Forest management guidelines to promote the conservation of Apennine brown bear in Italy

Forests provide a wide range of important ecosystem services and, among these benefits, biodiversity and wildlife habitat. Forest management (including no active control) deeply affects wildlife management, since it can alter habitat structure and productivity, speed-up evolution of ecosystems, and impact on wildlife ability to survive and reproduce. Unfortunately still very often, practitioners, forest planners and policy-makers fail to understand this opportunity. Forest management can maintain and enhance quality, quantity and availability of natural resources for wildlife, and therefore it is a valuable management tool long recognized in the wildlife practice. This is particularly true for species associated to forest ecosystems which are threatened or endangered, such as the Apennine brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus). Based on an extensive literature review on forest management-bear interactions, we report recommended management actions and associated working techniques, hereby illustrated and discussed in order to define a set of forest management guidelines meant to promote and encourage the adoption of adequate silviculture practices in Apennine forests, as well as to facilitate and support the range expansion of Apennine brown bear beyond its current core distribution. Our aim is also to present these guidelines to a wider scientific audience and decision-makers to foster their implementation into management practices, especially within protected areas. Finally, our ultimate goal is to fill the gap between disciplines such as silviculture and animal ecology, with the aim of stimulating the multidisciplinary approach requested not only for the conservation of the Apennine brown bear but for the integrated and enhanced management of wildlife in general

Variable strength of forest stand attributes and weather conditions on the questing activity of Ixodes ricinus ticks over years in managed forests

Given the ever-increasing human impact through land use and climate change on the environment, we crucially need to achieve a better understanding of those factors that influence the questing activity of ixodid ticks, a major disease-transmitting vector in temperate forests. We investigated variation in the relative questing nymph densities of Ixodes ricinus in differently managed forest types for three years (2008–2010) in SW Germany by drag sampling. We used a hierarchical Bayesian modeling approach to examine the relative effects of habitat and weather and to consider possible nested structures of habitat and climate forces. The questing activity of nymphs was considerably larger in young forest successional stages of thicket compared with pole wood and timber stages. Questing nymph density increased markedly with milder winter temperatures. Generally, the relative strength of the various environmental forces on questing nymph density differed across years. In particular, winter temperature had a negative effect on tick activity across sites in 2008 in contrast to the overall effect of temperature across years. Our results suggest that forest management practices have important impacts on questing nymph density. Variable weather conditions, however, might override the effects of forest management practices on the fluctuations and dynamics of tick populations and activity over years, in particular, the preceding winter temperatures. Therefore, robust predictions and the detection of possible interactions and nested structures of habitat and climate forces can only be quantified through the collection of long-term data. Such data are particularly important with regard to future scenarios of forest management and climate warming

Stress induced polarization of immune-neuroendocrine phenotypes in Gallus gallus

Immune-neuroendocrine phenotypes (INPs) stand for population subgroups differing in immune-neuroendocrine interactions. While mammalian INPs have been characterized thoroughly in rats and humans, avian INPs were only recently described in Coturnix coturnix (quail). To assess the scope of this biological phenomenon, herein we characterized INPs in Gallus gallus (a domestic hen strain submitted to a very long history of strong selective breeding pressure) and evaluated whether a social chronic stress challenge modulates the individuals’ interplay affecting the INP subsets and distribution. Evaluating plasmatic basal corticosterone, interferon-γ and interleukin-4 concentrations, innate/acquired leukocyte ratio, PHA-P skin-swelling and induced antibody responses, two opposite INP profiles were found: LEWIS-like (15% of the population) and FISCHER-like (16%) hens. After chronic stress, an increment of about 12% in each polarized INP frequency was found at expenses of a reduction in the number of birds with intermediate responses. Results show that polarized INPs are also a phenomenon occurring in hens. The observed inter-individual variation suggest that, even after a considerable selection process, the population is still well prepared to deal with a variety of immune-neuroendocrine challenges. Stress promoted disruptive effects, leading to a more balanced INPs distribution, which represents a new substrate for challenging situations.Fil: Nazar, Franco Nicolas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Estevez, Inma. Centro de Investigación. Neiker - Tecnalia; EspañaFil: Correa, Silvia Graciela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Marin, Raul Hector. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentin

A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effects of a 6-Month Home-Based Physical Activity Program with Individual Goal-Setting and Volunteer Mentors on Physical Activity, Adherence, and Physical Fitness in Inactive Older Adults at Risk of Cognitive Decline: The INDIGO Study

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IOS Press via the DOI in this recordBackground: Increasing physical activity (PA) in those who have memory concerns requires innovative approaches. Objective: To compare in this randomized controlled trial (RCT) the effects on PA, adherence, and fitness of two approaches to deliver a 6-month home-based PA program in older, inactive individuals at risk of cognitive decline. Methods: Individuals (n = 52) aged 60–85 years, inactive with mild cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive decline were recruited from the community and memory clinics. Randomization was to 6 months of 150 min/week moderate intensity PA with either: goal-setting with mentor support; or education and peer contact. A subset of participants (n = 36) continued for a further 6 months. PA, moderate and vigorous PA, and secondary outcomes, fitness, goal performance/satisfaction and self-efficacy were assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Modelling of primary and secondary outcomes was conducted with linear mixed models. Results: Participants were mean age (±sd) 70.1 (6.4) years. Six-month retention was 88.5%(n = 46). No significant between-group differences were observed for PA or fitness. Post-hoc combined group data showed a significant, moderate-large effect size increase in PA with time. PA increased by a mean 1,662 (943, 2383) steps/day (95%CI) and 1,320 (603, 2037) steps/day at 6 and 12 months (p <  0.001). Median (quartiles Q1-Q3) 6 and 6–12 month combined group adherence was 88.9 (74.4–95.7)%and 84.6 (73.9–95.4)%respectively. Conclusion: In this target group, no differences were detected between groups both intervention strategies were highly effective in increasing PA and fitness.National Health and Medical Research Counci

Experimental Evidence for Reduced Rodent Diversity Causing Increased Hantavirus Prevalence

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases have become a major global environmental problem with important public health, economic, and political consequences. The etiologic agents of most emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, and anthropogenic environmental changes that affect wildlife communities are increasingly implicated in disease emergence and spread. Although increased disease incidence has been correlated with biodiversity loss for several zoonoses, experimental tests in these systems are lacking. We manipulated small-mammal biodiversity by removing non-reservoir species in replicated field plots in Panama, where zoonotic hantaviruses are endemic. Both infection prevalence of hantaviruses in wild reservoir (rodent) populations and reservoir population density increased where small-mammal species diversity was reduced. Regardless of other variables that affect the prevalence of directly transmitted infections in natural communities, high biodiversity is important in reducing transmission of zoonotic pathogens among wildlife hosts. Our results have wide applications in both conservation biology and infectious disease management

Let's CHAT (community health approaches to) dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial

Background: Documented rates of dementia and cognitive impairment not dementia (CIND) in older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is 3–5 times higher than the rest of the population, and current evidence suggests this condition is under-diagnosed and under-managed in a clinical primary care setting. This study aims to implement and evaluate a culturally responsive best practice model of care to optimise the detection and management of people with cognitive impairment and/or dementia, and to improve the quality of life of carers and older Aboriginal and Torres Islander Peoples with cognitive impairment. Methods/design: The prospective study will use a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial design working with 12 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs) across four states of Australia. Utilising a co-design approach, health system adaptations will be implemented including (i) development of a best practice guide for cognitive impairment and dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (ii) education programs for health professionals supported by local champions and (iii) development of decision support systems for local medical software. In addition, the study will utilise a knowledge translation framework, the Integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (iPARIHS) Framework, to promote long-term sustainable practice change. Process evaluation will also be undertaken to measure the quality, fidelity and contextual influences on the outcomes of the implementation. The primary outcome measures will be rates of documentation of dementia and CIND, and evidence of improved management of dementia and CIND among older Indigenous peoples attending Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary care services through health system changes. The secondary outcomes will be improvements to the quality of life of older Indigenous peoples with dementia and CIND, as well as that of their carers and families. Discussion: The Let’s CHAT Dementia project will co-design, implement and evaluate a culturally responsive best practice model of care embedded within current Indigenous primary health care. The best practice model of care has the potential to optimise the timely detection (especially in the early stages) and improve the ongoing management of people with dementia or cognitive impairmentKate Bradley, Robyn Smith, Jo-anne Hughson, David Atkinson, Dawn Bessarab, Leon Flicker ... et al

Global Incidence of Frailty and Prefrailty Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Importance  Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome of significant public health importance, yet there is limited understanding of the risk of frailty development at a population level.Objective  To estimate the global incidence of frailty and prefrailty among community-dwelling adults 60 years or older.Data Sources  MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL Plus, and AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine Database) were searched from inception to January 2019 without language restrictions using combinations of the keywords frailty, older adults, and incidence. The reference lists of eligible studies were hand searched.Study Selection  In the systematic review, 2 authors undertook the search, article screening, and study selection. Cohort studies that reported or had sufficient data to compute incidence of frailty or prefrailty among community-dwelling adults 60 years or older at baseline were eligible.Data Extraction and Synthesis  The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using The Joanna Briggs Institute’s Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence and Incidence Studies. Meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects (DerSimonian and Laird) model.Main Outcomes and Measures  Incidence of frailty (defined as new cases of frailty among robust or prefrail individuals) and incidence of prefrailty (defined as new cases of prefrailty among robust individuals), both over a specified duration.Results  Of 15 176 retrieved references, 46 observational studies involving 120 805 nonfrail (robust or prefrail) participants from 28 countries were included in this systematic review. Among the nonfrail individuals who survived a median follow-up of 3.0 (range, 1.0-11.7) years, 13.6% (13 678 of 100 313) became frail, with the pooled incidence rate being 43.4 (95% CI, 37.3-50.4; I2 = 98.5%) cases per 1000 person-years. The incidence of frailty was significantly higher in prefrail individuals than robust individuals (pooled incidence rates, 62.7 [95% CI, 49.2-79.8; I2 = 97.8%] vs 12.0 [95% CI, 8.2-17.5; I2 = 94.9%] cases per 1000 person-years, respectively; P for difference < .001). Among robust individuals in 21 studies who survived a median follow-up of 2.5 (range, 1.0-10.0) years, 30.9% (9974 of 32 268) became prefrail, with the pooled incidence rate being 150.6 (95% CI, 123.3-184.1; I2 = 98.9%) cases per 1000 person-years. The frailty and prefrailty incidence rates were significantly higher in women than men (frailty: 44.8 [95% CI, 36.7-61.3; I2 = 97.9%] vs 24.3 [95% CI, 19.6-30.1; I2 = 8.94%] cases per 1000 person-years; prefrailty: 173.2 [95% CI, 87.9-341.2; I2 = 99.1%] vs 129.0 [95% CI, 73.8-225.0; I2 = 98.5%] cases per 1000 person-years). The incidence rates varied by diagnostic criteria and country income level. The frailty and prefrailty incidence rates were significantly reduced when accounting for the risk of death.Conclusions and Relevance  Results of this study suggest that community-dwelling older adults are prone to developing frailty. Increased awareness of the factors that confer high risk of frailty in this population subgroup is vital to inform the design of interventions to prevent frailty and to minimize its consequences.</p

Landscape structure affects the prevalence and distribution of a tick-borne zoonotic pathogen

Background Landscape structure can affect pathogen prevalence and persistence with consequences for human and animal health. Few studies have examined how reservoir host species traits may interact with landscape structure to alter pathogen communities and dynamics. Using a landscape of islands and mainland sites we investigated how natural landscape fragmentation affects the prevalence and persistence of the zoonotic tick-borne pathogen complex Borrelia burgdorferi(sensu lato), which causes Lyme borreliosis. We hypothesized that the prevalence of B. burgdorferi (s.l.) would be lower on islands compared to the mainland and B. afzelii, a small mammal specialist genospecies, would be more affected by isolation than bird-associated B. garinii and B. valaisiana and the generalist B. burgdorferi (sensu stricto). Methods Questing (host-seeking) nymphal I. Ricinus ticks (n = 6567) were collected from 12 island and 6 mainland sites in 2011, 2013 and 2015 and tested for B. burgdorferi(s.l.). Deer abundance was estimated using dung transects. Results The prevalence of B. burgdorferi (s.l.) was significantly higher on the mainland (2.5%, 47/1891) compared to island sites (0.9%, 44/4673) (P &lt; 0.01). While all four genospecies of B. burgdorferi (s.l.) were detected on the mainland, bird-associated species B. garinii and B. valaisiana and the generalist genospecies B. burgdorferi(s.s.) predominated on islands. Conclusion We found that landscape structure influenced the prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen, with a lower prevalence detected among island sites compared to the mainland. This was mainly due to the significantly lower prevalence of small mammal-associated B. afzelii. Deer abundance was not related to pathogen prevalence, suggesting that the structure and dynamics of the reservoir host community underpins the observed prevalence patterns, with the higher mobility of bird hosts compared to small mammal hosts leading to a relative predominance of the bird-associated genospecies B. garinii and generalist genospecies B. burgdorferi (s.s.) on islands. In contrast, the lower prevalence of B. afzelii on islands may be due to small mammal populations there exhibiting lower densities, less immigration and stronger population fluctuations. This study suggests that landscape fragmentation can influence the prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen, dependent on the biology of the reservoir host

Modelling Transmission of Vector-Borne Pathogens Shows Complex Dynamics When Vector Feeding Sites Are Limited

The relationship between species richness and the prevalence of vector-borne disease has been widely studied with a range of outcomes. Increasing the number of host species for a pathogen may decrease infection prevalence (dilution effect), increase it (amplification), or have no effect. We derive a general model, and a specific implementation, which show that when the number of vector feeding sites on each host is limiting, the effects on pathogen dynamics of host population size are more complex than previously thought. The model examines vector-borne disease in the presence of different host species that are either competent or incompetent (i.e. that cannot transmit the pathogen to vectors) as reservoirs for the pathogen. With a single host species present, the basic reproduction ratio R0 is a non-monotonic function of the population size of host individuals (H), i.e. a value exists that maximises R0. Surprisingly, if a reduction in host population size may actually increase R0. Extending this model to a two-host species system, incompetent individuals from the second host species can alter the value of which may reverse the effect on pathogen prevalence of host population reduction. We argue that when vector-feeding sites on hosts are limiting, the net effect of increasing host diversity might not be correctly predicted using simple frequency-dependent epidemiological models

The fitness for the Ageing Brain Study II (FABS II): protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial evaluating the effect of physical activity on cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Background: Observational studies have documented a potential protective effect of physical exercise in older adults who are at risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. The Fitness for the Ageing Brain II (FABS II) study is a multicentre randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) aiming to determine whether physical activity reduces the rate of cognitive decline among individuals with Alzheimer's disease. This paper describes the background, objectives of the study, and an overview of the protocol including design, organization and data collection methods