Dugong distribution and abundance on the urban coast of Queensland: a basis for management. Final Report to Marine and Tropical Research Facility Interim Projects 2005-6

[Excerpt] The transitional funding from MTSRF plus supplementary funding from CRC Reef and CRC Torres Strait enabled the first survey of the entire urban coast of Queensland for dugongs to be carried out in November 2005. In addition, a reference block in Torres Strait was surveyed to provide a context for the survey of the urban coast. The results of the 2005 surveys are being presented to Traditional Owners and stakeholders at a series of workshops. The results of the 2005 survey have been analyzed in the context of results of previous surveys of various parts of this coast since the mid 1980s using comparable techniques. The results of the 20 year time series of surveys suggest that dugong numbers are now stable at the scale of the entire urban coast of Queensland although populations fluctuate at the level of individual survey blocks (usually bays), probably largely due to natural changes in seagrass habitats. The results of the surveys indicate that it will be important to: (1) develop cross-jurisdictional objectives for the management of dugongs at the scale of the entire region, and (2) co-ordinate management at both culturally and ecologically relevant scales

Cut Points and Diffusions in Random Environment

In this article we investigate the asymptotic behavior of a new class of multi-dimensional diffusions in random environment. We introduce cut times in the spirit of the work done by Bolthausen, Sznitman and Zeitouni, see [4], in the discrete setting providing a decoupling effect in the process. This allows us to take advantage of an ergodic structure to derive a strong law of large numbers with possibly vanishing limiting velocity and a central limit theorem under the quenched measure.Comment: 44 pages; accepted for publication in "Journal of Theoretical Probability

Circulating Mitochondrial DNA in Patients in the ICU as a Marker of Mortality: Derivation and Validation

Background: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a critical activator of inflammation and the innate immune system. However, mtDNA level has not been tested for its role as a biomarker in the intensive care unit (ICU). We hypothesized that circulating cell-free mtDNA levels would be associated with mortality and improve risk prediction in ICU patients. Methods and Findings: Analyses of mtDNA levels were performed on blood samples obtained from two prospective observational cohort studies of ICU patients (the Brigham and Women's Hospital Registry of Critical Illness [BWH RoCI, n = 200] and Molecular Epidemiology of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome [ME ARDS, n = 243]). mtDNA levels in plasma were assessed by measuring the copy number of the NADH dehydrogenase 1 gene using quantitative real-time PCR. Medical ICU patients with an elevated mtDNA level (≥3,200 copies/µl plasma) had increased odds of dying within 28 d of ICU admission in both the BWH RoCI (odds ratio [OR] 7.5, 95% CI 3.6–15.8, p = 1×10−7) and ME ARDS (OR 8.4, 95% CI 2.9–24.2, p = 9×10−5) cohorts, while no evidence for association was noted in non-medical ICU patients. The addition of an elevated mtDNA level improved the net reclassification index (NRI) of 28-d mortality among medical ICU patients when added to clinical models in both the BWH RoCI (NRI 79%, standard error 14%, p<1×10−4) and ME ARDS (NRI 55%, standard error 20%, p = 0.007) cohorts. In the BWH RoCI cohort, those with an elevated mtDNA level had an increased risk of death, even in analyses limited to patients with sepsis or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Study limitations include the lack of data elucidating the concise pathological roles of mtDNA in the patients, and the limited numbers of measurements for some of biomarkers. Conclusions: Increased mtDNA levels are associated with ICU mortality, and inclusion of mtDNA level improves risk prediction in medical ICU patients. Our data suggest that mtDNA could serve as a viable plasma biomarker in medical ICU patients. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summar

Mating First, Mating More: Biological Market Fluctuation in a Wild Prosimian

In biology, economics, and politics, distributive power is the key for understanding asymmetrical relationships and it can be obtained by force (dominance) or trading (leverage). Whenever males cannot use force, they largely depend on females for breeding opportunities and the balance of power tilts in favour of females. Thus, males are expected not only to compete within their sex-class but also to exchange services with the opposite sex. Does this mating market, described for humans and apes, apply also to prosimians, the most ancestral primate group? To answer the question, we studied a scent-oriented and gregarious lemur, Propithecus verreauxi (sifaka), showing female dominance, promiscuous mating, and seasonal breeding. We collected 57 copulations involving 8 males and 4 females in the wild (Berenty Reserve, South Madagascar), and data (all occurrences) on grooming, aggressions, and marking behaviour. We performed the analyses via exact Spearman and matrix correlations. Male mating priority rank correlated with the frequency of male countermarking over female scents but not with the proportion of fights won by males over females. Thus, males competed in an olfactory tournament more than in an arena of aggressive encounters. The copulation frequency correlated neither with the proportion of fights won by males nor with the frequency of male countermarking on female scents. Male-to-female grooming correlated with female-to-male grooming only during premating. Instead, in the mating period male-to-female grooming correlated with the copulation frequency. In short, the biological market underwent seasonal fluctuations, since males bargained grooming for sex in the mating days and grooming for itself in the premating period. Top scent-releasers gained mating priority (they mated first) and top groomers ensured a higher number of renewed copulations (they mated more). In conclusion, males maximize their reproduction probability by adopting a double tactic and by following market fluctuations

Sexual Signalling in Propithecus verreauxi: Male “Chest Badge” and Female Mate Choice

Communication, an essential prerequisite for sociality, involves the transmission of signals. A signal can be defined as any action or trait produced by one animal, the sender, that produces a change in the behaviour of another animal, the receiver. Secondary sexual signals are often used for mate choice because they may inform on a potential partner's quality. Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) is characterized by the presence of two different morphs of males (bimorphism), which can show either a stained or clean chest. The chest becomes stained by secretions of the sternal gland during throat marking (rubbing throat and chest on a vertical substrate while smearing the scent deposition). The role of the chest staining in guiding female mate choice was previously hypothesized but never demonstrated probably due to the difficulty of observing sifaka copulations in the wild. Here we report that stained-chested males had a higher throat marking activity than clean-chested males during the mating season, but not during the birth season. We found that females copulated more frequently with stained-chested males than the clean-chested males. Finally, in agreement with the biological market theory, we found that clean-chested males, with a lower scent-releasing potential, offered more grooming to females. This “grooming for sex” tactic was not completely unsuccessful; in fact, half of the clean-chested males copulated with females, even though at low frequency. In conclusion, the chest stain, possibly correlated with different cues targeted by females, could be one of the parameters which help females in selecting mates

Stranger to Familiar: Wild Strepsirhines Manage Xenophobia by Playing

The power of play in limiting xenophobia is a well-known phenomenon in humans. Yet, the evidence in social animals remains meager. Here, we aim to determine whether play promotes social tolerance toward strangers in one of the most basal group of primates, the strepsirhines. We observed two groups of wild lemurs (Propithecus verreauxi, Verreaux's sifaka) during the mating season. Data were also collected on nine visiting, outgroup males. We compared the distribution of play, grooming, and aggressive interactions across three conditions: OUT (resident/outgroup interactions), IN (resident/resident interactions in presence of outgroups) and BL-IN (baseline of resident/resident interactions in absence of outgroups). Play frequency between males was higher in OUT than in IN and BL-IN conditions; whereas, grooming was more frequent in IN than in OUT and BL-IN conditions. Aggression rates between resident and outgroup males were significantly higher than those between residents. However, aggressions between resident and outgroup males significantly decreased after the first play session and became comparable with resident-resident aggression levels. The presence of strangers in a well-established group implies the onset of novel social circumstances, which sifaka males cope with by two different tactics: grooming with ingroup males and playing with outgroup ones. The grooming peak, concurrently with the visit of outgroups, probably represents a social shield adopted by resident males to make their pre-existing affiliation more evident to the stranger “audience”. Being mostly restricted to unfamiliar males, adult play in sifaka appears to have a role in managing new social situations more than in maintaining old relationships. In particular, our results indicate not only that play is the interface between strangers but also that it has a specific function in reducing xenophobia. In conclusion, play appears to be an ice-breaker mechanism in the critical process that “upgrades” an individual from stranger to familiar

On the overlap between scientific and societal taxonomic attentions — Insights for conservation

Attention directed at different species by society and science is particularly relevant within the field of conservation, as societal preferences will strongly impact support for conservation initiatives and their success. Here, we assess the association between societal and research interests in four charismatic and threatened species groups, derived from a range of different online sources and social media platforms as well as scientific publications. We found a high level of concordance between scientific and societal taxonomic attention, which was consistent among assessed species groups and media sources. Results indicate that research is apparently not as disconnected from the interests of society as it is often reproached, and that societal support for current research objectives should be adequate. While the high degree of similarity between scientific and societal interest is both striking and satisfying, the dissimilarities are also interesting, as new scientific findings may constitute a constant source of novel interest for the society. In that respect, additional efforts will be necessary to draw scientific and societal focus towards less charismatic species that are in urgent need of research and conservation attention

Ramucirumab plus docetaxel versus placebo plus docetaxel in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma after platinum-based therapy (RANGE): a randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial

Few treatments with a distinct mechanism of action are available for patients with platinum-refractory advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. We assessed the efficacy and safety of treatment with docetaxel plus either ramucirumab-a human IgG1 VEGFR-2 antagonist-or placebo in this patient population