Long-Term Monitoring of Fecal Steroid Hormones in Female Snow Leopards (Panthera uncia) during Pregnancy or Pseudopregnancy

Knowledge of the basic reproductive physiology of snow leopards is required urgently in order to develop a suitable management conditions under captivity. In this study, the long-term monitoring of concentrations of three steroid hormones in fecal matter of three female snow leopards was performed using enzyme immunoassays: (1) estradiol-17β, (2) progesterone and (3) cortisol metabolite. Two of the female animals were housed with a male during the winter breeding season, and copulated around the day the estradiol-17β metabolite peaked subsequently becoming pregnant. The other female was treated in two different ways: (1) first housed with a male in all year round and then (2) in the winter season only. She did not mate with him on the first occasion, but did so latter around when estradiol-17β metabolite peaked, and became pseudopregnant. During pregnancy, progesterone metabolite concentrations increased for 92 or 94 days, with this period being approximately twice as long as in the pseudopregnant case (31, 42, 49 and 53 days). The levels of cortisol metabolite in the pseudopregnant female (1.35 µg/g) were significantly higher than in the pregnant females (0.33 and 0.24 µg/g) (P<0.05). Similarly, during the breeding season, the levels of estradiol-17β metabolite in the pseudopregnant female (2.18 µg/g) were significantly higher than those in the pregnant females (0.81 and 0.85 µg/g) (P<0.05). Unlike cortisol the average levels of estradiol-17β during the breeding season were independent of reproductive success

Patterns of Ancestry, Signatures of Natural Selection, and Genetic Association with Stature in Western African Pygmies

African Pygmy groups show a distinctive pattern of phenotypic variation, including short stature, which is thought to reflect past adaptation to a tropical environment. Here, we analyze Illumina 1M SNP array data in three Western Pygmy populations from Cameroon and three neighboring Bantu-speaking agricultural populations with whom they have admixed. We infer genome-wide ancestry, scan for signals of positive selection, and perform targeted genetic association with measured height variation. We identify multiple regions throughout the genome that may have played a role in adaptive evolution, many of which contain loci with roles in growth hormone, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor signaling pathways, as well as immunity and neuroendocrine signaling involved in reproduction and metabolism. The most striking results are found on chromosome 3, which harbors a cluster of selection and association signals between approximately 45 and 60 Mb. This region also includes the positional candidate genes DOCK3, which is known to be associated with height variation in Europeans, and CISH, a negative regulator of cytokine signaling known to inhibit growth hormone-stimulated STAT5 signaling. Finally, pathway analysis for genes near the strongest signals of association with height indicates enrichment for loci involved in insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling

Characterizing the One Health workforce to promote interdisciplinary, multisectoral approaches in global health problem-solving.

BackgroundIn recognition of the interconnected nature of complex challenges such as COVID-19, a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach, referred to as One Health, has been employed to address sustainable development and strengthen global health security. Although significant investments have been made to build global health capacity, characterization of the One Health is absent from the literature.Methods and findingsWe collected and analyzed perspectives from students, graduates, workers, and employers in One Health through a multinational online survey across health disciplines and sectors. Respondents were recruited through professional networks. A total of 828 respondents from 66 countries participated, representing governmental and academic institutions and students, among others; 57% were female, and 56% had completed professional health degrees. Interpersonal communication, communication with non-scientific audiences, and the ability to work in transdisciplinary teams were valued in the workplace and were considered essential competencies to build an interdisciplinary health workforce. Employers indicated difficulty recruiting workers, while workers indicated limited availability of positions. Employers identified limited funding and ill-defined career pathways as prominent challenges for retaining One Health workers.ConclusionsSuccessful One Health workers use interpersonal skills and scientific knowledge to address complex health challenges. Aligning the definition of One Health will likely improve the matching of job seekers and employers. Encouraging the employment of the One Health approach for a diverse range of positions, even if they do not explicitly include "One Health" in the job title, and clarifying the expectations, roles and responsibilities within a transdisciplinary team will lead to building a stronger workforce. As One Health has evolved to address food insecurity, emerging diseases, and antimicrobial resistance, it holds promise for supporting an interdisciplinary global health workforce that can make substantial progress on Sustainable Development Goals and improve global health security for all

<i>Heterosporis</i>-positive fish submitted to the Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory from 2009–2010.

<p>All samples were confirmed by gross lesions, light microscopy, and sequence analysis. Fish were collected by hook and line recreational fishing.</p

<i>Heterosporis sutherlandae</i> n. sp. from yellow perch and walleye.

<p><b>A)</b> Sporophorocyst containing several sporophorous vesicles. The sporophorocyst is lined by a thick wall (double headed arrow). The inner surface of the sporophorocyst is indicated by arrows. The edge of the wall of one sporophorous vesicle is highlighted by arrowhead. Spore is marked by an asterisk. Scale bar is 2 μm. <b>B)</b> Magnification of the sporophorocyst wall (double headed arrow) in a muscle fiber (mf); note the thick external layer, which is formed of microtubules and filaments (tf) and an inner electron dense membrane (arrow). The most internal smooth electron dense layer is a sporophorous vesicle, which is formed of an electron dense amorphous material (white arrowhead). A sporoblast (sb) is near the wall of the sporophorous vesicle. Scale bar is 1 μm. <b>C)</b> Spore wall (sw) of 122–137 nm comprised of an electron dense exospore (ex) measuring 20.78–33.98 nm and an electron lucent endospore (en) measuring 101.76–103.36 nm. Scale bar is 200 nm. <b>D)</b> Longitudinal section of <i>H</i>. <i>sutherlandae</i> displaying a spore wall (wide arrow), posterior vacuole (Pv), coiled filament (white arrowhead), polar filament (white arrow), nucleus (N), and anterior polaroplast. Scale bar is 0.5 μm. Inset: Anchoring disk of a spore. Scale bar is 200 nm. <b>E)</b> Transverse section of the anterior pole of <i>H</i>. <i>sutherlandae</i> displaying a spore wall (wide arrow), polar filament (white arrow), and anterior (Pa) and posterior polaroplast (Pp). Scale bar is 200 nm. <b>F)</b> Longitudinal section of coiled filament of <i>H</i>. <i>sutherlandae</i>. Scale bar is 200 nm. <b>G)</b> Transverse section of polar filaments of <i>H</i>. <i>sutherlandae</i> showing a concentrically multilayer structure. Spore wall (sw). Scale bar is 200 nm.</p

Phylogenetic analysis based on the 3,646bp nearly complete ribosomal RNA gene of <i>Heterosporis</i> sp., corresponding to nucleotide positions 170 to 3,815 of reference sequence AF387331.

<p>The Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed using the General Time Reversible (GTR) model of nucleotide substitution (4 gamma categories) with 1,000 bootstrap replicates.</p

Description of the Microsporidian Parasite, <i>Heterosporis sutherlandae</i> n. sp., Infecting Fish in the Great Lakes Region, USA

<div><p>Heterosporosis is an increasingly important microsporidian disease worldwide, impacting wild and farmed raised fishes in both marine and freshwater environments. A previously undescribed species (<i>Heterosporis</i> sp.), with widespread distribution in the Great Lakes region, was the subject of this study. Three angler-caught fish were submitted to the Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory from 2009–2010 with lesions caused by intracellular proliferation of parasitic spores, resulting in destruction and eventual widespread necrosis of the host skeletal muscles. Mature ovoid (5.8 x 3.5μm) spores of a microsporidian parasite, consistent with the genus <i>Heterosporis</i>, were observed by light and electron microscopy. Molecular identification was performed using primer walking to obtain a near-complete rRNA gene sequence (~3,600 bp). A unique species of <i>Heterosporis</i> was identified, demonstrating less than 96% sequence identity to other published <i>Heterosporis</i> sp. on the basis of partial rRNA gene sequence analysis. <i>Heterosporis sutherlandae</i> n. sp. (formerly <i>Heterosporis</i> sp.) was identified in yellow perch (<i>Perca flavescens</i>), northern pike (<i>Esox lucius</i>) and walleye (<i>Sander vitreus</i>) from inland lakes in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Previous research suggests this species may be even more widespread in the Great Lakes region and should be reexamined using molecular techniques to better understand the distribution of this novel species.</p></div