Effects of Deer Settling Stimulus and Deer Density on Regeneration in a Harvested Southern New England Forest

Elevated deer densities have led to reports of forest regeneration failure and ecological damage. However, there is growing evidence that the biophysical conditions of a forest that make it attractive to deer may be a contributing factor in determining browsing levels. Thus, an understanding of settling stimulus—how attractive an area is to deer in terms of food-independent habitat requirements—is potentially important to manage deer browsing impacts. We tested the settling stimulus hypothesis by evaluating the degree to which thermal settling stimulus and deer density are related to spatial variation in browsing intensity across different forest harvesting strategies over the course of a year. We determined if deer were impacting plant communities and if they resulted in changes in plant cover. We quantified the thermal environment around each harvest and tested to see if it influenced deer density and browsing impact. We found that deer had an impact on the landscape but did not alter plant cover or diminish forest regeneration capacity. Deer density and browse impact had a relationship with thermal settling stimulus for summer and fall months, and deer density had a relationship with browse impact in the winter on woody plants. We conclude that thermal settling stimulus is an important predictor for deer density and browsing impact

Comparison of high-specific-activity ultratrace 123/131I-MIBG and carrier-added 123/131I-MIBG on efficacy, pharmacokinetics, and tissue distribution

Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) is an enzymatically stable synthetic analog of norepinephrine that when radiolabled with diagnostic ((123)I) or therapeutic ((131)I) isotopes has been shown to concentrate highly in sympathetically innervated tissues such as the heart and neuroendocrine tumors that possesses high levels of norepinephrine transporter (NET). As the transport of MIBG by NET is a saturable event, the specific activity of the preparation may have dramatic effects on both the efficacy and safety of the radiodiagnostic/radiotherapeutic. Using a solid labeling approach (Ultratrace), noncarrier-added radiolabeled MIBG can be efficiently produced. In this study, specific activities of >1200 mCi/micromol for (123)I and >1600 mCi/micromol for (131)I have been achieved. A series of studies were performed to assess the impact of cold carrier MIBG on the tissue distribution of (123/131)I-MIBG in the conscious rat and on cardiovascular parameters in the conscious instrumented dog. The present series of studies demonstrated that the carrier-free Ultratrace MIBG radiolabeled with either (123)I or (131)I exhibited similar tissue distribution to the carrier-added radiolabeled MIBG in all nontarget tissues. In tissues that express NETs, the higher the specific activity of the preparation the greater will be the radiopharmaceutical uptake. This was reflected by greater efficacy in the mouse neuroblastoma SK-N-BE(2c) xenograft model and less appreciable cardiovascular side-effects in dogs when the high-specific-activity radiopharmaceutical was used. The increased uptake and retention of Ultratrace (123/131)I-MIBG may translate into a superior diagnostic and therapeutic potential. Lastly, care must be taken when administering therapeutic doses of the current carrier-added (131)I-MIBG because of its potential to cause adverse cardiovascular side-effects, nausea, and vomiting

Cosmological Plebanski theory

We consider the cosmological symmetry reduction of the Plebanski action as a toy-model to explore, in this simple framework, some issues related to loop quantum gravity and spin-foam models. We make the classical analysis of the model and perform both path integral and canonical quantizations. As for the full theory, the reduced model admits two types of classical solutions: topological and gravitational ones. The quantization mixes these two solutions, which prevents the model to be equivalent to standard quantum cosmology. Furthermore, the topological solution dominates at the classical limit. We also study the effect of an Immirzi parameter in the model.Comment: 20 page

Age-Related Disparities in Trauma Center Access for Severe Head Injuries Following the Release of the Updated Field Triage Guidelines

Objective: In 2006, the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma and the Center for Disease Control released field triage guidelines with special consideration for older adults. Additional considerations for direct transport to a Level I or II trauma center (TC) were added in 2011, reflecting perceived undertriage to TCs for older adults. We examined whether age-based disparities in TC care for severe head injury decreased following introduction of the 2011 revisions. Methods: A pre-post design analyzing the 2009 and 2012 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) and State Inpatient Databases (SID) with multivariable logistic regressions considered changes in (1) the trauma designation of the emergency department where treatment was initiated and (2) transfer to a TC following initial treatment at a non-TC. Results: Compared with adults aged 18–44 years, after multivariable adjustment, in both years TC care was less likely for adults aged 45–64 years (OR: 0.76 in 2009 and 0.74 in 2012), aged 65–84 years (OR: 0.61 and 0.59), and aged 85+ years (OR: 0.53 and 0.56). Between 2009 and 2012, the likelihood of TC care increased for all age groups, with the largest increase among those aged 85+ years (OR = 1.18), which was statistically different (p = .02) from the increase among adults aged 18–44 years (OR = 1.12). The analysis of transfers yielded similar results. Conclusions: Although patterns of increased TC treatment for all groups with severe head trauma indicate improvements, age-based disparities persisted

Evaluation of Restaurant Menus to Determine the Availability of Healthy Food Options and Guide Community Transformation Grant Activities in Massachusetts

INTRODUCTION. The availability of healthy menu options in restaurants is an important factor in the prevention of obesity. The Mass in Motion Initiative and two Community Transformation Grant (CTG) projects are conducting statewide longitudinal surveys to determine the availability of healthy food in restaurants in the state of Massachusetts. METHODS. The Community Nutrition Environment Evaluation Data System-Restaurant (C-NEEDS-R) was developed for food environment surveillance. C-NEEDS-R takes into account seasonal and geographic variations in food supplies, cultural relevance, and USDA dietary recommendations. Between summer 2012 and winter 2013, 506 restaurants in 36 Massachusetts towns and cities were surveyed and analyzed. Through menu and site evaluation, the availability of healthy entrees was examined for each restaurant, and the total number of healthy entrees as well as the percent of healthy entrees was calculated for each restaurant. For each municipality, the average number and average percentage of healthy entrees for restaurants within the community was also calculated. RESULTS. The surveyed restaurants had average 3.2 healthy entrees on the menu, accounting for 13.4% of the total number of entrees available. The percentage of healthy options varied widely by restaurant and restaurant type, ranging from 0 to 84%, and only 15 of the 506 surveyed restaurants ( DISCUSSION. As noted, menu evaluation demonstrated that the large majority of the surveyed restaurants had few healthy entrees, indicating a need to increase availability of healthy options. Analysis of restaurant- and community-level variations in availability is useful for CTG programs to formulate and prioritize interventions. Future longitudinal surveys of food stores in the intervention and control communities will help evaluate the effectiveness of CTG interventions

A case report and genetic characterization of a massive acinic cell carcinoma of the parotid with delayed distant metastases.

We describe the presentation, management, and clinical outcome of a massive acinic cell carcinoma of the parotid gland. The primary tumor and blood underwent exome sequencing which revealed deletions in CDKN2A as well as PPP1R13B, which induces p53. A damaging nonsynonymous mutation was noted in EP300, a histone acetylase which plays a role in cellular proliferation. This study provides the first insights into the genetic underpinnings of this cancer. Future large-scale efforts will be necessary to define the mutational landscape of salivary gland malignancies to identify therapeutic targets and biomarkers of treatment failure

Sheep Updates 2003 - Husbandry

This session covers seven papers from different authors:1. Setting up a successful, low input feedlot Paul Barrett, ‘Bimberdong’ Jerramungup 2. Effective mineral supplementation of sheep Kevin Bell, Sheep Management and Production Consultants, Kojonup, WA 3. Genetic benchmarking for WA sheep producers J. Greeff, L. Butler, S. Brown, K. Hart and A. Gray Department of Agriculture Western Australia 4. Does selecting sheep for low WEC reduce scouring? John Karlsson, Johan Greeff and Paula Coombe, Department of Agriculture Western Australia 5. Summer quarters for sheep - stubbles Ron McTaggart, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Albany 6. Thinking about breeding Easy Care Sheep? David Scobie, AgResearch PO Box 60 Lincoln, 8152, New Zealand 7. Increasing lambing percentages and lamb survival Sandy White, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Jerramungu

Attitudes to Interprofessional Education Among Health Science Students Engaging in a Multidisciplinary Workshop Series

Introduction: Interprofessional education (IPE) provides an opportunity for students from single-professions to interact with other disciplines. Student attitude to IPE can impact engagement and change in attitude may provide an indicator of the impact of IPE. This study examines pre-workshop attitudes to IPE and change in attitude following a series of three IPE workshops. Methods: Preworkshop attitudes were examined using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and the Interprofessional Education Perception Scale (IEPS). The IEPS was repeated at the start of Workshop 1 and at the end of Workshop 3. Data were analyzed using linear regression analysis and linear mixed methods for repeated measures. Results: 405 students participated (pre-workshop n=122; workshop 1 n=244; workshop 3 n=236). Pre-workshop attitudinal scores were high. While male gender and studying medicine negatively predicted attitude across some domains, previous experience of a joint patient treatment session on clinical placement positively predicted attitude in the domain of Perception of Actual Cooperation (standardised Beta 0.283, p=0.005). Attitude to IPE improved across all domains of the IEPS from online preparation to the end of workshop 3 (pCompetency and Autonomy, and in the domain of Perceived Need for Cooperation improved only following online preparation, while the domain of Perception of Actual Cooperation improved following both online preparation and participation in the workshops. Discussion: The results presented reflect positively on student readiness for IPE. Attitudes were further improved following engagement in a structured series of IPE workshops

Relation between falciparum malaria and bacteraemia in Kenyan children: a population-based, case-control study and a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Many investigators have suggested that malaria infection predisposes individuals to bacteraemia. We tested this hypothesis with mendelian randomisation studies of children with the malaria-protective phenotype of sickle-cell trait (HbAS). METHODS: This study was done in a defined area around Kilifi District Hospital, Kilifi, Kenya. We did a matched case-control study to identify risk factors for invasive bacterial disease, in which cases were children aged 3 months to 13 years who were admitted to hospital with bacteraemia between Sept 16, 1999, and July 31, 2002. We aimed to match two controls, by age, sex, location, and time of recruitment, for every case. We then did a longitudinal case-control study to assess the relation between HbAS and invasive bacterial disease as malaria incidence decreased. Cases were children aged 0-13 years who were admitted to hospital with bacteraemia between Jan 1, 1999, and Dec 31, 2007. Controls were born in the study area between Jan 1, 2006, and June 23, 2009. Finally, we modelled the annual incidence of bacteraemia against the community prevalence of malaria during 9 years with Poisson regression. RESULTS: In the matched case-control study, we recruited 292 cases-we recruited two controls for 236, and one for the remaining 56. Sickle-cell disease, HIV, leucocyte haemozoin pigment, and undernutrition were positively associated with bacteraemia and HbAS was strongly negatively associated with bacteraemia (odds ratio 0·36; 95% CI 0·20-0·65). In the longitudinal case-control study, we assessed data from 1454 cases and 10,749 controls. During the study period, the incidence of admission to hospital with malaria per 1000 child-years decreased from 28·5 to 3·45, with a reduction in protection afforded by HbAS against bacteraemia occurring in parallel (p=0·0008). The incidence of hospital admissions for bacteraemia per 1000 child-years also decreased from 2·59 to 1·45. The bacteraemia incidence rate ratio associated with malaria parasitaemia was 6·69 (95% CI 1·31-34·3) and, at a community parasite prevalence of 29% in 1999, 62% (8·2-91) of bacteraemia cases were attributable to malaria. INTERPRETATION: Malaria infection strongly predisposes individuals to bacteraemia and can account for more than half of all cases of bacteraemia in malaria-endemic areas. Interventions to control malaria will have a major additional benefit by reducing the burden of invasive bacterial disease. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust