Scavenging vs hunting affects behavioral traits of an opportunistic carnivore

Background. Human-induced changes to ecosystems transform the availability of resources to predators, including altering prey populations and increasing access to anthropogenic foods. Opportunistic predators are likely to respond to altered food resources by changing the proportion of food they hunt versus scavenge. These shifts in foraging behavior will affect species interactions through multiple pathways, including by changing other aspects of predator behavior such as boldness, innovation, and social structure. Methods. To understand how foraging behavior impacts predator behavior, we conducted a controlled experiment to simulate hunting by introducing a prey model to captive coyotes (Canis latrans) and compared their behavior to coyotes that continued to scavenge over one year. We used focal observations to construct behavioral budgets, and conducted novel object, puzzle box, and conspecific tests to evaluate boldness, innovation, and response to conspecifics. Results. We documented increased time spent resting by hunting coyotes paired with decreased time spent active. Hunting coyotes increased boldness and persistence but there were no changes in innovation. Our results illustrate how foraging behavior can impact other aspects of behavior, with potential ecological consequences to predator ecology, predator-prey dynamics, and human-wildlife conflict; however, the captive nature of our study limits specific conclusions related to wild predators. We conclude that human-induced behavioral changes could have cascading ecological implications that are not fully understood

Effects of early‑life experience on innovation and problem‑solving in captive coyotes

Early-life experience often shapes behaviors like innovation and exploration. These behaviors are important to animals encountering novel food resources in diverse habitats, such as mesocarnivores in urban areas. To understand if early-life experiences impact later-life behavior, we examined how coyotes (Canis latrans) responded to a multi-access puzzle box at two life stages: pup (~ 7 weeks) and dispersal (~ 10 months). We first exposed pups, still living with their parents and littermates, to a baited puzzle box. At dispersal age, we again tested both these pups and an age-matched control group that was not exposed to the puzzle box as pups, both as individuals and with their pair-mate. We quantified problem-solving capability, latency to approach, and time spent in proximity to the puzzle box. Most pup litters solved two of the three access points, but no dispersal-age coyotes solved any access point. The amount of time dispersal-age coyotes spent near the box during pair-testing increased with (1) more time spent near the box during single-testing, (2) more time their pair-mate spent near the box during pair-testing, and (3) if their pair-mate came from a litter that previously solved the box. These results suggest that early-life experience and social interactions influence exploratory behavior at dispersal age, but coyotes exhibit increased avoidance behavior at this life stage, which corresponds with the life stage that overall survivorship decreases. Our study provides insight into how early-life experiences shape adult behavior in mesocarnivores

Food Systems Under Pressure

This special section represents an exciting new multiplatform collection that contains a range of contributions that all focus on contemporary food systems and the ways in which they operate to influence consumption patterns. In addition to conventional research papers, the section also includes a Sociology in Action paper containing a shorter opinion piece and Beyond the Text, which is a creative audio-visual contribution. Some of the papers derive from the seventh conference of the British Sociological Association Food Studies Group held in Prato, 24–25 June 2019. The theme of the original conference was food systems and society, given that throughout the world food systems face many challenges ranging from climate change and sustainability, trade wars and financialization, urbanization and ageing societies in addition to persisting social inequalities and food insecurity. Since the conference food systems have also had to deal with the Covid pandemic and, in the UK, Brexit. Indeed, the global pandemic served to further expose national and international food inequalities, as well as the complexity and fragility of food systems (Kakaei et al., 2022). Many of these themes were thus revisited in the 2021 BSA Food Study Group Conference Food, Food Systems and Times of Insecurity, including how to link change at the macro-level and with everyday practices

Effect of hydro-climate variation on biofilm dynamics and its impact in intertidal environments

Shallow tidal environments are very productive ecosystems but are sensitive to environmental changes and sea level rise. Bio-morphodynamic control of these environments is therefore a crucial consideration; however, the effect of small-scale biological activity on large-scale cohesive sediment dynamics like tidal basins and estuaries is still largely unquantified. This study advances our understanding by assessing the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on biologically cohesive sediment transport and morphology. An idealised benthic biofilm model is incorporated in a 1D morphodynamic model of tide-dominated channels. This study investigates the effect of a range of environmental and biological conditions on biofilm growth and their feedback on the morphological evolution of the entire intertidal channel. By carrying out a sensitivity analysis of the bio-morphodynamic model, parameters like (i) hydrodynamic disturbances, (ii) seasonality, (iii) biofilm growth rate, (iv) temperature variation and (v) bio-cohesivity of the sediment are systematically changed. Results reveal that key parameters such as growth rate and temperature strongly influence the development of biofilm and are key determinants of equilibrium biofilm configuration and development under a range of disturbance periodicities and intensities. Long-term simulations of intertidal channel development demonstrate that the hydrodynamic disturbances induced by tides play a key role in shaping the morphology of the bed and that the presence of surface biofilm increases the time to reach morphological equilibrium. In locations characterised by low hydrodynamic forces, the biofilm grows and stabilises the bed, inhibiting the transport of coarse sediment (medium and fine sand). These findings suggest biofilm presence in channel beds results in intertidal channels that have significantly different characteristics in terms of morphology and stratigraphy compared abiotic sediments. It is concluded that inclusion of bio-cohesion in morphodynamic models is essential to predict estuary development and mitigate coastal erosion.</p

AVERT2(a very early rehabilitation trial, a very effective reproductive trigger): retrospective observational analysis of the number of babies born to trial staff

Objective: To report the number of participants needed to recruit per baby born to trial staff during AVERT, a large international trial on acute stroke, and to describe trial management consequences. Design: Retrospective observational analysis. Setting: 56 acute stroke hospitals in eight countries. Participants: 1074 trial physiotherapists, nurses, and other clinicians. Outcome measures: Number of babies born during trial recruitment per trial participant recruited. Results: With 198 site recruitment years and 2104 patients recruited during AVERT, 120 babies were born to trial staff. Births led to an estimated 10% loss in time to achieve recruitment. Parental leave was linked to six trial site closures. The number of participants needed to recruit per baby born was 17.5 (95% confidence interval 14.7 to 21.0); additional trial costs associated with each birth were estimated at 5736 Australian dollars on average. Conclusion: The staff absences registered in AVERT owing to parental leave led to delayed trial recruitment and increased costs, and should be considered by trial investigators when planning research and estimating budgets. However, the celebration of new life became a highlight of the annual AVERT collaborators’ meetings and helped maintain a cohesive collaborative group

Meta-analyses of deflazacort versus prednisone/prednisolone in patients with nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Aim: Compare efficacies of deflazacort and prednisone/prednisolone in providing clinically meaningful delays in loss of physical milestones in patients with nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Materials & methods: Placebo data from Phase IIb (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00592553) and ACT DMD (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01826487) ataluren nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy clinical trials were retrospectively combined in meta-analyses (intent-to-treat population; for change from baseline to week 48 in 6-min walk distance [6MWD] and timed function tests). Results: Significant improvements in change in 6-min walk distance with deflazacort versus prednisone/prednisolone (least-squares mean difference 39.54 m [95% CI: 13.799, 65.286; p = 0.0026]). Significant and clinically meaningful improvements in 4-stair climb and 4-stair descend for deflazacort versus prednisone/prednisolone. Conclusion: Deflazacort provides clinically meaningful delays in loss of physical milestones over 48 weeks compared with prednisone/prednisolone for patients with nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Time-resolved Neutron-gamma-ray Data Acquisition for in Situ Subsurface Planetary Geochemistry

The current gamma-ray/neutron instrumentation development effort at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center aims to extend the use of active pulsed neutron interrogation techniques to probe the subsurface elemental composition of planetary bodies in situ. Previous NASA planetary science missions, that used neutron and/or gamma-ray spectroscopy instruments, have relied on neutrons produced from galactic cosmic rays. One of the distinguishing features of this effort is the inclusion of a high intensity 14.1 MeV pulsed neutron generator synchronized with a custom data acquisition system to time each event relative to the pulse. With usually only one opportunity to collect data, it is difficult to set a priori time-gating windows to obtain the best possible results. Acquiring time-tagged, event-by-event data from nuclear induced reactions provides raw data sets containing channel/energy, and event time for each gamma ray or neutron detected. The resulting data set can be plotted as a function of time or energy using optimized analysis windows after the data are acquired. Time windows can now be chosen to produce energy spectra that yield the most statistically significant and accurate elemental composition results that can be derived from the complete data set. The advantages of post-processing gamma-ray time-tagged event-by-event data in experimental tests using our prototype instrument will be demonstrated

Phenotypic and functional characteristics of highly differentiated CD57 +NKG2C + NK cells in HIV-1- infected individuals

Natural killer (NK) cells are important anti-viral effector cells. The function and phenotype of the NK cells that constitute an individual’s NK cell repertoire can be influenced by ongoing and/or previous viral infections. Indeed, infection with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) drives the expansion of a highly differentiated NK cell population characterized by expression of CD57 and the activating NKG2C receptor. This NK cell population has also been noted to occur in HIV-1-infected individuals. We evaluated the NK cells of HIV-1-infected and –uninfected individuals to determine the relative frequency of highly differentiated CD57 +NKG2C + NK cells and characterize these cells for their receptor expression and responsiveness to diverse stimuli. Highly differentiated CD57 +NKG2C + NK cells occurred at higher frequencies in HCMV-infected donors relative to HCMV-uninfected donors and were dramatically expanded in HIV-1/HCMV co-infected donors. The expanded CD57 +NKG2C + NK cell population in HIV-1-infected donors remained stable following antiretroviral therapy. CD57 +NKG2C + NK cells derived from HIV-1-infected individuals were robustly activated by antibody-dependent stimuli that contained anti-HIV-1 antibodies or therapeutic anti-CD20 antibody, and these NK cells mediated cytolysis through NKG2C. Lastly, CD57 +NKG2C + NK cells from HIV-1-infected donors were characterized by reduced expression of the inhibitory NKG2A receptor. The abundance of highly functional CD57 +NKG2C + NK cells in HIV-1-infected individuals raises the possibility that these NK cells could play a role in HIV-1 pathogenesis or serve as effector cells for therapeutic/cure strategies