Environmental DNA reveals the temporal and spatial extent of spawning migrations of European shad in a highly fragmented river basin

1. Anthropogenic barriers on lowland rivers impede the spawning migrations of anadromous fishes, preventing access to historical spawning areas. In the cryptic European shads Alosa alosa and Alosa fallax (‘shad’ hereafter), this has resulted in population declines across their range. Conservation programmes aim to facilitate the passage of migrators over these barriers and so require baseline knowledge on spatial and temporal extent of current migrations. 2. Here, a shad-specific environmental DNA (eDNA) assay was used to quantify the spatial extent of shad spawning migrations in the River Severn basin, Western England. This basin is characterised by the presence of multiple anthropogenic barriers in the lower catchment. In 2017, the eDNA assay was piloted in the River Teme, an important shad spawning tributary, and then applied in 2018 and 2019 across the lower Severn basin. 3. In all years, shad DNA was detected between mid-May and mid-June, with the maximum spatial extent of shad distribution being in early June when shad eDNA was detected upstream of weirs that were generally considered as impassable. In 2018, this included the detection of shad above the most upstream weir on the main River Severn that required individual fish to have passed six weirs. 4. Although anthropogenic barriers inhibit the spawning migrations of shad, this eDNA assay revealed some highly vagile individuals might be able to ascend these barriers and migrate considerable distances upstream. This suggests that efforts to increase the permeability of these barriers could result in relatively high numbers of migrating shad reaching upstream spawning areas. These results demonstrate that this eDNA assay could be also utilised across their range, outside the study system, to further quantify the spatial extent of their spawning, including in highly fragmented rivers and those where shad are believed to only spawn occasionally and are rarely observed

Noticing Future Me: Reducing Egocentrism Through Mental Imagery.

People drastically overestimate how often others attend to them or notice their unusual features, a phenomenon termed the spotlight effect Despite the prevalence of this egocentric bias, little is known about how to reduce the tendency to see oneself as the object of others' attention. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a basic property of mental imagery-the visual perspective from which an event is viewed-may alleviate a future-oriented variant of the spotlight effect. The results of three experiments supported this prediction. Experiment 1 revealed a reduction in egocentric spotlighting when participants imagined an event in the far compared with near future. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated reduced spotlighting and feelings of embarrassment when participants viewed an impending event from a third-person (vs. first-person) vantage point. Simple changes in one's visual perspective may be sufficient to diminish the illusion of personal salience

Has family involvement migrated into higher education? An investigation of how administrative staff document the phenomenon in students’ university experiences in Cyprus

Families have been getting more and more involved in their children’s education. This paper presents findings of a study investigating family involvement in their members’ undergraduate studies attending a state (non-fee-paying) and a private (fee-paying) university in Cyprus. The data presented in the paper were collected via online logs completed by administrative personnel in the two universities documenting incidents of family involvement. The data analysis demonstrates how similarly the phenomenon manifests in both universities and suggests that where the two universities differ is more in the intensity of the various modes of family involvement. It also projects students’ desires and encouragement of their family’s involvement and their families’ intervention to protect or guide them. The findings of the study are discussed in view of cultural and societal norms and changes about parenthood and the relationship between families and their university age members in a marketized higher education context

Monads for (n)omads

Από την πρώτη στιγμή της εμφάνισης της ζωής στη γη, η κινητικότητα αποτέλεσε φαινόμενο άμεσα συνδεδεμένο με αυτή. Ο άνθρωπος στη διάρκεια των χρόνων κινείται συνεχώς για λόγους επιβίωσης, ιμπεριαλιστικούς, για λόγους εμπορίου, κλπ. Σήμερα μετακινείται, πέρα από τους παραπάνω λόγους, και προκειμένου να πραγματοποιήσει τις επαγγελματικές του υποχρεώσεις. Με αφορμή το φαινόμενο αυτό, στα πλαίσια της διπλωματικής μας, ασχοληθήκαμε με τη δημιουργία μιας ‘κοινότητας’, μιας δομής που φέρει μονάδες κατοίκησης προκειμένου να φιλοξενήσει ομάδες ανθρώπων που μπορεί να μετακινούνται για διάφορους λόγους. Η κοινότητα αποτελείται από 2 τμήματα, ένα σταθερό και ένα μεταβλητό. Το μεταβλητό αποτελεί μια μεταλλική κατασκευή που έρχεται να τοποθετηθεί όπου αυτό είναι απαραίτητο. Μπορεί να προσαρμόζεται στο εκάστωτε περιβάλλον προκειμένου να ενσωματωθεί στον τόπο της προσωρινής διαμονής. Το σταθερό αποτελούν το πλήθος των μονάδων που φέρει η μεταλλική κατασκευή, μονάδες κατοίκησης, που όμως εσωτερικά έχουν τη δυνατότητα να μεταβάλλονται προκειμένου να εξυπηρετήσουν τις ανάγκες του εκάστωτε χρήστη. Σε κάθε περίπτωση όμως, κάθε ένα από αυτά τα δύο τμήματα μπορεί να λειτουργήσει και μόνο του, είτε η μεταλλική κατασκευή σαν προέκταση του δημόσιου χώρου, πχ εκθεσιακός χώρος, είτε η κάθε μονάδα σαν ανεξάρτητη μεταφερόμενη μονάδα κατοίκησης.From the very first moment of the emergence of life on earth, mobility was a phenomenon directly connected with it. Human, over the years, was constantly moving in order to survive, for imperialist reasons, for trade, etc. Today, besides the above reasons, he keeps moving in order to carry out his professional obligations. Because of all these, in our thesis, we dealt with the creation of a 'community', a structure bearing units of habitation to accommodate groups of people that can be moving for various reasons. The community consists of 2 parts, one stable and one transformable. The transformable is a metal construction placed where necessary. It can be adapted to every environment in order to be incorporated in the site of the temporary residence. The stable is a number of units on the metal construction, units of living that have the ability to change internally to accommodate the needs of each user. In any case, both of these two parts can be handled alone either the metal construction as an extension of public space, eg in case of an exhibition, either each unit as an independent transported unit of living.Γεωργούλα Β. ΚωνσταντίναΕλένη ΑνδρέουΕυδοξία Παπαγεωργίο

Alkyl and aryl sulfonyl p-pyridine ethanone oximes are efficient DNA photo-cleavage agents

Sulfonyloxyl radicals, readily generated upon UV irradiation of p-pyridine sulfonyl ethanone oxime derivatives, effectively cleave DNA, in a pH independent manner, and under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. p-Pyridine sulfonyl ethanone oxime derivatives were synthesized from the reaction of p-pyridine ethanone oxime with the corresponding sulfonyl chlorides in good to excellent yields. All compounds, at a concentration of 100 μM, were irradiated at 312 nm for 15 min, after incubation with supercoiled circular pBluescript KS II DNA and resulted in extended single- and double- strand cleavages. The cleavage ability was found to be concentration dependent, with some derivatives exhibiting activity even at nanomolar levels. Besides that, p-pyridine sulfonyl ethanone oxime derivatives showed good affinity to DNA, as it was observed with UV interaction and viscosity experiments with CT DNA and competitive studies with ethidium bromide. The compounds interact to CT DNA probably by non-classical intercalation (i.e. groove-binding) and at a second step they may intercalate within the DNA base pairs. The fluorescence emission spectra of pre-treated EB-DNA exhibited a significant or moderate quenching. Comparing with the known aryl carbonyloxyl radicals the sulfonyloxyl ones are more powerful, with both aryl and alkyl sulfonyl substituted derivatives to exhibit DNA photo-cleaving ability, in significantly lower concentrations. These properties may serve in the discovery of new leads for "on demand" biotechnological and medical applications. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Pyridine and p-Nitrophenyl Oxime Esters with Possible Photochemotherapeutic Activity: Synthesis, DNA Photocleavage and DNA Binding Studies

Compared to standard treatments for various diseases, photochemotherapy and photo-dynamic therapy are less invasive approaches, in which DNA photocleavers represent promising tools for novel “on demand” chemotherapeutics. A series of p-nitrobenzoyl and p-pyridoyl ester conjugated aldoximes, amidoximes and ethanone oximes were subjected to UV irradiation at 312 nm with supercoiled circular plasmid DNA. The compounds which possessed appropriate properties were additionally subjected to UVA irradiation at 365 nm. The ability of most of the compounds to photocleave DNA was high at 312 nm, whereas higher concentrations were required at 365 nm as a result of their lower UV absorption. The affinity of selected compounds to calf-thymus (CT) DNA was studied by UV spectroscopy, viscosity experiments and competitive studies with ethidium bromide (EB) revealing that all compounds interacted with CT DNA. The fluorescence emission spectra of the pre-treated EB-DNA exhibited a moderate to significant quenching in the presence of the compounds indicating the binding of the compounds to CT DNA via intercalation as concluded also by DNA-viscosity experiments. For the oxime esters the DNA photocleavage and affinity studies aimed to clarify the role of the oxime nature (aldoxime, ketoxime, amidoxime) and the role of the pyridine and p-nitrophenyl moieties both as oxime substituents and ester conjugates

Prospective observational cohort study on grading the severity of postoperative complications in global surgery research

Background The Clavien–Dindo classification is perhaps the most widely used approach for reporting postoperative complications in clinical trials. This system classifies complication severity by the treatment provided. However, it is unclear whether the Clavien–Dindo system can be used internationally in studies across differing healthcare systems in high- (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This was a secondary analysis of the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), a prospective observational cohort study of elective surgery in adults. Data collection occurred over a 7-day period. Severity of complications was graded using Clavien–Dindo and the simpler ISOS grading (mild, moderate or severe, based on guided investigator judgement). Severity grading was compared using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Data are presented as frequencies and ICC values (with 95 per cent c.i.). The analysis was stratified by income status of the country, comparing HICs with LMICs. Results A total of 44 814 patients were recruited from 474 hospitals in 27 countries (19 HICs and 8 LMICs). Some 7508 patients (16·8 per cent) experienced at least one postoperative complication, equivalent to 11 664 complications in total. Using the ISOS classification, 5504 of 11 664 complications (47·2 per cent) were graded as mild, 4244 (36·4 per cent) as moderate and 1916 (16·4 per cent) as severe. Using Clavien–Dindo, 6781 of 11 664 complications (58·1 per cent) were graded as I or II, 1740 (14·9 per cent) as III, 2408 (20·6 per cent) as IV and 735 (6·3 per cent) as V. Agreement between classification systems was poor overall (ICC 0·41, 95 per cent c.i. 0·20 to 0·55), and in LMICs (ICC 0·23, 0·05 to 0·38) and HICs (ICC 0·46, 0·25 to 0·59). Conclusion Caution is recommended when using a treatment approach to grade complications in global surgery studies, as this may introduce bias unintentionally

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

© 2017 British Journal of Anaesthesia Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32–0.77); P\u3c0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88–1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62–0.92); P\u3c0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61–0.88); P\u3c0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine