Field Trials to Determine the Efficacy of an Oral Plague Vaccine for Prairie Dogs

North American prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) and black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) have been severely affected by plague, an exotic zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis during the last 100 years.  Plague has contributed to population declines of prairie dogs, near extinction of black-footed ferrets, and has caused human illness and fatalities.  An oral sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) developed and tested jointly by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center and University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI) shows great promise as an effective, pre-emptive method for controlling plague in prairie dogs.  Field trials to evaluate the efficacy of SPV were initiated in 2013 and include 4 species of prairie dogs on study areas in 7 states, including Montana.  This presentation is a status report after the second year of a planned 4 year study.  The primary objectives are to measure vaccine/bait uptake and to assess prairie dog survival rates at paired study sites, with and without vaccine application.  At the north-central Montana study site, about 8,000 baits, half with SPV and half placebos, were distributed across 5 pairs of study sites (totaling 81 ha) in 2013 and over 13,000 in 2014 on the same 5 pairs of study sites (totaling 107 ha).  In addition to ear tagging and microchip-marking each individual, flea, hair, whisker and blood samples were collected each year.  A total of 584 individual prairie dogs were marked during 929 capture events in 2013 and 814 individuals during 1,293 capture events in 2014

A Model for Rigorously Applying the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) Framework in the Design and Measurement of a Large Scale Collaborative Multi-Site Study

Background This paper describes the means by which a United States National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded cooperative, Juvenile Justice-Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System (JJ-TRIALS), utilized an established implementation science framework in conducting a multi-site, multi-research center implementation intervention initiative. The initiative aimed to bolster the ability of juvenile justice agencies to address unmet client needs related to substance use while enhancing inter-organizational relationships between juvenile justice and local behavioral health partners. Methods The EPIS (Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment) framework was selected and utilized as the guiding model from inception through project completion; including the mapping of implementation strategies to EPIS stages, articulation of research questions, and selection, content, and timing of measurement protocols. Among other key developments, the project led to a reconceptualization of its governing implementation science framework into cyclical form as the EPIS Wheel. The EPIS Wheel is more consistent with rapid-cycle testing principles and permits researchers to track both progressive and recursive movement through EPIS. Moreover, because this randomized controlled trial was predicated on a bundled strategy method, JJ-TRIALS was designed to rigorously test progress through the EPIS stages as promoted by facilitation of data-driven decision making principles. The project extended EPIS by (1) elucidating the role and nature of recursive activity in promoting change (yielding the circular EPIS Wheel), (2) by expanding the applicability of the EPIS framework beyond a single evidence-based practice (EBP) to address varying process improvement efforts (representing varying EBPs), and (3) by disentangling outcome measures of progression through EPIS stages from the a priori established study timeline. Discussion The utilization of EPIS in JJ-TRIALS provides a model for practical and applied use of implementation frameworks in real-world settings that span outer service system and inner organizational contexts in improving care for vulnerable populations. Trial registration NCT02672150. Retrospectively registered on 22 January 2016

Burmese pythons in Florida: A synthesis of biology, impacts, and management tools

Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) are native to southeastern Asia, however, there is an established invasive population inhabiting much of southern Florida throughout the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Pythons have severely impacted native species and ecosystems in Florida and represent one of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe. The difficulty stems from a unique combination of inaccessible habitat and the cryptic and resilient nature of pythons that thrive in the subtropical environment of southern Florida, rendering them extremely challenging to detect. Here we provide a comprehensive review and synthesis of the science relevant to managing invasive Burmese pythons. We describe existing control tools and review challenges to productive research, identifying key knowledge gaps that would improve future research and decision making for python control. (119 pp

Impacts of a 4-Lane Highway on the Spatial Ecology of American Black Bears and the Effectiveness of Wildlife Underpasses in Eastern North Carolina

From 2001 through 2005, the North Carolina Department of Transportation rerouted and upgraded a section of U.S. Highway 64 in Washington County to a 4-lane divided highway. This new roadway included 3 wildlife underpasses with adjacent wildlife fencing to mitigate the effects of the highway on wildlife, in particular American black bears (Ursus americanus). From 2000 to 2001, the University of Tennessee conducted research on the spatial ecology and population demographics of the black bear population at the new highway site and on a nearby control area of similar habitat composition. From 2006 to 2007, after highway construction, data collection was repeated and additional data were collected to document use of the 3 wildlife underpasses and wildlife mortalities from vehicle collisions. I tested several hypotheses to determine if the new highway caused changes in home-range characteristics, spatial responses, habitat use, movement characteristics, and activity patterns of black bears. Using a dataset of 5,775 hourly locations and 4,998 daily locations from 57 bears, I detected no changes in home-range characteristics or movement characteristics of bears because of the new highway. However, the power for several of these analyses was relatively low and my research focused on females. I did detect changes in bear habitat use and activity patterns resulting from the new road. In particular, bears from the new highway area were closer to the road and became more active in morning when highway traffic was low. Underpass monitoring yielded 2,053 photographs of wildlife and 3,622 wildlife crossings based on track counts. The highway surveys recorded 196 animal mortalities from vehicle collisions. I observed an increase in wildlife crossings at the underpass sites, but no difference in roadkill frequency between protected sections of the highway (underpasses and fencing) compared with unprotected sections. However, substantially fewer animal-vehicle collisions (primarily deer [Odocoileus virginianus]) were reported in the study section of U.S. 64 compared with adjacent sections of this highway. Overall, I found few impacts on black bear spatial ecology resulting from the highway and that the 3 wildlife underpasses were effective

Nitric Oxide Protects Bacteria from Aminoglycosides by Blocking the Energy-Dependent Phases of Drug Uptake▿

Our investigations have identified a mechanism by which exogenous production of nitric oxide (NO) induces resistance of Gram-positive and -negative bacteria to aminoglycosides. An NO donor was found to protect Salmonella spp. against structurally diverse classes of aminoglycosides of the 4,6-disubstituted 2-deoxystreptamine group. Likewise, NO generated enzymatically by inducible NO synthase of gamma interferon-primed macrophages protected intracellular Salmonella against the cytotoxicity of gentamicin. NO levels that elicited protection against aminoglycosides repressed Salmonella respiratory activity. NO nitrosylated terminal quinol cytochrome oxidases, without exerting long-lasting inhibition of NADH dehydrogenases of the electron transport chain. The NO-mediated repression of respiratory activity blocked both energy-dependent phases I and II of aminoglycoside uptake but not the initial electrostatic interaction of the drug with the bacterial cell envelope. As seen in Salmonella, the NO-dependent inhibition of the electron transport chain also afforded aminoglycoside resistance to the clinically important pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Together, these findings provide evidence for a model in which repression of aerobic respiration by NO fluxes associated with host inflammatory responses can reduce drug uptake, thus promoting resistance to several members of the aminoglycoside family in phylogenetically diverse bacteria

Kentucky Women's Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN): A type 1 effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial to increase utilization of medications for opioid use disorder among justice-involved women

The opioid crisis has disproportionately affected women, but research on approaches to increase initiation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among women is limited. The Kentucky Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) will implement a type 1 hybrid effectiveness and implementation trial to examine an innovative MOUD pretreatment model using telehealth (alone and in combination with peer navigators) for justice-involved women in transition from jail to the community. The overall goal of the project is to increase initiation and maintenance of MOUD among high-risk justice-involved women during community reentry to reduce opioid relapse and overdose. This project and other studies through the JCOIN network have the potential to significantly impact the OUD treatment field by contributing empirical evidence about the effectiveness and implementation of innovative technologies to increase initiation and maintenance of MOUD during a critical, high-risk time of community reentry among vulnerable, justice-involved individuals in both urban and nonurban communities