Spatiotemporal variation in postlarval recruitment of the Caribbean spiny lobster in the central Bahamas: lunar and seasonal periodicity, spatial coherence, and wind forcing

A large-scale recruitment study of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus in the central Bahamas identified (1) strong spatial coherence in settlement to inshore nursery habitats, (2) temporal variability due in part to stochastic wind forcing, and (3) lunar and seasonal periodicity in settlement. First, we quantified lunar variation in settlement on standardized artificial substrates to determine whether or not intra- and inter-annual variability in recruitment could be adequately described by measuring influx of postlarvae during the first quarter of each new moon, as suggested by previous studies. Next, we compared settlement data obtained from artificial surface substrates to concentrations of postlarvae in the water column and benthic settlement. Long-term (6 yr) spatiotemporal variation in postlarval settlement was then quantified at 8 sites spanning a longitudinal and onshore distance of 43 km and 11 km, respectively. Lastly, we examined the relationship between postlarval settlement and environmental variables with time-series analyses. The key findings were that: (1) significant lunar (first quarter of lunar phase) and seasonal (fall peak) periodicities in settlement were consistent across sites; (2) postlarval settlement varied more across sites (similar to 600 %) than between years at a single site (similar to 50%), and inter-site differences were consistent across time (i.e, some sites always had higher settlement than others); (3) settlement was correlated with along-shore winds blowing towards the southeast, but not with cross-shelf winds or water temperature; (4) floating, \u27Witham-type\u27 artificial settlement substrates yielded an accurate index of postlarval concentration and flux past a given point: and (5) floating substrates were a relatively poor indicator of benthic settlement, though the relationship between surface and benthic settlement may depend upon benthic habitat availability and postlarval supply. These results indicate that artificial settlement substrates provide a reliable index of postlarval supply to inshore nursery habitats, and that a combination of stochastic and deterministic forces influence recruitment over various scales of time and space

DNA content of a functioning chicken kinetochore

© The Author(s) 2014. In order to understand the three-dimensional structure of the functional kinetochore in vertebrates, we require a complete list and stoichiometry for the protein components of the kinetochore, which can be provided by genetic and proteomic experiments. We also need to know how the chromatin-containing CENP-A, which makes up the structural foundation for the kinetochore, is folded, and how much of that DNA is involved in assembling the kinetochore. In this MS, we demonstrate that functioning metaphase kinetochores in chicken DT40 cells contain roughly 50 kb of DNA, an amount that corresponds extremely closely to the length of chromosomal DNA associated with CENP-A in ChIP-seq experiments. Thus, during kinetochore assembly, CENP-A chromatin is compacted into the inner kinetochore plate without including significant amounts of flanking pericentromeric heterochromatin. © 2014 The Author(s).Wellcome Trust [grant number 073915]; Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology (core grant numbers 077707 and 092076); Darwin Trust of Edinburg

Collaboration between parents and SLTs produces optimal outcomes forchildren attending speech and language therapy: Gathering the evidence

Background: Collaboration between parents and speech and language therapists is seen as a key element in family-centred models. Collaboration can have positive impacts on parental and children’s outcomes. However, collaborative practice has not been well described and researched in speech and language therapy for children and may not be easy to achieve. It is important that we gain a deeper understanding of collaborative practice with parents, how it can be achieved, and how it can impact on outcomes. This understanding could support practitioners in daily practice with regard to achieving collaborative practice with parents in different contexts. Aims: The aim of this paper was to set a research agenda on collaborative practice between parents and speech and language therapists, in order to generate evidence regarding what works, how, for whom, in what circumstances, and to what extent. Methods: A realist evaluation approach was used to make explicit what collaborative practice with parents entails. The steps suggested by the RAMESES II project were used to draft a preliminary programme theory about collaborative practice between parents and speech and language therapists. This process generates explicit hypotheses which form a potential research agenda. Discussion and conclusion: A preliminary programme theory of collaborative practice with parents was drafted using a realist approach. Potential contextual factors (C), mechanisms (M) and outcomes (O) were presented which could be configured into causal mechanisms to help explain what works for whom in what circumstances. CMO configurations were drafted, based on relevant literature, which serve as exemplars to illustrate how this methodology could be used. In order to debate, test and expand our hypothesised programme theory for collaborative practice with parents, further testing against a broader literature is required alongside research to explore the functionality of the configurations across contexts. This paper highlights the importance of further research on collaborative practice with parents and the potential value of realist evaluation methodology. What this paper adds: Current policy in education, health and social care advocates for family-centred care and collaborative practice with parents. Thereby, collaborative practice is the preferred practice for speech and language therapists and parents. In this paper, we explored collaborative practice and used a realist evaluation approach to achieve the aim of setting a research agenda in this area. Researchers use realist evaluation, a methodology originally developed by Pawson and Tilley in the 1990s (Pawson and Tilley, 1997), to explore the causal link between interventions and outcomes, summarised as “what works, how, for whom, in what circumstances and to what extent” (Wong et al., 2014, p1). Realist evaluation provides a framework to explore configurations between contexts (C), mechanisms (M) and outcomes (O). We used this methodology to take a first step in making explicit what collaborative practice is and how it might be achieved in different contexts. We did this by drafting a preliminary programme theory about collaborative practice, where we made explicit what context factors and mechanisms might influence outcomes in collaborative practice between parents and SLTs. Based on this programme theory, we argue for the need to develop a research agenda on collaborative practice with parents of children with speech, language and communication needs. The steps between a programme theory and a research agenda could entail exploring each CMO, or step in the programme theory, and evaluating it against the existing literature – both within and beyond speech and language therapy - to see how far it stands up. In this way, gaps could be identified that could be converted into research questions which would stimulate debate about a research agenda on collaborative practice. Understanding how collaborative practice can be achieved in different contexts could support SLTs to use mechanisms to optimise collaborative practice intentionally and tailor interventions to the specific needs of families, thereby enhancing collaborative practice between parents and SLTs

Management of febrile neutropenia in the United Kingdom: time for a national trial?

Recent advances in febrile neutropenia (FN) have highlighted the value of risk stratification and the evolving role of oral antibiotics with early hospital discharge in low-risk patients. The aim of this study was to survey whether these advances have been translated into routine clinical practice in the UK. Questionnaires were sent to cancer clinicians across the UK to determine clinicians' routine management of FN, including use of risk stratification, antibiotic regimen and criteria for hospital discharge. In all, 128 clinicians responded, representing 50 cancer departments (83%). Only 38% of respondents stratify patients according to risk and with substantial variation in the criteria defining ‘low-risk'. Furthermore, only 22% of clinicians use oral antibiotics as first-line treatment in any patients with FN, but this was significantly greater among clinicians who do compared to those who do not stratify patients by risk, 51 vs 4% (P<0.0001). These findings suggest a slow and/or cautious introduction of newer strategies for the management of low-risk FN in the UK. However, 84% of respondents confirmed their willingness to participate in a trial of oral antibiotics combined with early discharge in low-risk FN

Perceived Devaluation and STI Testing Uptake among a Cohort of Street-involved Youth in a Canadian Setting

Perceived devaluation has been shown to have adverse effects on the mental and physical health outcomes of people who use drugs. However, the impact of perceived devaluation on sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing uptake among street-involved youth, who face multiple and intersecting stigmas due to their association with drug use and risky sexual practices, has not been fully characterized. Data were obtained between&nbsp;December 2013&nbsp;and November 2014 from a cohort of street-involved youth who use illicit drugs aged 14–26 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Multivariable generalized estimating equations were constructed to assess the independent relationship between perceived devaluation and STI testing uptake. Among 300 street-involved youth, 87.0% reported a high perceived devaluation score at baseline. In the multivariable analysis, high perceived devaluation was negatively associated with STI testing uptake after adjustment for potential confounders (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 0.38, 95% Confidence Interval 0.15–0.98). Perceived devaluation was high among street-involved youth in our sample and appears to have adverse effects on STI testing uptake. HIV prevention and care programs should be examined and improved to better meet the special needs of street-involved youth in non-stigmatizing ways

Dental management considerations for the patient with an acquired coagulopathy. Part 1: Coagulopathies from systemic disease

Current teaching suggests that many patients are at risk for prolonged bleeding during and following invasive dental procedures, due to an acquired coagulopathy from systemic disease and/or from medications. However, treatment standards for these patients often are the result of long-standing dogma with little or no scientific basis. The medical history is critical for the identification of patients potentially at risk for prolonged bleeding from dental treatment. Some time-honoured laboratory tests have little or no use in community dental practice. Loss of functioning hepatic, renal, or bone marrow tissue predisposes to acquired coagulopathies through different mechanisms, but the relationship to oral haemostasis is poorly understood. Given the lack of established, science-based standards, proper dental management requires an understanding of certain principles of pathophysiology for these medical conditions and a few standard laboratory tests. Making changes in anticoagulant drug regimens are often unwarranted and/or expensive, and can put patients at far greater risk for morbidity and mortality than the unlikely outcome of postoperative bleeding. It should be recognised that prolonged bleeding is a rare event following invasive dental procedures, and therefore the vast majority of patients with suspected acquired coagulopathies are best managed in the community practice setting

Local Difference Measures between Complex Networks for Dynamical System Model Evaluation

Acknowledgments We thank Reik V. Donner for inspiring suggestions that initialized the work presented herein. Jan H. Feldhoff is credited for providing us with the STARS simulation data and for his contributions to fruitful discussions. Comments by the anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged as they led to substantial improvements of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Oral medicine acceptance in infants and toddlers: measurement properties of the caregiver-administered Children’s acceptance tool (CareCAT)

BACKGROUND: Developing age-appropriate medications remains a challenge in particular for the population of infants and toddlers, as they are not able to reliably self-report if they would accept and consequently take an oral medicine. Therefore, it is common to use caregivers as proxies when assessing medicine acceptance. The outcome measures used in this research field differ and most importantly lack validation, implying a persisting gap in knowledge and controversy in the field. The newly developed Caregiver-administered Children’s Acceptance Tool (CareCAT) is based on a 5-point nominal scale, with descriptors of medication acceptance behavior. This crosssectional study assessed the measurement properties of the tool with regards to the user’s understanding and its intra- and inter-rater reliability. METHODS: Participating caregivers were enrolled at a primary healthcare facility where their children (median age 6 months) had been prescribed oral antibiotics. Caregivers, trained observers and the tool developer observed and scored on the CareCAT tool what behavior children exhibited when receiving the medicine (n = 104). The videorecords of this process served as replicate observations (n = 69). After using the tool caregivers were asked to explain their observations and the tool descriptors in their own words. The tool’s reliability was assessed by percentage agreement and Cohen’s unweighted kappa coefficients of agreement for nominal scales. RESULTS: The study found that caregivers using CareCAT had a satisfactory understanding of the tool’s descriptors. Using its dichotomized scores the tool reliably was strong for acceptance behavior (agreement inter-rater 84–88%, kappa 0.66–0.76; intra-rater 87–89%, kappa 0.68–0.72) and completeness of medicine ingestion (agreement inter-rater 82–86%, kappa 0.59–0.67; intra-rater 85–93%, kappa 0.50–0.70). CONCLUSIONS: The CareCAT is a low-cost, easy-to-use and reliable instrument, which is relevant to assess acceptance behavior and completeness of medicine ingestion, both of which are of significant importance for developing age-appropriate medications in infants and toddlers