST and PG-SGA SF, nutritional status using PG-SGA and GLIM. Sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive and negative predictive values and kappa (k) were analysed. Associations between malnutrition and 1-year mortality were investigated by Cox survival analyses. Results: A PG-SGA SF cut-off score ≥5 had the highest agreement when compared with the PG-SGA (Se: 89%, Sp: 80%, k = 0.49, moderate agreement). Malnutrition risk (PG-SGA SF ≥ 5) was 31% vs. 24% (MST). For malnutrition according to GLIM, the Se was 76% and Sp was 73% (k = 0.32, fair agreement) when compared to PG-SGA. The addition of handgrip strength to PG-SGA SF or GLIM did not improve Se, Sp or agreement. Of 100 patients who provided feedback, 97% of patients found the PG-SGA SF questions easy to understand, and 81% reported that it did not take too long to complete. PG-SGA SF ≥ 5 and severe malnutrition by GLIM were associated with 1-year mortality risk. Conclusions: The PG-SGA SF and GLIM criteria are accurate, sensitive and specific malnutrition screening and assessment tools in the ambulatory cancer care setting. The addition of handgrip strength tests did not improve the recognition of malnutrition or mortality risk

Case report: Therapeutic potential of Flourishing-Life-Of-Wish Virtual Reality Therapy on Relaxation (FLOW-VRT-Relaxation)—a novel personalized relaxation in palliative care

In view of the global aging population and growing need of palliative care, innovative intervention for effective symptom management is of urgent need. Flourishing-Life-Of-Wish Virtual Reality Therapy (FLOW-VRT) is a brief, structured, manualized, and personalized psychological intervention with theoretical foundations based on stress coping theory, self-determination theory, flow theory, and attention restoration theory. With a specific focus on relaxation, FLOW-VRT-Relaxation intends to facilitate adaptive end-of-life coping through delivering personalized relaxation. This paper reports a case study of the application of FLOW-VRT-Relaxation, and discusses its therapeutic potential as a cost-effective method for reducing palliative symptoms by addressing patient's unmet needs. The case study is a 51-year-old Chinese female, diagnosed with advanced cervix cancer, and presented with unmet psychological (i.e., unfulfilled wishes) and physical needs (i.e., pain and fatigue) before FLOW-VRT-Relaxation. To address her unmet needs, FLOW-VRT-Relaxation was delivered by a registered clinical psychologist specialized in palliative care. Need assessment was first conducted, followed by a 10-min VR travel of Japan as her own choice. Relaxation was verbally coached during VR. Right after VR, consolidation with psychological components including psychoeducation, cognitive and emotional processing, and reminiscence intervention were delivered. The patient showed improvement in physical and psychological symptoms, lower sense of loneliness and engulfment, as well as enhanced peace after FLOW-VRT-Relaxation. The current findings provide encouraging initial support for the feasibility, acceptability, and therapeutic potential of using FLOW-VRT-Relaxation as a cost-effective, scalable and personalized VR relaxation for patients under palliative care. It is hoped that with its optimal use, FLOW-VRT-Relaxation can serve as an alternative therapeutic tool that effectively improves the end-on-life care

Hybridization in an isolated population of blesbok and red hartebeest

Hybridization in antelope species has been widely reported in South African national parks and provincial reserves as well as on private land due to anthropogenic effects. In a closed management setting, hybridization may occur due to the crossbreeding of closely related species with unequal sex ratios, resulting in either sterile or fertile offspring. In this study, we used molecular techniques to evaluate the risk of anthropogenic hybridization between blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi) and red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus caama) in an isolated group that purposely included the two species with unequal sex ratios (one red hartebeest male and 19 male and female blesbok). Genetic analysis based on microsatellites confirmed the presence of seven hybrid individuals. Mitochondrial analysis verified that hybridization occurred between blesbok females and the red hartebeest male. STRUCTURE and NEWHYBRIDS classified the hybrids as F1. It is suspected that the hybrid individuals were sterile as the males had undeveloped testes and only F1 hybrids were detected. Thus, the risk of hybridization between these two species may be limited in the wild. In captive settings, genetic monitoring should be included in management plans for blesbok and red hartebeest to ensure that the long-term consequences of wasted reproductive effort are limited

Lessons for conservation management: Monitoring temporal changes in genetic diversity of Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra)

The Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) is a subspecies of mountain zebra endemic to South Africa. The Cape mountain zebra experienced near extinction in the early 1900's and their numbers have since recovered to more than 4,800 individuals. However, there are still threats to their long-term persistence. A previous study reported that Cape mountain zebra had low genetic diversity in three relict populations and that urgent conservation management actions were needed to mitigate the risk of further loss. As these suggestions went largely unheeded, we undertook the present study, fifteen years later to determine the impact of management on genetic diversity in three key populations. Our results show a substantial loss of heterozygosity across the Cape mountain zebra populations studied. The most severe losses occurred at De Hoop Nature Reserve where expected heterozygosity reduced by 22.85% from 0.385 to 0.297. This is alarming, as the De Hoop Nature Reserve was previously identified as the most genetically diverse population owing to its founders originating from two of the three remaining relict stocks. Furthermore, we observed a complete loss of multiple private alleles from all populations, and a related reduction in genetic structure across the subspecies. These losses could lead to inbreeding depression and reduce the evolutionary potential of the Cape mountain zebra. We recommend immediate implementation of evidence-based genetic management and monitoring to prevent further losses, which could jeopardise the long term survival of Cape mountain zebra, especially in the face of habitat and climate change and emerging diseases

Assessing introgressive hybridization in roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus):Lessons from South Africa

Biological diversity is being lost at unprecedented rates, with genetic admixture and introgression presenting major threats to biodiversity. Our ability to accurately identify introgression is critical to manage species, obtain insights into evolutionary processes, and ultimately contribute to the Aichi Targets developed under the Convention on Biological Diversity. The current study concerns roan antelope, the second largest antelope in Africa. Despite their large size, these antelope are sensitive to habitat disturbance and interspecific competition, leading to the species being listed as Least Concern but with decreasing population trends, and as extinct over parts of its range. Molecular research identified the presence of two evolutionary significant units across their sub-Saharan range, corresponding to a West African lineage and a second larger group which includes animals from East, Central and Southern Africa. Within South Africa, one of the remaining bastions with increasing population sizes, there are a number of West African roan antelope populations on private farms, and concerns are that these animals hybridize with roan that naturally occur in the southern African region. We used a suite of 27 microsatellite markers to conduct admixture analysis. Our results indicate evidence of hybridization, with our developed tests using a simulated dataset being able to accurately identify F1, F2 and non-admixed individuals at threshold values of qi > 0.80 and qi > 0.85. However, further backcrosses were not always detectable with backcrossed-Western roan individuals (46.7-60%), backcrossed-East, Central and Southern African roan individuals (28.3-45%) and double backcrossed (83.3-98.3%) being incorrectly classified as non-admixed. Our study is the first to confirm ongoing hybridization in this within this iconic African antelope, and we provide recommendations for the future conservation and management of this species

Simultaneous high Fe charge state measurements by solar energetic particle and solar wind instruments

During the May 2–3, 1998 CME event, iron charge state distributions were observed on the ACE spacecraft simultaneously in both solar energetic particles and the solar wind. Surprisingly, common signatures were found, even though the energy of these two particle populations differ by about two orders of magnitude. At the beginning of the event a substantial shift towards higher charge states (Q ≥ 14)(Q⩾14) was detected for Fe nearly simultaneously in solar energetic particles by SEPICA, and in the solar wind by SWICS. The onset in the solar wind was somewhat more gradual, beginning approximately two hours before the rather sudden onset in the solar energetic particles. The high iron charge states coincided approximately with the magnetic cloud associated with the CME. Later, during the cloud passage, periods of high and unusually low, iron ionization states were observed in the solar wind. Just after the passage of the cloud, iron with high charge states again appeared in both energetic particles and the solar wind. Transport and acceleration scenarios will be discussed as possible explanations of this unusual event. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87339/2/139_1.pd

Modeling shear waves through a viscoelastic medium induced by acoustic radiation force

In this study, a finite element model of a tissue-mimicking, viscoelastic phantom with a stiffer cylindrical inclusion subjected to an acoustic radiation force (ARF) is presented, and the resulting shear waves through the heterogeneous media are simulated, analyzed, and compared with experimental data. Six different models for the ARF were considered and compared. Each study used the same finite element model, but applied the following: (1) full radiation push; (2) focal region push; (3) single element focal point source; or (4) various thresholds of the full radiation push. For each case, displacements at discrete locations were determined and compared. The finite element simulation results for the full radiation push matched well with the experimental data with respect to replicating the shear wave speed and attenuation in the peak displacements through the background medium and inclusion, but did not illustrate comparable recovery after the peak displacements. As a result of this study, it has been shown that a focal region or point source push is not adequate to accurately model the effects of the full radiation push, but thresholding the full push can produce comparable results and reduce computation time