Brown Treesnake Mortality After Aerial Application of Toxic Baits

Quantitative evaluation of control tools for managing invasive species is necessary to assess overall effectiveness and individual variation in treatment susceptibility. Invasive brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) on Guam have caused severe ecological and economic effects, pose a risk of accidental introduction to other islands, and are the greatest impediment to the reestablishment of extirpated native fauna. An aerial delivery system for rodent‐based toxic baits can reduce brown treesnake abundance and heterogeneity among individuals may influence bait attraction or toxicant susceptibility. Previous baiting trials have either been simulated aerial treatments or relied on slightly different bait capsule compositions and the results of aerial delivery of toxic baits under operational conditions may not be directly comparable. We monitored 30 radio‐tagged adult snakes (990–1,265 mm snout‐vent length) during an aerial baiting operation in a 55‐ha area using transmitters equipped with accelerometers and receivers programed to display a status code indicating mortality if a snake failed to move for \u3e24 hours. We used known‐fate models to estimate mortality and evaluate a priori hypotheses explaining differences in mortality based on size, sex, and treatment effects. Eleven radio‐tagged snakes died in the aerial baiting treatment period (0.37, 95% CI=0.21–0.55) and no individuals (0.00, 95% CI=0.00–0.04) died during the non‐treatment period. Our data provide strong evidence for an additive size‐based treatment effect on mortality, with smaller adults (0.59, 95% CI=0.35–0.80) exhibiting higher mortality than larger snakes (0.14, 95% CI=0.02–0.37) but did not support a sex effect on mortality. The high mortality of snakes during the treatment period indicates that aerial baiting can reduce brown treesnake abundance, but further refinement or use in combination with other removal tools may be necessary to overcome size‐based differences in susceptibility and achieve eradication. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society

Geographic variation in phenotypic divergence between two hybridizing field cricket species

Patterns of morphological divergence across species' ranges can provide insight into local adaptation and speciation. In this study, we compared phenotypic divergence among 4,221 crickets from 337 populations of two closely related species of field cricket, Gryllus firmus and G. pennsylvanicus, and their hybrids. We found that these species differ across their geographic range in key morphological traits, such as body size and ovipositor length, and we directly compared phenotype with genotype for a subset of crickets to demonstrate nuclear genetic introgression, phenotypic intermediacy of hybrids, and essentially unidirectional mitochondrial introgression. We discuss how these morphological traits relate to life history differences between the two species. Our comparisons across geographic areas support prior research suggesting that cryptic variation within G. firmus may represent different species. Our study highlights how variable morphology can be across wide-ranging species and the importance of studying reproductive barriers in more than one or two transects of a hybrid zone

Assessing gender mainstreaming in the education sector: depoliticised technique or a step towards women's rights and gender equality?

In 1995 the Beijing Conference on Women identified gender mainstreaming as a key area for action. Policies to effect gender mainstreaming have since been widely adopted. This special issue of Compare looks at research on how gender mainstreaming has been used in government education departments, schools, higher education institutions, international agencies and NGOs .1 In this introduction we first provide a brief history of the emergence of gender mainstreaming and review changing definitions of the term. In the process we outline some policy initiatives that have attempted to mainstream gender and consider some difficulties with putting ideas into practice, particularly the tensions between a technical and transformative interpretations . Much of the literature about experiences with gender mainstreaming tends to look at organizational processes and not any specificities of a particular social sector. However, in our second section, we are concerned to explore whether institutional forms and particular actions associated with education give gender mainstreaming in education sites some distinctive features. In our last section we consider some of the debates about global and local negotiations in discussions of gender policy and education and the light this throws on gender mainstreaming. In so doing, we place the articles that follow in relation to contestations over ownership, political economy, the form and content of education practice and the social complexity of gender equality

Psychometric properties of the revised children’s anxiety and depression scale (RCADS) for autistic youth without co-occurring intellectual disability

Autistic youth often present with comorbid anxiety and depression yet there is a dearth of validated assessment tools. The Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) assesses internalizing symptoms but there is little psychometric data in autistic youth. Treatment-seeking autistic youth with anxiety or obsessive-compulsive symptoms (N = 74; age 6–14 years), and caregivers, were administered the RCADS-Parent, RCADS-Child, and assessments of internalizing, externalizing symptoms and social impairment indicative of autism. RCADS-Parent and RCADS-Child total anxiety scores demonstrated excellent internal consistency, and the six subscales demonstrated acceptable-to-good internal consistency. The RCADS-Child and Parent total anxiety scores were weakly correlated, and neither child age nor gender altered the strength of this association. Convergent validity was supported by moderate-to-strong correlations with clinician and parent-reported anxiety symptoms. Support for divergent validity was mixed. Results provide support for the RCADS-Parent and RCADS-Child as reliable, valid measures of internalizing symptoms in autistic youth

CD8+ T-cells count in acute myocardial infarction in HIV disease in a predominantly male cohort.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus- (HIV-) infected persons have a higher risk for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) than HIV-uninfected persons. Earlier studies suggest that HIV viral load, CD4+ T-cell count, and antiretroviral therapy are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Whether CD8+ T-cell count is associated with CVD risk is not clear. We investigated the association between CD8+ T-cell count and incident AMI in a cohort of 73,398 people (of which 97.3% were men) enrolled in the U.S. Veterans Aging Cohort Study-Virtual Cohort (VACS-VC). Compared to uninfected people, HIV-infected people with high baseline CD8+ T-cell counts (\u3e1065 cells/mm3) had increased AMI risk (adjusted HR=1.82,

Provider verification of electronic health record receipt and nonreceipt of direct-acting antivirals for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection.

PURPOSE: Pharmacoepidemiologic studies using electronic health record data could serve an important role in assessing safety and effectiveness of direct-acting antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but the validity of these data needs to be determined. We evaluated the accuracy of pharmacy fill records in the national Veterans Health Administration (VA) Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) as compared to facility-level electronic health record. METHODS: Patients prescribed a direct-acting antiviral regimen at five VA sites between 2014 and 2016 were randomly selected and reviewed. A random sample of patients with chronic HCV infection without evidence of HCV treatment during the study period also underwent chart review. We calculated positive predictive value and negative predictive value overall and by site. RESULTS: Of the 501 patients who received a total of 2416 prescriptions, 494 were validated using data extracted from CDW 6 months after the study period, yielding a positive predictive value of 98.6% (95% confidence interval, 97.6%-99.6%). Of the 100 patients with chronic HCV infection without prescriptions for HCV treatment, 99 were confirmed not to have received antiviral treatment (negative predictive value, 99.0%; 95% confidence interval, 97.1%-100%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide assurance to researchers who use national VA CDW data for retrospective cohort studies that the CDW contains accurate information on HCV therapies in the modern treatment era

Dexamethasone in hospitalised coronavirus-19 patients not on intensive respiratory support.

INTRODUCTION: Dexamethasone decreases mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients on intensive respiratory support (IRS) but is of uncertain benefit if less severely ill. We determined whether early (within 48 h) dexamethasone was associated with mortality in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 not on IRS. METHODS: We included patients admitted to Veterans Affairs hospitals between June 7, 2020-May 31, 2021 within 14-days after SARS-CoV-2 positive test. Exclusions included recent prior corticosteroids and IRS within 48 h. We used inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTW) to balance exposed and unexposed groups, and Cox proportional hazards models to determine 90-day all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Of 19 973 total patients (95% men, median age 71, 27% black), 15 404 (77%) were without IRS within 48 h. Of these, 3514/9450 (34%) patients on no oxygen received dexamethasone and 1042 (11%) died; 4472/5954 (75%) patients on low-flow nasal cannula (NC) received dexamethasone and 857 (14%) died. In IPTW stratified models, patients on no oxygen who received dexamethasone experienced 76% increased risk for 90-day mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47 to 2.12); there was no association with mortality among patients on NC (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.36). CONCLUSION: In patients hospitalised with COVID-19, early initiation of dexamethasone was common and was associated with no mortality benefit among those on no oxygen or NC in the first 48 h; instead, we found evidence of potential harm. These real-world findings do not support the use of early dexamethasone in hospitalised COVID-19 patients without IRS

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Biomass offsets little or none of permafrost carbon release from soils, streams, and wildfire : an expert assessment

As the permafrost region warms, its large organic carbon pool will be increasingly vulnerable to decomposition, combustion, and hydrologic export. Models predict that some portion of this release will be offset by increased production of Arctic and boreal biomass; however, the lack of robust estimates of net carbon balance increases the risk of further overshooting international emissions targets. Precise empirical or model-based assessments of the critical factors driving carbon balance are unlikely in the near future, so to address this gap, we present estimates from 98 permafrost-region experts of the response of biomass, wildfire, and hydrologic carbon flux to climate change. Results suggest that contrary to model projections, total permafrost-region biomass could decrease due to water stress and disturbance, factors that are not adequately incorporated in current models. Assessments indicate that end-of-the-century organic carbon release from Arctic rivers and collapsing coastlines could increase by 75% while carbon loss via burning could increase four-fold. Experts identified water balance, shifts in vegetation community, and permafrost degradation as the key sources of uncertainty in predicting future system response. In combination with previous findings, results suggest the permafrost region will become a carbon source to the atmosphere by 2100 regardless of warming scenario but that 65%-85% of permafrost carbon release can still be avoided if human emissions are actively reduced.Peer reviewe

The Arctic

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