Bandicoots return to Booderee: initial survival, dispersal, home range and habitat preferences of reintroduced southern brown bandicoots (eastern sub species; Isoodon obesulus obesulus)

Context: Reintroductions can be an effective means of re-establishing locally extinct or declining 15 faunal populations. However, incomplete knowledge of variables influencing survival and establishment can limit successful outcomes. Aim: We examined the factors (e.g. sex, body mass, release order) influencing the survival, dispersal, home range and habitat selection of reintroduced southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus obesulus) into an unfenced, predator-managed environment in south-eastern Australia (Booderee National Park). Methods: Over two weeks in May 2016, six female and five male bandicoots were wild caught in state forest and hard released into the park. Release locations were approximately evenly distributed between three primary vegetation types assessed as suitable habitat: heath, woodland and forest. Bandicoots were radio tracked day and night for four weeks from the initial release date. Key results: No mortality was detected. Males dispersed more than twice as far as females (male ̅ 704 m, female ̅ 332 m), but there was no significant sex-bias in home range size. At the landscape- scale, bandicoots preferentially selected home ranges that contained heath and avoided forest. Within home ranges, heath and woodland were both favoured over forest. Conclusions: Post-release dispersal is sex-biased, but more data are required to determine the influence of other predictors such as body mass and release order. Within the release area, bandicoots favoured non-forest vegetation types. Implications: Our study outlines factors influencing the establishment of reintroduced bandicoots. We recommend that future bandicoot reintroductions to Booderee National Park occur within areas of heath and woodland; and that subsequent releases consider the potentially larger spatial requirements and conspecific avoidance among male bandicoots. Our findings contribute new knowledge for improving translocation methodologies of a nationally endangered medium-sized mammal.Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Programme through the Threatened Species Recovery Hu

Bandicoots return to Booderee: initial survival, dispersal, home range and habitat preferences of reintroduced southern brown bandicoots (eastern sub species; Isoodon obesulus obesulus)

Context. Reintroductions can be an effective means of re-establishing locally extinct or declining faunal populations. However, incomplete knowledge of variables influencing survival and establishment can limit successful outcomes

Intracellular Calcium Levels Determine Differential Modulation of Allosteric Interactions within G Protein-Coupled Receptor Heteromers

The pharmacological significance of the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR)-dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) heteromer is well established and it is being considered as an important target for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the physiological factors that control its distinctive biochemical properties are still unknown. We demonstrate that different intracellular Ca2+ levels exert a differential modulation of A2AR-D2R heteromer-mediated adenylyl-cyclase and MAPK signaling in striatal cells. This depends on the ability of low and high Ca2+ levels to promote a selective interaction of the heteromer with the neuronal Ca2+-binding proteins NCS-1 and calneuron-1, respectively. These Ca2+-binding proteins differentially modulate allosteric interactions within the A2AR-D2R heteromer, which constitutes a unique cellular device that integrates extracellular (adenosine and dopamine) and intracellular (Ca+2) signals to produce a specific functional response

Identification of predictive factors of AZA/6-MP treatment outcome in paediatric luminal Crohn's disease : a multicentre study of the paediatric IBD Porto group of ESPGHAN

According to current guidelines, most paediatric patients in Europe diagnosed with Crohn′s disease (CD) are prescribed long-term immunosuppressive therapy with azathioprine (AZA). This study aimed to develop a predictive model allowing to stratify patients who will not benefit from AZA maintenance treatment and who require a more intensive therapeutic approach early after diagnosis