Assessing the influence of habitat characteristics and brood parasitism on wood duck nest box use and success.

As with most Avian species, we have seen declines in waterfowl species largely driven by habitat loss. Population stability of waterfowl depends on breeding success, which is influenced by the availability and quality of ecosystems used during the breeding season. Given the importance of breeding success, management for waterfowl is often implemented, which may include moist soil management, planting food plots, and construction of artificial nesting boxes. Wood ducks (Aix sponsa) are one waterfowl species that respond particularly well to the construction of artificial nest boxes. Scarcity of suitable nest sites over parts of the wood duck\u27s range justifies the use of artificial nest boxes to establish and maintain populations. Each artificial nesting box requires maintenance through time to ensure continued use and nesting success. The objective of our study is to monitor the use of artificial nesting boxes by wood duck on Land Between the Lakes to determine the habitat attributes that influence nest success and productivity and interactions of these variables with nest parasitism. Trail cameras will be placed in 30-40 wood duck boxes by attaching the cameras to the top of the nest boxes in February/early-March 2023 and again in 2024. We will be placing half of the cameras in boxes with high success rates and half in boxes with low success rates based on data that has been collected by The Kentucky Department of Natural Resources. We will monitor the nests until the birds have fledged and determine nest success, nest productivity, and nest parasitism rates

Hitting the Sweet Spot: Optimizing Camera Trapping Effort for Estimating Biodiversity in Coastal Environments

Wildlife trail cameras, or “camera traps”, have become an effective tool in ecological research and conservation management across a variety of ecosystems to monitor a wide range of taxa. Camera trapping allows for extended survey time in traditionally hard-to-survey environments and has greatly increased our ability to detect cryptic species. One question ecologists commonly face is how much sampling effort is required to accurately estimate community composition. Despite the abundant literature that uses camera trapping techniques, few studies have occurred in coastal saltmarsh ecosystems. These ecosystems are being lost at a rapid rate from land conversion, pollution, and other anthropogenic stressors, and there is a critical need to better understand the role of coastal ecosystems as wildlife habitats across the globe. Here we analyzed camera trap data from 10 local coastal study plots in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Cameras collected data two weeks a month from May 2022 to Jan 2023, 24 hours per day, taking one photo per minute throughout their deployments. A total of 2.5 million photographs were taken over the study period. Photos were examined for all bird and mammal activity, identifying animals to the species level. Across all sites, we observed 25 different species ranging from migratory shorebirds (e.g., Spotted Sandpiper) to large mammals (e.g., White-tailed Deer). We used a rarefaction analysis to evaluate the accumulated number of detected species across days deployed. Our results demonstrate that the optimum sampling effort needed to achieve 90% detection is 39.6 camera-days (95% Confidence Intervals from 6 to 73) across all sites. Our findings suggest that camera traps are an effective technique in coastal environments when targeting medium to larger-sized terrestrial vertebrates such as wading birds and mammals. These results have broader implications for coastal restoration monitoring and have the potential to inform project monitoring methodology and design.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2023_sciences/1029/thumbnail.jp

Anti-biofilm activity of a self-aggregating peptide against Streptococcus mutans

Streptococcus mutans is the primary agent of dental cavities, in large part due to its ability to adhere to teeth and create a molecular scaffold of glucan polysaccharides on the tooth surface. Disrupting the architecture of S. mutans biofilms could help undermine the establishment of biofilm communities that cause cavities and tooth decay. Here we present a synthetic peptide P1, derived from a tick antifreeze protein, which significantly reduces S. mutans biofilm formation. Incubating cells with this peptide decreased biofilm biomass by approximately 75% in both a crystal violet microplate assay and an in vitro tooth model using saliva-coated hydroxyapatite discs. Bacteria treated with peptide P1 formed irregular biofilms with disconnected aggregates of cells and exopolymeric matrix that readily detached from surfaces. Peptide P1 can bind directly to S. mutans cells but does not possess bactericidal activity. Anti-biofilm activity was correlated with peptide aggregation and β-sheet formation in solution, and alternative synthetic peptides of different lengths or charge distribution did not inhibit biofilms. This anti-biofilm peptide interferes with S. mutans biofilm formation and architecture, and may have future applications in preventing bacterial buildup on teeth

Delivery of a Mental Health First Aid training package and staff peer support service in secondary schools: a process evaluation of uptake and fidelity of the WISE intervention.

BACKGROUND: Improving children and young people's provision for mental health is a current health priority in England. Secondary school teachers have worse mental health outcomes than the general working population, which the Wellbeing in Secondary Education (WISE) cluster randomised controlled trial aimed to improve. The WISE intervention comprised a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training package delivered to at least 16% of staff, a short mental health awareness session to all teachers and development of a staff peer support service. Twenty-five schools were randomised to intervention or control arms. This paper reports findings regarding the extent of uptake and fidelity of the intervention. METHODS: Mixed methods data collection comprised researcher observations of training delivery, training participant evaluation forms, trainer and peer supporter interviews, peer supporter feedback meetings, logs of support provided, and teacher questionnaires. Quantitative data were summarised descriptively, while thematic analysis was applied to the qualitative data. RESULTS: In the 12 schools assigned to the intervention arm, 113 (8.6%) staff completed the 2-day standard MHFA training course, and a further 146 (11.1%) staff completed the 1-day MHFA for schools and colleges training. In seven (58.3%) schools, the required 8% of staff completed the MHFA training packages. A 1-h mental health awareness-raising session was attended by 666 (54.5%) staff. Delivery of the MHFA training package was achieved with high levels of fidelity and quality across schools. All schools set up the peer support service following training, with a majority adhering to most of the operational guidelines developed from the pilot study at the outset. Teachers reported limited use of the peer support service during follow-up. At the 1-year follow-up, only three (25.0%) schools indicated they had re-advertised the service and there was evidence of a reduction in support from senior leadership. CONCLUSION: The MHFA training package was delivered with reasonably high fidelity, and a staff peer support service was established with general, but not complete, adherence to guidelines. In some schools, insufficient staff received MHFA training and levels of delivery of the peer support service compromised intervention dose and reach. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 95909211 . Registered on 15 January 2016

Stroke Ready Intervention: Community Engagement to Decrease Prehospital Delay

Background: Time-limited acute stroke treatments are underused, primarily due to prehospital delay. One approach to decreasing prehospital delay is to increase stroke preparedness, the ability to recognize stroke, and the intention to immediately call emergency medical services, through community engagement with high-risk communities. Methods and Results: Our community-academic partnership developed and tested "Stroke Ready," a peer-led, workshop-based, health behavior intervention to increase stroke preparedness among African American youth and adults in Flint, Michigan. Outcomes were measured with a series of 9 stroke and nonstroke 1-minute video vignettes; after each video, participants selected their intended response (primary outcome) and symptom recognition (secondary outcome), receiving 1 point for each appropriate stroke response and recognition. We assessed differences between baseline and posttest appropriate stroke response, which was defined as intent to call 911 for stroke vignettes and not calling 911 for nonstroke, nonemergent vignettes and recognition of stroke. Outcomes assessments were performed before workshop 1 (baseline), at the conclusion of workshop 2 (immediate post-test), and 1 month later (delayed post-test). A total of 101 participants completed the baseline assessment (73 adults and 28 youths), 64 completed the immediate post-test, and 68 the delayed post-test. All participants were African American. The median age of adults was 56 (interquartile range 35-65) and of youth was 14 (interquartile range 11-16), 65% of adults were women, and 50% of youths were women. Compared to baseline, appropriate stroke response was improved in the immediate post-test (4.4 versus 5.2, P < 0.01) and was sustained in the delayed post-test (4.4 versus 5.2, P < 0.01). Stroke recognition did not change in the immediate post-test (5.9 versus 6.0, P=0.34), but increased in the delayed post-test (5.9 versus 6.2, P=0.04). Conclusions: Stroke Ready increased stroke preparedness, a necessary step toward increasing acute stroke treatment rates

Buildings behaving badly:A behavioral experiment on how different motivational frames influence residential energy label adoption in the Netherlands

Heating buildings contributes to approximately 36% of Europe’s energy demand and several EU member states have adopted mandatory energy labels to improve energy efficiency by promoting home weatherization investments. This paper focuses on the perception of the energy label for residential buildings in the Netherlands and the role of different frames (egoistic, biospheric and social norms and neutral frames) in motivating adoption of energy labels for housing. We used a behavioral email experiment and an online survey to investigate these motivational factors. We find that biospheric frames are weaker than the other three motivational frames in terms of engaging interest in the energy label, but that the biospheric frame results in higher willingness to pay (WTP) for the energy label. We also find that age (rather than income) correlates with higher willingness to pay for home energy labels

Do patients with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome who undergo hip arthroscopy display improved alpha angle (magnetic resonance imaging) and radiographic hip morphology?

AIMS To compare (a) the change in radiological bony morphology between participants with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome who underwent arthroscopic hip surgery compared to physiotherapist-led non-surgical care and (b) the change in radiological bony morphology between participants with FAI syndrome who underwent arthroscopic hip surgery involving cam resection or acetabular rim trimming or combined cam resection and acetabular rim trimming. METHODS Maximum alpha angle measurements on magnetic resonance imaging and Hip2 Norm standardized hip measurements on radiographs were recorded at baseline and at 12 months postoperatively. One-way analysis of covariance and independent T tests were conducted between participants who underwent arthroscopic hip surgery and physiotherapist-led non-surgical care. Independent T tests and analysis of variance were conducted between participants who underwent the 3 different arthroscopic hip procedures. RESULTS Arthroscopic hip surgery resulted in significant improvements to mean alpha angle measurements (decreased from 70.8° to 62.1°) (P value < .001, 95% CI -11.776, -4.772), lateral center edge angle (LCEA) (P value = .030, 95% CI -3.403, -0.180) and extrusion index (P value = 0.002, 95% CI 0.882, 3.968) compared to physiotherapist-led management. Mean maximum 1-year postoperative alpha angle was 59.0° (P value = .003, 95% CI 4.845, 18.768) for participants who underwent isolated cam resection. Measurements comparing the 3 different arthroscopic hip procedures only differed in total femoral head coverage (F[2,37] = 3.470, P = .042). CONCLUSION Arthroscopic hip surgery resulted in statistically significant improvements to LCEA, extrusion index and alpha angle as compared to physiotherapist-led management. Measured outcomes between participants who underwent cam resection and/or acetabular rim trimming only differed in total femoral head coverage

Process evaluation protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers– the Wellbeing in Secondary Education (WISE) project

Background: Secondary school teachers have low levels of wellbeing and high levels of depression compared with the general population. Teachers are in a key position to support students, but poor mental health may be a barrier to doing so effectively. The Wellbeing in Secondary Education (WISE) project is a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers through delivery of the training package Mental Health First Aid and a staff peer support service. We will conduct a process evaluation as part of the WISE trial to support the interpretation of trial outcomes and refine intervention theory. The domains assessed will be: the extent to which the hypothesised mechanisms of change are activated; system level influences on these mechanisms; programme differentiation and usual practice; intervention implementation, including any adaptations; intervention acceptability; and intervention sustainability. Methods: Research questions will be addressed via quantitative and qualitative methods. All study schools (n = 25) will provide process evaluation data, with more detailed focus group, interview and observation data being collected from a subsample of case study schools (4 intervention and 4 control). Mechanisms of change, as outlined in a logic model, will be measured via teacher and student surveys and focus groups. School context will be explored via audits of school practice that relate to mental health and wellbeing, combined with stakeholder interviews and focus groups. Implementation of the training and peer support service will be assessed via training observations, training participant evaluation forms, focus groups with participants, interviews with trainers and peer support service users, and peer supporter logs recording help provided. Acceptability and sustainability will be examined via interviews with funders, head teachers, trainers and peer support services users, and focus groups with training participants. Discussion: The process evaluation embedded within the WISE cluster RCT will illuminate how and why the intervention was effective, ineffective or conferred iatrogenic effects. It will contribute to the refinement of the theory underpinning the intervention, and will help to inform any future implementation. Trial registration: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number: ISRCTN95909211 registered on 24 March 2016. Keywords: Mental health, Wellbeing, Schools, Children, Adolescents, Teachers, Process evaluation, Cluster Randomised Controlled Tria

Structural and functional analysis of the transcriptional regulator Rv3066 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The Mmr multidrug efflux pump recognizes and actively extrudes a broad range of antimicrobial agents, and promotes the intrinsic resistance to these antimicrobials in Mycobacterium tuberculosis . The expression of Mmr is controlled by the TetR-like transcriptional regulator Rv3066, whose open reading frame is located downstream of the mmr operon. To understand the structural basis of Rv3066 regulation, we have determined the crystal structures of Rv3066, both in the absence and presence of bound ethidium, revealing an asymmetric homodimeric two-domain molecule with an entirely helical architecture. The structures underscore the flexibility and plasticity of the regulator essential for multidrug recognition. Comparison of the apo-Rv3066 and Rv3066–ethidium crystal structures suggests that the conformational changes leading to drug-mediated derepression is primarily due to a rigid body rotational motion within the dimer interface of the regulator. The Rv3066 regulator creates a multidrug-binding pocket, which contains five aromatic residues. The bound ethidium is found buried within the multidrug-binding site, where extensive aromatic stacking interactions seemingly govern the binding. In vitro studies reveal that the dimeric Rv3066 regulator binds to a 14-bp palindromic inverted repeat sequence in the nanomolar range. These findings provide new insight into the mechanisms of ligand binding and Rv3066 regulation

An intervention to improve teacher well-being support and training to support students in UK high schools (the WISE study): A cluster randomised controlled trial.

Funder: Public Health WalesFunder: Bristol City CouncilFunder: Public Health EnglandBACKGROUND: Teachers are at heightened risk of poor mental health and well-being, which is likely to impact on the support they provide to students, and student outcomes. We conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial, to test whether an intervention to improve mental health support and training for high school teachers led to improved mental health and well-being for teachers and students, compared to usual practice. We also conducted a cost evaluation of the intervention. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The intervention comprised (i) Mental Health First Aid training for teachers to support students; (ii) a mental health awareness session; and (iii) a confidential staff peer support service. In total 25 mainstream, non-fee-paying secondary schools stratified by geographical area and free school meal entitlement were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 12) or control group (n = 13) after collection of baseline measures. We analysed data using mixed-effects repeated measures models in the intention-to-treat population, adjusted for stratification variables, sex, and years of experience. The primary outcome was teacher well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale). Secondary outcomes were teacher depression, absence, and presenteeism, and student well-being, mental health difficulties, attendance, and attainment. Follow-up was at months 12 (T1) and 24 (T2). We collected process data to test the logic model underpinning the intervention, to aid interpretation of the findings. A total of 1,722 teachers were included in the primary analysis. Teacher well-being did not differ between groups at T2 (intervention mean well-being score 47.5, control group mean well-being score 48.4, adjusted mean difference -0.90, 95% CI -2.07 to 0.27, p = 0.130). The only effect on secondary outcomes was higher teacher-reported absence among the intervention group at T2 (intervention group median number of days absent 0, control group median number of days absent 0, ratio of geometric means 1.04, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.09, p = 0.042). Process measures indicated little change in perceived mental health support, quality of relationships, and work-related stress. The average cost of the intervention was £9,103 per school. The study's main limitations were a lack of blinding of research participants and the self-report nature of the outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we observed no improvements to teacher or student mental health following the intervention, possibly due to a lack of impact on key drivers of poor mental health within the school environment. Future research should focus on structural and cultural changes to the school environment, which may be more effective at improving teacher and student mental health and well-being. TRIAL REGISTRATION: www.isrctn.com ISRCTN95909211