Variation in survival rates for the alpine marmot (Marmota marmota): effects of sex, age, year, and climatic factors

International audienceWe examined variation in annual survival rates in a population of alpine marmots (Marmota marmota) according to intrinsic (sex and age) and extrinsic (year and climate) factors. We tested predictions concerning (i) a sex effect in a monogamous non-dimorphic species, (ii) age structure of survival rates in a mesomammal, and (iii) the annual variability effect and the contribution of stochastic climatic factors, especially snow cover, frost, and rainfall. We used a 8-year dataset of 367 marmots that were livetrapped and marked in La Sassiere Nature Reserve in the French Alps between 1990 and 1997. Survival and recapture rates were modelled using recent developments in capture-recapture models. Sex had no effect on survival rates, which agrees with the predictions of sexual selection. Survival rates for young of the year (YOY, from weaning to first birthday) were, on average, lower than in the older age class. In the older age class, annual variation occurred that was strongly related to the intensity of autumn frost. By determining the soil temperature at the beginning of hibernation, this factor, though short-lived, could have determined the energetic cost of hibernation. Neither annual variation nor an environmental effect was detected in YOY despite a large sample size. Social thermoregulation could contribute to the stability of YOY survival rates. As infanticide was common after the immigration of a new dominant male, survival of YOY seemed to depend more on social events than on stochastic climatic ones

Extra-pair paternity in the monogamous Alpine marmot revealed by nuclear DNA microsatellite analysis

Times Cited: 58International audienceThe genetic parentage and pedigrees of 35 litters from 12 family groups of monogamous Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) in the French Alps were analyzed using six hypervariable sequence repeat nuclear loci (microsatellites). All of the members of these family groups were sampled during a 5-year period. Hairs taken directly from animals served as a source of DNA for amplification of the loci. Our results indicate that the genetic mating system of the Alpine marmot is quite different from a strictly monogamous breeding system. Extra-pair paternity occurred in 11 of the 35 litters (31.4%). Of the 134 juveniles typed, 26 (19.4%) could be attributed to extra-pair copulation (EPC). We examine hypotheses which could explain the evolution of EPC and discuss the different patterns of extra-pair mating

Routine versus selective cardiac magnetic resonance in non-ischemic heart failure - OUTSMART-HF: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (IMAGE-HF (heart failure) project 1-B)

© 2013 Paterson et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: Imaging has become a routine part of heart failure (HF) investigation. Echocardiography is a first-line test in HF given its availability and it provides valuable diagnostic and prognostic information. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is an emerging clinical tool in the management of patients with non-ischemic heart failure. Current ACC/AHA/CCS/ESC guidelines advocate its role in the detection of a variety of cardiomyopathies but there is a paucity of high quality evidence to support these recommendations. The primary objective of this study is to compare the diagnostic yield of routine cardiac magnetic resonance versus standard care (that is, echocardiography with only selective use of CMR) in patients with non-ischemic heart failure. The primary hypothesisis that the routine use of CMR will lead to a more specific diagnostic characterization of the underlying etiology of non-ischemic heart failure. This will lead to a reduction in the non-specific diagnoses of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and HF with preserved ejection fraction.Design: Tertiary care sites in Canada and Finland, with dedicated HF and CMR programs, will randomize consecutive patients with new or deteriorating HF to routine CMR or selective CMR. All patients will undergo a standard clinical echocardiogram and the interpreter will assign the most likely HF etiology. Those undergoing CMR will also have a standard examination and will be assigned a HF etiology based upon the findings. The treating physician's impression about non-ischemic HF etiology will be collected following all baseline testing (including echo ± CMR). Patients will be followed annually for 4 years to ascertain clinical outcomes, quality of life and cost. The expected outcome is that the routine CMR arm will have a significantly higher rate of infiltrative, inflammatory, hypertrophic, ischemic and 'other' cardiomyopathy than the selective CMR group.Discussion: This study will be the first multicenter randomized, controlled trial evaluating the role of CMR in non-ischemic HF. Non-ischemic HF patients will be randomized to routine CMR in order to determine whether there are any gains over management strategies employing selective CMR utilization. The insight gained from this study should improve appropriate CMR use in HF. Trial registration: NCT01281384. © 2013 Paterson et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd