Good Animals in Bad Places: Evaluating Landscape Attributes Associated with Elk Vulnerability to Wolf Predation

Vulnerability of prey to predators is heavily influenced by their respective physical and behavioral characteristics; however their interactions with landscape, and climate, collectively termed “environmental vulnerability,” may also assume considerable importance. Little is known about the impact of environmental vulnerability in large mammal systems, where post-encounter vulnerability may assume more importance than encounter probability. This study utilized 18 years of survival and mortality data for radio-collared elk (Cervus elaphus), in concert with abundance, distribution, and habitat use data prior to and following restoration of wolves (Canis lupus) to Yellowstone National Park to evaluate the relationship between environmental attributes and elk mortality. We modeled the odds of mortality for 108 elk in 1257 animal sample intervals from 1991-2009 across a range of environmental conditions and gradients of wolf predation risk to evaluate: 1) The relationship between landscape, habitat, and environmental attributes and elk vulnerability to wolf predation and 2) Changes in the attributes related to elk mortality before and after wolf colonization. In the absence of wolf predation, mortality risk for elk was primarily associated with physical attributes of elk known to influence starvation mortality. Following wolf reintroduction mortality risk was more strongly associated with characteristics of the landscape and climate within an animal’s home range. These environmental influences resulted in substantial changes in distribution and abundance of elk in the study system and suggests environmental heterogeneity may have an important influence on wolf and elk distributions and dynamics

Activation of human T cell clones through the UM4D4/CDw60 surface antigen

UM4D4 is a recently defined antigen that is expressed on ~25% of peripheral blood T cells, but on the majority of T cells in inflammatory synovial fluid. Anti-UM4D4 activates peripheral blood T cells in the presence of accessory cells and/or phorbol ester. UM4D4 has been assigned to a new antigen cluster termed CDw60. The present study examined the ability of anti-UM4D4 to activate T cell clones derived from the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. UM4D4 was expressed at varying levels on both lectin-generated and antigen-specific clones, including clones of CD4+, CD8+, and CD4-CD8- phenotypes. Anti-UM4D4 used in soluble form as a single stimulus was typically mitogenic for the CD4+ and some of the CD8+ clones, but not for the CD4-CD8- clones. Phorbol ester boosted the response to anti-UM4D4 in some clones, had no effect in others, and diminished the responses in some cases. In contrast to anti-UM4D4, anti-CD3 was generally not mitogenic in soluble form, although it was mitogenic when conjugated to beads. The data show that T cell clones derived from an inflammatory T cell infiltrate can be readily activated through the UM4D4/CDw60 antigen.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28512/1/0000309.pd

Patient-reported functional outcome measures and treatment choice for prostate cancer

Background The aim of this study was to describe changes in patient-reported functional outcome measures (PROMs) comparing pre-treatment and 12 months after radical prostatectomy (RP), external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), brachytherapy and active surveillance (AS). Methods Men enrolled from 2010 to 2019 in the South Australian Prostate Cancer Clinical Outcomes Collaborative registry a prospective clinical registry were studied. Urinary, bowel, and sexual functions were measured using Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) at baseline and 12 months post-treatment. Higher scores on the EPIC-26 indicate better function. Multivariable regression models were applied to compare differences in function and extent of bother by treatment. Results Of the 4926 eligible men, 57.0% underwent RP, 20.5% EBRT, 7.0% brachytherapy and 15.5% AS. While baseline urinary and bowel function varied little across treatment groups, sexual function differed greatly (adjusted mean scores: RP = 56.3, EBRT = 45.8, brachytherapy = 61.4, AS = 52.8; p < 0.001). Post-treatment urinary continence and sexual function declined in all treatment groups, with the greatest decline for sexual function after RP (adjusted mean score change − 28.9). After adjustment for baseline differences, post-treatment sexual function scores after EBRT (6.4; 95%CI, 0.9–12.0) and brachytherapy (17.4; 95%CI, 9.4–25.5) were higher than after RP. Likewise, urinary continence after EBRT (13.6; 95%CI, 9.0-18.2), brachytherapy (10.6; 95%CI, 3.9–17.3) and AS (10.6; 95%CI, 5.9–15.3) were higher than after RP. Conversely, EBRT was associated with lower bowel function (− 7.9; 95%CI, − 12.4 to − 3.5) than RP. EBRT and AS were associated with lower odds of sexual bother (OR 0.51; 95%CI, 0.29–0.89 and OR 0.60; 95%CI, 0.38–0.96, respectively), and EBRT with higher odds of bowel bother (OR 2.01; 95%CI, 1.23–3.29) compared with RP. Conclusion The four common treatment approaches for prostate cancer were associated with different patterns of patient-reported functional outcomes, both pre- and 12 months post-treatment. However, after adjustment, RP was associated with a greater decline in urinary continence and sexual function than other treatments. This study underscores the importance of collecting baseline PROMs to interpret post-treatment functional outcomes.Tenaw Tiruye, Michael O, Callaghan, Kim Moretti, Alex Jay, Braden Higgs, Kerry Santoro, Terry Boyle, Kerry Ettridge, and Kerri Beckman

The anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody, bamlanivimab, minimally impacts the endogenous immune response to COVID-19 vaccination

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic evolves and vaccine rollout progresses, the availability and demand for monoclonal antibodies for the prevention and treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are also accelerating. This longitudinal serological study evaluated the magnitude and potency of the endogenous antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination in participants who first received a COVID-19 monoclonal antibody in a prevention study. Over the course of six months, serum samples were collected from a population of nursing home residents and staff enrolled in a clinical trial who were randomized to either bamlanivimab treatment or placebo. In an unplanned component of this trial, a subset of these participants was subsequently fully vaccinated with two doses of either SpikeVax (Moderna) or Comirnaty (BioNTech/Pfizer) COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. This post-hoc analysis assessed the immune response to vaccination for 135 participants without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Antibody titers and potency were assessed using three assays against SARS-CoV-2 proteins that bamlanivimab does not efficiently bind to, thereby reflecting the endogenous antibody response. All bamlanivimab and placebo recipients mounted a robust immune response to full COVID-19 vaccination, irrespective of age, risk-category, and vaccine type with any observed differences of uncertain clinical importance. These findings are pertinent for informing public health policy with results that suggest that the benefit of receiving COVID-19 vaccination at the earliest opportunity outweighs the minimal effect on the endogenous immune response due to prior prophylactic COVID-19 monoclonal antibody infusion

The IDENTIFY study: the investigation and detection of urological neoplasia in patients referred with suspected urinary tract cancer - a multicentre observational study

Objective To evaluate the contemporary prevalence of urinary tract cancer (bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer [UTUC] and renal cancer) in patients referred to secondary care with haematuria, adjusted for established patient risk markers and geographical variation. Patients and Methods This was an international multicentre prospective observational study. We included patients aged ≥16 years, referred to secondary care with suspected urinary tract cancer. Patients with a known or previous urological malignancy were excluded. We estimated the prevalence of bladder cancer, UTUC, renal cancer and prostate cancer; stratified by age, type of haematuria, sex, and smoking. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust cancer prevalence for age, type of haematuria, sex, smoking, hospitals, and countries. Results Of the 11 059 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 896 were included from 110 hospitals across 26 countries. The overall adjusted cancer prevalence (n = 2257) was 28.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.3–34.1), bladder cancer (n = 1951) 24.7% (95% CI 19.1–30.2), UTUC (n = 128) 1.14% (95% CI 0.77–1.52), renal cancer (n = 107) 1.05% (95% CI 0.80–1.29), and prostate cancer (n = 124) 1.75% (95% CI 1.32–2.18). The odds ratios for patient risk markers in the model for all cancers were: age 1.04 (95% CI 1.03–1.05; P < 0.001), visible haematuria 3.47 (95% CI 2.90–4.15; P < 0.001), male sex 1.30 (95% CI 1.14–1.50; P < 0.001), and smoking 2.70 (95% CI 2.30–3.18; P < 0.001). Conclusions A better understanding of cancer prevalence across an international population is required to inform clinical guidelines. We are the first to report urinary tract cancer prevalence across an international population in patients referred to secondary care, adjusted for patient risk markers and geographical variation. Bladder cancer was the most prevalent disease. Visible haematuria was the strongest predictor for urinary tract cancer

New media : embedding communications strategy in broader marketing strategy

New media has resulted in communication strategy evolving to a more integral component of marketing strategy, where the two are converging. This paper discusses the implications of this shift in terms of integrated marketing communication, drawing on the existing academic and practitioner literature. It is suggested that the effective use of new media means communication activities will direct tactics and strategy, rather than being driven by them

Measuring expectations: forecast vs. ideal expectations. Does it really matter?

Consumer's participation in service delivery is so central to cognition that it affects consumer's quality evaluations. The study presented in this paper investigates the ways that visitor expectations change as a result of first hand experience with a service in the context of a major art exhibition. The research design allowed for two operational definitions of expectations, namely forecast and ideal expectations, in order to investigate differences between respondents’ pre- and post-experiences with a service. A total of 550 respondent visitors were interviewed during a major art exhibition, using two questionnaires delivered to two sub samples of respondents. The primary questionnaire was designed to capture recalled expectations after visitation while the parallel questionnaire captured forecast expectations prior to visitation and perceptions in the post-experience phase. The findings suggest that forecast expectations were different to ideal expectations in both qualitative and quantitative ways and that these differences had important implications for perceptions of service quality. These differences can be explained, at least in part, by the way that expectations are formed and by the way that expectations are shaped by the actual visitation experience. For market researchers, the question of when and how to measure expectations has important implications for research design