Optimizing Wildlife Monitoirng Strategies in a Dynamic Setting (Poster)

Long term, broadly distributed datasets are ideal for effective wildlife management.  However, collecting and utilizing these data present a variety of challenges to management agencies.  Idaho Department of Fish and Game is currently trying to optimize their use of monitoring resources for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) throughout Idaho.  Three areas are being investigated for their potential to accomplish this goal: cost effectiveness, data utilization, and efficiency in data collection.  An analysis of the cost effectiveness of monitoring methods is currently being conducted.  This analysis varies the amount of each type of data available to the population model used to estimate abundance.  The precision, credible interval width (CRI), associated with the estimate is used as the measure of effectiveness, mean 95% CRIs range from 9278 - 9804.  This measure of precision is then combined with the cost of the collection technique to compare the cost effectiveness of different monitoring methods.  Further research will focus on a weighting scheme that weights data types by both sampling precision and reliability.  Thereby allowing managers to fully utilize all available data sources based on relative quality within the framework of the population model.  A third line of research focuses on increasing the efficiency of monitoring effort through an alternative sampling design derived from seasonal nutrition.  The previous lines of research will then be combined to solve a dynamic programming problem to determine the optimal methods for monitoring population abundance while accounting for changes in the availability of monitoring resources over space and time

Habitat Quality Influences Migratory Strategy of Female White Tailed Deer

Partial migration is a life history strategy that is common for ungulate species living in seasonal environments.  One factor that influences the decision to migrate by ungulates is access to high quality habitat.  We evaluated the influence of access to winter habitat of high quality on the probability of an individual migrating, seasonal habitat use between and within migratory and resident classes of deer, and the effects of this decision on the survival of female white-tailed deer.  We radio-collared 67 female white-tailed deer (Odocoileu virginianus) in 2012 and 2013. The odds of being a migrant increased as home range size increased and decreased as proportion of cropland within home range in winter increased.  The habitat with the highest relative probability of use in winter for residents was pasture (1.00, SD = 0.01) and for migrants was riparian (0.73, SD = 0.39). In summer both groups had the highest relative probability of using pasture (resident = 0.96, SD = 0.15; migrant = 0.99, SD = 0.08).  We integrated the migration probability and survival models to estimate annual and seasonal survival rates of migrants and residents. We found no difference between the annual and seasonal rates of survival for the different migration strategies.  Our results indicate that access to habitat of high quality may be a strong influence on a female white-tailed deer’s decision to migrate.  We suggest the presence of partial migration in a population may be a response to competition for high quality habitat

Integrating isotopes and documentary evidence : dietary patterns in a late medieval and early modern mining community, Sweden

We would like to thank the Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, Sweden and the Tandem Laboratory (Ångström Laboratory), Uppsala University, Sweden, for undertaking the analyses of stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in both human and animal collagen samples. Also, thanks to Elin Ahlin Sundman for providing the δ13C and δ15N values for animal references from Västerås. This research (Bäckström’s PhD employment at Lund University, Sweden) was supported by the Berit Wallenberg Foundation (BWS 2010.0176) and Jakob and Johan Söderberg’s foundation. The ‘Sala project’ (excavations and analyses) has been funded by Riksens Clenodium, Jernkontoret, Birgit and Gad Rausing’s Foundation, SAU’s Research Foundation, the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, Berit Wallenbergs Foundation, Åke Wibergs Foundation, Lars Hiertas Memory, Helge Ax:son Johnson’s Foundation and The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Enhanced transfection of cell lines from Atlantic salmon through nucoleofection and antibiotic selection

Background Cell lines from Atlantic salmon kidney have made it possible to culture and study infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV), an aquatic orthomyxovirus affecting farmed Atlantic salmon. However, transfection of these cells using calcium phosphate precipitation or lipid-based reagents shows very low transfection efficiency. The Amaxa Nucleofector technology™ is an electroporation technique that has been shown to be efficient for gene transfer into primary cells and hard to transfect cell lines. Findings Here we demonstrate, enhanced transfection of the head kidney cell line, TO, from Atlantic salmon using nucleofection and subsequent flow cytometry. Depending on the plasmid promoter, TO cells could be transfected transiently with an efficiency ranging from 11.6% to 90.8% with good viability, using Amaxa's cell line nucleofector solution T and program T-20. A kill curve was performed to investigate the most potent antibiotic for selection of transformed cells, and we found that blasticidin and puromycin were the most efficient for selection of TO cells. Conclusions The results show that nucleofection is an efficient way of gene transfer into Atlantic salmon cells and that stably transfected cells can be selected with blasticidin or puromycin

A Novel Inactivated Intranasal Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine Promotes Viral Clearance without Th2 Associated Vaccine-Enhanced Disease

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in young children worldwide, and no vaccine is currently available. Inactivated RSV vaccines tested in the 1960's led to vaccine-enhanced disease upon viral challenge, which has undermined RSV vaccine development. RSV infection is increasingly being recognized as an important pathogen in the elderly, as well as other individuals with compromised pulmonary immunity. A safe and effective inactivated RSV vaccine would be of tremendous therapeutic benefit to many of these populations.In these preclinical studies, a mouse model was utilized to assess the efficacy of a novel, nanoemulsion-adjuvanted, inactivated mucosal RSV vaccine. Our results demonstrate that NE-RSV immunization induced durable, RSV-specific humoral responses, both systemically and in the lungs. Vaccinated mice exhibited increased protection against subsequent live viral challenge, which was associated with an enhanced Th1/Th17 response. In these studies, NE-RSV vaccinated mice displayed no evidence of Th2 mediated immunopotentiation, as has been previously described for other inactivated RSV vaccines.These studies indicate that nanoemulsion-based inactivated RSV vaccination can augment viral-specific immunity, decrease mucus production and increase viral clearance, without evidence of Th2 immune mediated pathology

Measuring the Meltdown: Drivers of Global Amphibian Extinction and Decline

Habitat loss, climate change, over-exploitation, disease and other factors have been hypothesised in the global decline of amphibian biodiversity. However, the relative importance of and synergies among different drivers are still poorly understood. We present the largest global analysis of roughly 45% of known amphibians (2,583 species) to quantify the influences of life history, climate, human density and habitat loss on declines and extinction risk. Multi-model Bayesian inference reveals that large amphibian species with small geographic range and pronounced seasonality in temperature and precipitation are most likely to be Red-Listed by IUCN. Elevated habitat loss and human densities are also correlated with high threat risk. Range size, habitat loss and more extreme seasonality in precipitation contributed to decline risk in the 2,454 species that declined between 1980 and 2004, compared to species that were stable (n = 1,545) or had increased (n = 28). These empirical results show that amphibian species with restricted ranges should be urgently targeted for conservation

A case-control study of determinants for high and low dental caries prevalence in Nevada youth

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The main purpose of this study was to compare the 30% of Nevada Youth who presented with the highest Decayed Missing and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index to a cohort who were caries free and to national NHANES data. Secondly, to explore the factors associated with higher caries prevalence in those with the highest DMFT scores compared to the caries-free group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Over 4000 adolescents between ages 12 and 19 (Case Group: N = 2124; Control Group: N = 2045) received oral health screenings conducted in public/private middle and high schools in Nevada in 2008/2009 academic year. Caries prevalence was computed (Untreated decay scores [D-Score] and DMFT scores) for the 30% of Nevada Youth who presented with the highest DMFT score (case group) and compared to the control group (caries-free) and to national averages. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between selected variables and caries prevalence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A majority of the sample was non-Hispanic (62%), non-smokers (80%), and had dental insurance (70%). With the exception of gender, significant differences in mean D-scores were found in seven of the eight variables. All variables produced significant differences between the case and control groups in mean DMFT Scores. With the exception of smoking status, there were significant differences in seven of the eight variables in the bivariate logistic regression. All of the independent variables remained in the multivariate logistic regression model contributing significantly to over 40% of the variation in the increased DMFT status. The strongest predictors for the high DMFT status were racial background, age, fluoridated community, and applied sealants respectively. Gender, second hand smoke, insurance status, and tobacco use were significant, but to a lesser extent.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Findings from this study will aid in creating educational programs and other primary and secondary interventions to help promote oral health for Nevada youth, especially focusing on the subgroup that presents with the highest mean DMFT scores.</p