Camera traps and genetic identification of faecal samples for detection and monitoring of an Endangered ungulate.

Almost all Indochinese ungulates are classified as globally threatened but efforts to assess and monitor population status have been hampered by their rarity, cryptic nature and uncertainty in accurate identification from sightings. An improved approach is urgently needed to gather information about threatened ungulate species in order to effectively conserve them as, a lack of reliable monitoring methods means that basic information such as population sizes, distribution and habitat associations is currently unknown. Here, we used a combination of camera trapping and genetic detection of the Endangered Eld’s deer, Rucervus eldii, to investigate the utility of these methods to infer intensity of site use within a protected Cambodian dry forest. We asked: 1) Are Eld's deer present in our study area?; 2) How is site use influenced by local habitat?; and 3) Do camera traps or genetic detection perform better in terms of detection and monitoring? Camera traps were deployed and faecal samples collected from Chhaeb Wildlife Sanctuary in Northern Cambodia during the 2017 dry season. Faecal samples were identified as Eld’s deer using newly developed species-specific mitochondrial DNA primers. Camera traps recorded 20 Eld’s deer observations across 3905 trap-nights and 44 out of 71 collected faecal samples, identified by fieldworkers as likely to belong to Eld’s deer, were positively identified to be so. Camera trap surveys and genetic detection demonstrated that Eld’s deer were present in Chhaeb Wildlife Sanctuary, although the number of detections relative to sampling effort was low in both methods (detected at 29% and 1% of sample sites, respectively). Occupancy models showed that water level and tree diameter both had positive relationships, whilst human and domestic or feral pig activity had a negative relationship, with the relative intensity of Eld’s deer site use. Overall, our data suggest that both of our methods can prove effective for monitoring Eld’s deer but that repeated sampling is necessary to account for their low detectability in this area. We suggest that faecal samples are collected during future camera trap monitoring visits to maximise efficiency, increase detectability, and provide the most information to support conservation

The importance of long-term genetic monitoring of reintroduced populations: inbreeding in the natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita)

Genetic monitoring is an important, but frequently lacking, component of management actions to support long-term persistence in reintroduced populations. Populations that remain small, due to demographic processes and genetic diversity, are more likely to experience a second extinction event. The natterjack toad (Epidelea calamita) is legally protected in Britain and was the subject of a reintroduction programme in the 1990s. However, subsequent genetic assessment has been mostly lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of two reintroduced populations of natterjack toads in order to inform conservation management. Adults were sampled and nine microsatellites amplified to assess neutral genetic variation within each site and for comparison with the source population. Inbreeding was observed at the reintroduction sites, as evidenced by high FIS values (0.43 and 0.72), low observed compared to expected heterozygosities, and significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Observed heterozygosity is currently lower in the reintroduction sites than it was in the source population at the time of the reintroductions (Red Rocks: 0.15±0.20; Talacre: 0.12±0.20; Ainsdale (source): 0.29). Evidence for a bottleneck was not found, although this is likely a result of sampling overlapping generations. No within-site population structuring was observed. Such low genetic diversity has not previously been recorded in any natterjack population. Genetic rescue, combined with pool creation, is the most viable option for safeguarding the species at these sites into the future. Our work highlights the importance of ongoing genetic monitoring, in collaboration with conservation organisations, to support conservation management

The impact of interventions to prevent obesity or improve obesity related behaviours in children (0-5 years) from socioeconomically disadvantaged and/or indigenous families: a systematic review

BackgroundChildren from disadvantaged families including those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and Indigenous families have higher rates of obesity, making early intervention a priority. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature to examine the effectiveness of interventions to prevent obesity or improve obesity related behaviours in children 0-5 years from socioeconomically disadvantaged or Indigenous families.MethodsSearches of major electronic databases identified articles published from 1993–2013 targeting feeding practices, anthropometric, diet, activity or sedentary behaviour outcomes. This was supplemented with snowballing from existing reviews and primary studies. Data extraction was undertaken by one author and cross checked by another. Quality assessments included both internal and external validity.ResultsThirty-two studies were identified, with only two (both low quality) in Indigenous groups. Fourteen studies had a primary aim to prevent obesity. Mean differences between intervention and control groups ranged from -0.29 kg/m2 to -0.54 kg/m2 for body mass index (BMI) and -2.9 to -25.6% for the prevalence of overweight/obesity. Interventions initiated in infancy (under two years) had a positive impact on obesity related behaviours (e.g. diet quality) but few measured the longer-term impact on healthy weight gain. Findings amongst pre-schoolers (3–5 years) were mixed, with the more successful interventions requiring high levels of parental engagement, use of behaviour change techniques, a focus on skill building and links to community resources. Less than 10% of studies were high quality. Future studies should focus on improving study quality, including follow-up of longer-term anthropometric outcomes, assessments of cost effectiveness, acceptability in target populations and potential for implementation in routine service delivery.ConclusionThere is an urgent need for further research on effective obesity prevention interventions for Indigenous children. The findings from the growing body of intervention research focusing on obesity prevention amongst young children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families suggest intervention effects are modest but promising. Further high quality studies with longer term follow up are required

Crumpling a Thin Sheet

Crumpled sheets have a surprisingly large resistance to further compression. We have studied the crumpling of thin sheets of Mylar under different loading conditions. When placed under a fixed compressive force, the size of a crumpled material decreases logarithmically in time for periods up to three weeks. We also find hysteretic behavior when measuring the compression as a function of applied force. By using a pre-treating protocol, we control this hysteresis and find reproducible scaling behavior for the size of the crumpled material as a function of the applied force.Comment: revtex 4 pages, 6 eps figures submitted to Phys Rev. let

Preventing obesity in infants: the growing healthy feasibility trial protocol

INTRODUCTION: Early childhood is an important period for establishing behaviours that will affect weight gain and health across the life course. Early feeding choices, including breast and/or formula, timing of introduction of solids, physical activity and electronic media use among infants and young children are considered likely determinants of childhood obesity. Parents play a primary role in shaping these behaviours through parental modelling, feeding styles, and the food and physical activity environments provided. Children from low socio-economic backgrounds have higher rates of obesity, making early intervention particularly important. However, such families are often more difficult to reach and may be less likely to participate in traditional programs that support healthy behaviours. Parents across all socio-demographic groups frequently access primary health care (PHC) services, including nurses in community health services and general medical practices, providing unparalleled opportunity for engagement to influence family behaviours. One emerging and promising area that might maximise engagement at a low cost is the provision of support for healthy parenting through electronic media such as the Internet or smart phones. The Growing healthy study explores the feasibility of delivering such support via primary health care services. METHODS: This paper describes the Growing healthy study, a non-randomised quasi experimental study examining the feasibility of an intervention delivered via a smartphone app (or website) for parents living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, for promoting infant feeding and parenting behaviours that promote healthy rather than excessive weight gain. Participants will be recruited via their primary health care practitioner and followed until their infant is 9 months old. Data will be collected via web-based questionnaires and the data collected inherently by the app itself. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study received approval from the University of Technology Sydney Ethics committee and will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations

Improving together: better science writing through peer learning

Science, in our case the climate and geosciences, is increasingly interdisciplinary. Scientists must therefore communicate across disciplinary boundaries. For this communication to be successful, scientists must write clearly and concisely, yet the historically poor standard of scientific writing does not seem to be improving. Scientific writing must improve, and the key to long-term improvement lies with the early-career scientist (ECS). Many interventions exist for an ECS to improve their writing, like style guides and courses. However, momentum is often difficult to maintain after these interventions are completed. Continuity is key to improving writing. This paper introduces the ClimateSnack project, which aims to motivate ECSs to develop and continue to improve their writing and communication skills. The project adopts a peer-learning framework where ECSs voluntarily form writing groups at different institutes around the world. The group members learn, discuss, and improve their writing skills together. Several ClimateSnack writing groups have formed. This paper examines why some of the groups have flourished and others have dissolved. We identify the challenges involved in making a writing group successful and effective, notably the leadership of self-organized groups, and both individual and institutional time management. Within some of the groups, peer learning clearly offers a powerful tool to improve writing as well as bringing other benefits, including improved general communication skills and increased confidence

Genomic and protein expression analysis reveals flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1) as a key biomarker in breast and ovarian cancer

FEN1 has key roles in Okazaki fragment maturation during replication, long patch base excision repair, rescue of stalled replication forks, maintenance of telomere stability and apoptosis. FEN1 may be dysregulated in breast and ovarian cancers and have clinicopathological significance in patients. We comprehensively investigated FEN1 mRNA expression in multiple cohorts of breast cancer [training set (128), test set (249), external validation (1952)]. FEN1 protein expression was evaluated in 568 oestrogen receptor (ER) negative breast cancers, 894 ER positive breast cancers and 156 ovarian epithelial cancers. FEN1 mRNA overexpression was highly significantly associated with high grade (p= 4.89 x 10 - 57) , high mitotic index (p= 5.25 x 10 - 28), pleomorphism (p= 6.31 x 10-19), ER negative (p= 9.02 x 10-35 ), PR negative (p= 9.24 x 10-24 ), triple negative phenotype (p= 6.67 x 10-21) , PAM50.Her2 (p=5.19 x 10-13 ), PAM50.Basal (p=2.7 x 10-41), PAM50.LumB (p=1.56 x 10-26), integrative molecular cluster 1 (intClust.1) ( p=7.47 x 10-12), intClust.5 (p=4.05 x 10-12) and intClust. 10 (p=7.59 x 10-38 ) breast cancers. FEN1 mRNA overexpression is associated with poor breast cancer specific survival in univariate (p=4.4 x 10-16) and multivariate analysis (p=9.19 x 10-7). At the protein level, in ER positive tumours , FEN1 overexpression remains significantly linked to high grade, high mitotic index and pleomorphism (ps< 0.01). In ER negative tumours, high FEN1 is significantly associated with pleomorphism, tumour type, lymphovascular invasion, triple negative phenotype, EGFR and HER2 expression (ps<0.05). In ER positive as well as in ER negative tumours, FEN1 protein over expression is associated with poor survival in univariate and multivariate analysis (ps<0.01). In ovarian epithelial cancers , similarly, FEN1 overexpression is associated with high grade, high stage and poor survival (ps<0.05). We conclude that FEN1 is a promising biomarker in breast and ovarian epithelial cancer

Accuracy of GE digital breast tomosynthesis vs supplementary mammographic views for diagnosis of screen-detected soft-tissue breast lesions

Objective: To compare the accuracy of standard supplementary views and GE digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) for assessment of soft-tissue mammographic abnormalities. Methods: Women recalled for further assessment of soft-tissue abnormalities were recruited and received standard supplementary views (typically spot compression views) and two-view GE DBT. The added value of DBT in the assessment process was determined by analysing data collected prospectively by radiologists working up the cases. Following anonymization of cases, there was also a retrospective multireader review. The readers first read bilateral standard two-view digital mammography (DM) together with the supplementary mammographic views and gave a combined score for suspicion of malignancy on a five-point scale. The same readers then read bilateral standard two-view DM together with two-view DBT. Pathology data were obtained. Differences were assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results: The study population was 342 lesions in 322 patients. The final diagnosis was malignant in 113 cases (33%) and benign/normal in 229 cases (67%). In the prospective analysis, the performance of two-view DM plus DBT was at least equivalent to the performance of two-view DM and standard mammographic supplementary views—the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.946 and 0.922, respectively, which did not reach statistical significance. Similar results were obtained for the retrospective review—AUC was 0.900 (DBT) and 0.873 (supplementary views), which did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: The accuracy of GE DBT in the assessment of screen detected soft-tissue abnormalities is equivalent to the use of standard supplementary mammographic views. Advances in knowledge: The vast majority of evidence relating to the use of DBT has been gathered from research using Hologic equipment. This study provides evidence for the use of the commercially available GE DBT system demonstrating that it is at least equivalent to supplementary mammographic views in the assessment of soft-tissue screen-detected abnormalities