Telemetry tails: a practical method for attaching animal-borne devices to small vertebrates in the field

Context. Continued miniaturisation of tracking technology increases its utility in animal applications. However, species morphology often dictates the type of animal-borne device (ABD) that can be used, and how it is attached. The morphology of species within Peramelemorphia preclude them from the standard collar attachment of ABDs for terrestrial mammals. Aims. This paper describes a method for the tail-mount attachment of ABDs, and deployment results for Peramelemorphia across arid, semi-arid and temperate Australia to (a) test the performance of attachments and ABDs in the field and (b) discuss the animal welfare considerations for this attachment method. Methods. Tail-mount attachment of ABDs were field-tested on a total of 80 greater bilbies (Macrotis lagotis), and 14 long-nosed bandicoots (Perameles nasuta). Key results. Time to natural detachment (TTND) was between 2 and 52 days, with 65.74% (142 of 216) remaining on until manual removal. For ABDs that were manually removed, attachments were retained for up to 94 days. The method used for tail-mount attachment of ABDs to long-nosed bandicoots resulted in significantly shorter TTND compared with the method used for bilbies, and environmental factors (high temperatures and rainfall) had a negative effect on TTND. Tail-mount attached global positioning system (GPS) sensors collected large quantities of accurate data, with a maximum fix success rate of 83.38%. Damage to GPS (antenna breakage and water ingress) during deployment, however, impacted performance. In environments with frequent rainfall and waterlogged soils, the tape on a small proportion (6.25%) of (n = 192)attachments to bilbies caused tail injury. All injuries were resolvable, with most requiringminimal to no veterinary intervention. Key conclusions. Attachment longevity can be affectedby how the ABD is mounted to the tail, the species and the deployment environment. Theenvironment can also affect which adhesive tapes are suitable for ABD attachment. However, thismethod is highly modifiable, practical for field application and can have long retention timesrelative to other temporary methods. Implications. This ABD tail-mount attachment methodadds another tool to the telemetry tool-kit, with all the benefits of a low-tech, low-cost, passivedrop-off type attachment. This method has demonstrated practicality for Peramelemorphia, withpotential application to other suitable small vertebrates

The dependence of winter aurora on interplanetary parameters

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94782/1/jgra16564.pd

Mental Health Admissions to Paediatric Wards Study (MAPS): protocol of a prospective study of mental health admissions to paediatric wards in England using surveillance and qualitative methods.

INTRODUCTION: Children and young people (CYP) presenting with a mental health (MH) crisis are frequently admitted to general acute paediatric wards as a place of safety. Prior to the pandemic, a survey in England showed that CYP occupied 6% of general paediatric inpatient beds due to an MH crisis, and there have been longstanding concerns about the quality of care to support these patients in this setting. MAPS aims to generate a Theory of Change (ToC) model to improve the quality of care for CYP admitted to acute paediatric services after presenting with an MH crisis. Here, we describe work packages (WPs) 2 and 3 of the study, which have been granted ethics approval. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will undertake a national (England), sequential, mixed-methods study to inform a ToC framework alongside a stakeholder group consisting of patients, families/carers and healthcare professionals (HCPs). Our study consists of four WPs undertaken over 30 months. WP2 is limited to working with stakeholders to develop a data collection instrument and then use this in a prospective study of MH admissions over 6 months in 15 purposively recruited acute paediatric wards across England. WP3 consists of gathering the views of CYP, their families/carers and HCPs during admissions using semistructured interviews. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: WP2 and WP3 received ethical approval (ref: 23/LO/0349). We will publish the overall synthesis of data and the final ToC to improve care of CYP with MH crisis admitted to general acute paediatric settings. As co-producers of the ToC, we will work with our stakeholder group to ensure wide dissemination of findings. Potential impacts will be upon service development, new models of care, training and workforce planning. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022350655

Mental Health Admissions to Paediatric Wards Study (MAPS): a protocol for the analysis of Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data.

INTRODUCTION: Children and young people (CYP) presenting with a mental health (MH) crisis are frequently admitted to general acute paediatric wards as a place of safety. Prior to the pandemic, a survey in England showed that CYP occupied 6% of general paediatric inpatient beds due to an MH crisis, and there have been longstanding concerns about the quality of care to support these patients in this setting. Mental Health Admissions to Paediatric Wards Study aims to generate a theory of change (ToC) model to improve the quality of care for CYP admitted to acute paediatric services after presenting in a MH crisis. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will undertake a national (England), sequential, mixed methods study to inform a ToC framework alongside a stakeholder group consisting of patients, families/carers and healthcare professionals (HCPs). Our study consists of four work packages (WP) undertaken over 30 months. WP1 is limited to using national routine administrative data to identify and characterise trends in MH admissions in acute paediatric wards in England between 2015- 2022. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: WP1 received ethical approval (Ref 23/NW/0192). We will publish the overall synthesis of data and the final ToC to improve care of CYP with MH crisis admitted to general acute paediatric settings. As coproducers of the ToC, we will work with our stakeholder group to ensure wide dissemination of findings. Potential impacts will be on service development, new models of care, training and workforce planning

Dynamic pressure enhancements as a cause of large‐scale stormtime substorms

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94960/1/jgra19239.pd

A putative genomic island, PGI-1, in Ralstonia solanacearum biovar 2 revealed by subtractive hybridization

Ralstonia solanacearum biovar 2, a key bacterial pathogen of potato, has recently established in temperate climate waters. On the basis of isolates obtained from diseased (potato) plants, its genome has been assumed to be virtually clonal, but information on environmental isolates has been lacking. Based on differences in pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns, we compared the genomes of two biovar 2 strains with different life histories. Thus, genomic DNA of the novel environmental strain KZR-5 (The Netherlands) was compared to that of reference potato strain 715 (Bangladesh) by suppressive subtractive hybridization. Various strain-specific sequences were found, all being homologous to those found in the genome of reference potato strain 1609. Approximately 20% of these were related to genes involved in recombinational processes. We found a deletion of a 17.6-Kb region, denoted as a putative genomic island PGI-1, in environmental strain KZR-5. The deleted region was, at both extremes, flanked by a composite of two insertion sequence (IS) elements, identified as ISRso2 and ISRso3. The PGI-1 region contained open reading frames that putatively encoded a (p)ppGpp synthetase, a transporter protein, a transcriptional regulator, a cellobiohydrolase, a site-specific integrase/recombinase, a phage-related protein and seven hypothetical proteins. As yet, no phenotype could be assigned to the loss of PGI-1. The ecological behavior of strain KZR-5 was compared to that of reference strain 715. Strain KZR-5 showed enhanced tolerance to 4°C as compared to the reference strain, but was not affected in its virulence on tomato

On the nature of ULF wave power during nightside auroral activations and substorms: 2. temporal evolution

We present a statistical analysis of the time evolution of ground magnetic fluctuations in three (12–48 s, 24–96 s and 48–192 s) period bands during nightside auroral activations. We use an independently derived auroral activation list composed of both substorms and pseudo-breakups to provide an estimate of the activation times of nightside aurora during periods with comprehensive ground magnetometer coverage. One hundred eighty-one events in total are studied to demonstrate the statistical nature of the time evolution of magnetic wave power during the ∼30 min surrounding auroral activations. We find that the magnetic wave power is approximately constant before an auroral activation, starts to grow up to 90 s prior to the optical onset time, maximizes a few minutes after the auroral activation, then decays slightly to a new, and higher, constant level. Importantly, magnetic ULF wave power always remains elevated after an auroral activation, whether it is a substorm or a pseudo-breakup. We subsequently divide the auroral activation list into events that formed part of ongoing auroral activity and events that had little preceding geomagnetic activity. We find that the evolution of wave power in the ∼10–200 s period band essentially behaves in the same manner through auroral onset, regardless of event type. The absolute power across ULF wave bands, however, displays a power law-like dependency throughout a 30 min period centered on auroral onset time. We also find evidence of a secondary maximum in wave power at high latitudes ∼10 min following isolated substorm activations. Most significantly, we demonstrate that magnetic wave power levels persist after auroral activations for ∼10 min, which is consistent with recent findings of wave-driven auroral precipitation during substorms. This suggests that magnetic wave power and auroral particle precipitation are intimately linked and key components of the substorm onset process