Introduced species and extreme weather as key drivers of reproductive output in three sympatric albatrosses

Invasive species present a major conservation threat globally and nowhere are their affects more pronounced than in island ecosystems. Determining how native island populations respond demographically to invasive species can provide information to mitigate the negative effects of invasive species. Using 20 years of mark-recapture data from three sympatric species of albatrosses (black-browed Thalassarche melanophris, grey-headed T. chrysostoma, and light-mantled albatrosses Phoebetria palpebrata), we quantified the influence of invasive European rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus and extreme weather patterns on breeding probability and success. Temporal variability in rabbit density explained 33–76% of the variability in breeding probability for all three species, with severe decreases in breeding probability observed after a lag period following highest rabbit numbers. For black-browed albatrosses, the combination of extreme rainfall and high rabbit density explained 33% of total trait variability and dramatically reduced breeding success. We showed that invasive rabbits and extreme weather events reduce reproductive output in albatrosses and that eliminating rabbits had a positive effect on albatross reproduction. This illustrates how active animal management at a local breeding site can result in positive population outcomes even for wide ranging animals like albatrosses where influencing vital rates during their at-sea migrations is more challenging

The Iowa Homemaker vol.19, no.8

Writing, page 1 Speak Softly, page 2 Application Letters – Precursors to your Job, page 3 Cutting Gay Capers in Sally’s Styles, page 4 Homemaker Success Stories, page 6 Women on the Air, page 7 What’s New in Home Economics, page 8 Books from Crib to College, page 10 Jumps in Journalism, page 12 Iowa State Women Gain Recognition, page 13 Fresh Air in the Mechanical Age, page 14 Fashion Writing Challenges the College Journalist, page 15 Behind Bright Jackets, page 16 Land Yourself a Scholarship, page 17 Alums in the News, page 18 Coed Trickery, page 19 Biography of a Home Economist, page 20 From Journalistic Spindles, page 2

DNA metabarcoding as a marine conservation and management tool: A circumpolar examination of fishery discards in the diet of threatened albatrosses

Almost all of the world's fisheries overlap spatially and temporally with foraging seabirds, with impacts that range from food supplementation (through scavenging behind vessels), to resource competition and incidental mortality. The nature and extent of interactions between seabirds and fisheries vary, as does the level and efficacy of management and mitigation. Seabird dietary studies provide information on prey diversity and often identify species that are also caught in fisheries, providing evidence of linkages which can be used to improve ecosystem based management of fisheries. However, species identification of fish can be difficult with conventional dietary techniques. The black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) has a circumpolar distribution and has suffered major population declines due primarily to incidental mortality in fisheries. We use DNA metabarcoding of black-browed albatross scats to investigate their fish prey during the breeding season at six sites across their range, over two seasons. We identify the spatial and temporal diversity of fish in their diets and overlaps with fisheries operating in adjacent waters. Across all sites, 51 fish species from 33 families were identified, with 23 species contributing >10% of the proportion of samples or sequences at any site. There was extensive geographic variation but little inter-annual variability in fish species consumed. Several fish species that are not easily accessible to albatross, but are commercially harvested or by-caught, were detected in the albatross diet during the breeding season. This was particularly evident at the Falkland Islands and Iles Kerguelen where higher fishery catch amounts (or discard amounts where known) corresponded to higher occurrence of these species in diet samples. This study indicates ongoing interactions with fisheries through consumption of fishery discards, increasing the risk of seabird mortality. Breeding success was higher at sites where fisheries discards were detected in the diet, highlighting the need to minimize discarding to reduce impacts on the ecosystem. DNA metabarcoding provides a valuable non-invasive tool for assessing the fish prey of seabirds across broad geographic ranges. This provides an avenue for fishery resource managers to assess compliance of fisheries with discard policies and the level of interaction with scavenging seabirds

The last animal: cosmopolitanism in The Last Man

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Mold-filling experiments for validation of modeling encapsulation. Part 1, "wine glass" mold.

The C6 project 'Encapsulation Processes' has been designed to obtain experimental measurements for discovery of phenomena critical to improving these processes, as well as data required in the verification and validation plan (Rao et al. 2001) for model validation of flow in progressively complex geometries. We have observed and recorded the flow of clear, Newtonian liquids and opaque, rheologically complex suspensions in two mold geometries. The first geometry is a simple wineglass geometry in a cylinder and is reported here in Part 1. The results in a more realistic encapsulation geometry are reported in Part 2

The Iowa Homemaker vol.20, no.1

Recreation that Recreates, Editor, page 1 Dual Personalities, Catherine Raymond, page 2 Married Right Out of College, Mary Ellen Lynch Brown, page 3 Sally Bows to Summer’s Sun, Kathryn Cooley, page 4 Selling Yourself, Kathryn Monson, page 6 I Want a Cotton Dress, Marcia E. Turner, page 7 Playtime Pays Dividends, Jane Wiley, page 8 Behind Closed Doors, Margaret Kumlien, page 9 Sunshine Sports, Jeanette Woodward, page 10 Packing the Convention Bag, Shirley Ambrose, page 11 What’s New in Home Economics, page 12 Veishea Presents, Adelaide Richardson, page 14 Picnic Basket, Dorothy Jo Weber, page 16 Alums in the News, Bette Simpson, page 17 Make Room for Music, Nancy Mason, page 18 Behind Bright Jackets, Betty Bice, page 20 Journalistic Spindles, Dorothy Anne Roost, page 23 Biography of a Home Economist, Eleanor White, page 2

The Iowa Homemaker vol.20, no.7

Hospitality on a Budget, Mary Ellen Brown, page 2 Plastics Equip the Home, Dorothy Anne Roost, page 4 Designed for Efficiency, Dorothy Gross, page 6 50,000 Words a Day, Betty Bice, page 7 Sally Leads Military Parade, Patricia Hayes, page 8 Self-Investment for Life, Dr. Richard C. Raines, page 10 Home Management Staff, Margaret Kumlien Read, page 11 What’s New in Home Economics, Helen Kubacky, page 12 Defense Challenges the Home Economics, Dr. P. M. Nelson, page 14 Letters from Sumatra and Alaska, page 15 Alums in the News, Bette Simpson, page 16 Vitamins Invade Army Rations, Genevieve Scott, page 17 Flashes from Bacteriology Field, Catherine Raymond, page 18 China on a Budget, Jane Willey, page 19 Behind Bright Jackets, Marjorie Thomas, page 20 Soldiers and Sailors Eat Well, Pat Garberson, page 22 Spindles, Helen Moeckly, page 2

Assessment of second-line antiretroviral regimens for HIV therapy in Africa.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and toxic effects of nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) are uncertain when these agents are used with a protease inhibitor in second-line therapy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in resource-limited settings. Removing the NRTIs or replacing them with raltegravir may provide a benefit. METHODS: In this open-label trial in sub-Saharan Africa, we randomly assigned 1277 adults and adolescents with HIV infection and first-line treatment failure to receive a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor (lopinavir-ritonavir) plus clinician-selected NRTIs (NRTI group, 426 patients), a protease inhibitor plus raltegravir in a superiority comparison (raltegravir group, 433 patients), or protease-inhibitor monotherapy after 12 weeks of induction therapy with raltegravir in a noninferiority comparison (monotherapy group, 418 patients). The primary composite end point, good HIV disease control, was defined as survival with no new World Health Organization stage 4 events, a CD4+ count of more than 250 cells per cubic millimeter, and a viral load of less than 10,000 copies per milliliter or 10,000 copies or more with no protease resistance mutations at week 96 and was analyzed with the use of imputation of data (≤4%). RESULTS: Good HIV disease control was achieved in 60% of the patients (mean, 255 patients) in the NRTI group, 64% of the patients (mean, 277) in the raltegravir group (P=0.21 for the comparison with the NRTI group; superiority of raltegravir not shown), and 55% of the patients (mean, 232) in the monotherapy group (noninferiority of monotherapy not shown, based on a 10-percentage-point margin). There was no significant difference in rates of grade 3 or 4 adverse events among the three groups (P=0.82). The viral load was less than 400 copies per milliliter in 86% of patients in the NRTI group, 86% in the raltegravir group (P=0.97), and 61% in the monotherapy group (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: When given with a protease inhibitor in second-line therapy, NRTIs retained substantial virologic activity without evidence of increased toxicity, and there was no advantage to replacing them with raltegravir. Virologic control was inferior with protease-inhibitor monotherapy. (Funded by European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership and others; EARNEST Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN37737787, and ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00988039.)

Disentangling the influence of three major threats on the demography of an albatross community

Climate change, fisheries and invasive species represent three pervasive threats to seabirds, globally. Understanding the relative influence and compounding nature of marine and terrestrial threats on the demography of seabird communities is vital for evidence-based conservation. Using 20 years of capture-mark-recapture data from four sympatric species of albatross (black-browed Thalassarche melanophris, gray-headed T. chrysostoma, light-mantled Phoebetria palpebrata and wandering Diomedea exulans) at subantarctic Macquarie Island, we quantified the temporal variability in survival, breeding probability and success. In three species (excluding the wandering albatross because of their small population), we also assessed the influence of fisheries, oceanographic and terrestrial change on these rates. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) explained 20.87–29.38% of the temporal variability in survival in all three species and 22.72–28.60% in breeding success for black-browed and gray-headed albatross, with positive SAM events related to higher success. The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Index explained 21.14–44.04% of the variability in survival, with higher survival rates following La Niña events. For black-browed albatrosses, effort in south-west Atlantic longline fisheries had a negative relationship with survival and explained 22.75–32.21% of the variability. Whereas increased effort in New Zealand trawl fisheries were related to increases in survival, explaining 21.26–28.29 % of variability. The inclusion of terrestrial covariates, reflecting extreme rainfall events and rabbit-driven habitat degradation, explained greater variability in trends breeding probability than oceanographic or fisheries covariates for all three species. These results indicate managing drivers of demographic trends that are most easily controlled, such as fisheries and habitat degradation, will be a viable option for some species (e.g., black-browed albatross) but less effective for others (e.g., light-mantled albatross). Our results illustrate the need to integrate fisheries, oceanographic and terrestrial processes when assessing demographic variability and formulating the appropriate management response

Analysis of the MUII-plus mentorship programme: reflections of Fellows’ experiences and lessons for other programmes

Background: The MUII mentorship programme began 11 years ago with a successful group mentorship model. Over the years, the programme has evolved and is presently anchored on the “GROW” approach. This model allows individuals to: set Goals (What I want?); Reflect (Where am I now?); think of Options (What can I do?); What to implement (my actions?). It is intended to help fellows (current, honorary, alumni) herein referred to as mentees achieve their short, medium, and long-term research, career and professional goals. Methods: A mixed methods study combining a cross-sectional survey, one focus group discussion and 11 in-depth key informant interviews were carried out between November 2018 and January 2019 to 1) assess the status of the mentorship programme, 2) perform a strength weakness opportunity and threats (SWOT) analysis, and 3) identify factors relevant for sustainability. Results: An open invitation was made to 52 fellows to participate in the survey, and 23 responded. Among respondents, the largest proportions were male [70% (16/23)], and PhD fellows [35% (8/23)]. The respondents rated the fellowship experience as excellent [65% (15/23)], and most [78% (18/23)] revealed they had benefitted greatly from the programme. The SWOT analysis revealed outstanding strengths of having regular fellows’ meetings for peer support, and availability of international collaborations, linkages and exposure. Opportunities identified included large pool of mentees within MUII-plus and evidence of fellows taking up leadership positions. The biggest threat to the mentorship programme was the busy schedule of mentors. Conclusions: The MUII-plus mentorship programme has strong potential to offer research and career mentorship to its fellows. To promote sustainability of the programme, there is a need for innovative ways to engage mentors; such as digital platforms (e-mentorship) for greater mentor-mentee interactions.</ns3:p