Information processing at the foxa node of the sea urchin endomesoderm specification network

The foxa regulatory gene is of central importance for endoderm specification across Bilateria, and this gene lies at an essential node of the well-characterized sea urchin endomesoderm gene regulatory network (GRN). Here we experimentally dissect the cis-regulatory system that controls the complex pattern of foxa expression in these embryos. Four separate cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) cooperate to control foxa expression in different spatial domains of the endomesoderm, and at different times. A detailed mutational analysis revealed the inputs to each of these cis-regulatory modules. The complex and dynamic expression of foxa is regulated by a combination of repressors, a permissive switch, and multiple activators. A mathematical kinetic model was applied to study the dynamic response of foxa cis-regulatory modules to transient inputs. This study shed light on the mesoderm–endoderm fate decision and provides a functional explanation, in terms of the genomic regulatory code, for the spatial and temporal expression of a key developmental control gene

Using vertebrate environmental DNA from seawater in biomonitoring of marine habitats

Conservation and management of marine biodiversity depends on biomonitoring of marine habitats, but current approaches are resource‐intensive and require different approaches for different organisms. Environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from water samples is an efficient and versatile approach to detecting aquatic animals. In the ocean, eDNA composition reflects local fauna at fine spatial scales, but little is known about the effectiveness of eDNA‐based monitoring of marine communities at larger scales. We investigated the potential of eDNA to characterize and distinguish marine communities at large spatial scales by comparing vertebrate species composition among marine habitats in Qatar, the Arabian Gulf (also known as the Persian Gulf), based on eDNA metabarcoding of seawater samples. We conducted species accumulation analyses to estimate how much of the vertebrate diversity we detected. We obtained eDNA sequences from a diverse assemblage of marine vertebrates, spanning 191 taxa in 73 families. These included rare and endangered species and covered 36% of the bony fish genera previously recorded in the Gulf. Sites of similar habitat type were also similar in eDNA composition. The species accumulation analyses showed that the number of sample replicates was insufficient for some sampling sites but suggested that a few hundred eDNA samples could potentially capture >90% of the marine vertebrate diversity in the study area. Our results confirm that seawater samples contain habitat‐characteristic molecular signatures and that eDNA monitoring can efficiently cover vertebrate diversity at scales relevant to national and regional conservation and management.Maersk Oil; Qatar National Research Fund. Grant Number: NPRP 7 ‐ 1129 ‐ 1 – 201; Naturvidenskab og Teknologi, Aarhus Universite

TECHNIQUES FOR REARING AND RELEASING NONMIGRATORY CRANES: LESSONS FROM THE MISSISSIPPI SANDHILL CRANE PROGRAM

Captive-reared Mississippi sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis pulla) reared at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (patuxent) have been released at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge (MSCNWR) since 1981. Of 131 birds released through December 1990, 103 were reared by foster parents. The remaining 28 were experimentally hand-reared in 1989 and 1990. After refining release procedures, parent-reared birds have integrated into the wild flock, many have survived, and some have bred. Releases of hand-reared cranes elsewhere in the 1970\u27s were largely unsuccessful. at least in part due to the lack of a lengthy acclimation period. A new hand-rearing protocol holds promise in producing release-worthy birds. The technique employs some features first used in the 1960\u27s (e.g., a costume for the human caretaker and model crane heads used to train chicks to feed). In the mid-1980\u27s, the following features were added: (1) the costumed caretaker was given a visor and feathers, (2) a taxidermic crane head or a hand puppet was held or suspended from the ceiling for use in stimulating chicks to feed, (3) a taxidermic mount of a brooding crane supplied warmth, (4) a full-sized live crane was maintained in an adjacent pen and in visual contact with neonatal young to provide an imprinting model, and (5) a small group of adult (or subadult) cranes was penned adjacent to the outdoor chick pens to provide socialization models. Recent releases of Mississippi sandhill cranes hand-reared according to this protocol and released in Mississippi have had high first-year survival rates. The now-operational technique holds promise for producing large numbers of release-worthy birds

TECHNIQUES FOR REARING AND RELEASING NONMIGRATORY CRANES: LESSONS FROM THE MISSISSIPPI SANDHILL CRANE PROGRAM

Captive-reared Mississippi sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis pulla) reared at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (patuxent) have been released at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge (MSCNWR) since 1981. Of 131 birds released through December 1990, 103 were reared by foster parents. The remaining 28 were experimentally hand-reared in 1989 and 1990. After refining release procedures, parent-reared birds have integrated into the wild flock, many have survived, and some have bred. Releases of hand-reared cranes elsewhere in the 1970\u27s were largely unsuccessful. at least in part due to the lack of a lengthy acclimation period. A new hand-rearing protocol holds promise in producing release-worthy birds. The technique employs some features first used in the 1960\u27s (e.g., a costume for the human caretaker and model crane heads used to train chicks to feed). In the mid-1980\u27s, the following features were added: (1) the costumed caretaker was given a visor and feathers, (2) a taxidermic crane head or a hand puppet was held or suspended from the ceiling for use in stimulating chicks to feed, (3) a taxidermic mount of a brooding crane supplied warmth, (4) a full-sized live crane was maintained in an adjacent pen and in visual contact with neonatal young to provide an imprinting model, and (5) a small group of adult (or subadult) cranes was penned adjacent to the outdoor chick pens to provide socialization models. Recent releases of Mississippi sandhill cranes hand-reared according to this protocol and released in Mississippi have had high first-year survival rates. The now-operational technique holds promise for producing large numbers of release-worthy birds

Social rearing environment influences dog behavioral development

Early life experiences are known to influence behavior later in life. In dogs, environmental influences of early home rearing could be exploited to improve the chances of developing adult behavior most suited to the adult environment. For working dog organizations, such as Guide Dogs, suitable adult behavior is important to ensure that dogs can fulfill their role as guides for people with visual impairment. Here, we test the hypothesis that dogs' home rearing environment will influence behavioral development. To investigate this hypothesis, carers of potential guide dogs (puppy walkers) completed a questionnaire, termed the Puppy Walker Questionnaire (PWQ), about the dog's behavior at 5, 8, and 12 months of age. An additional 11 questions were answered about the home environment at the last assessment. Because no questionnaire existed which measured behavior most relevant to Guide Dogs, questions from an existing questionnaire (Canine Behaviour and Research Questionnaire) were combined with additional questions. Thus, a subsidiary aim of the study was to test the reliability of the PWQ for measuring behavioral development of potential guide dogs. The PWQ, scored on a 100-mm visual analogue scale, grouped into 5 new scales: trainability, distractibility, general anxiety, body sensitivity, and stair anxiety, with 4 Canine Behaviour and Research Questionnaire scales: excitability, separation-related behavior, attachment and attention seeking, and energy level. For each reliable scale, multivariate linear regression identified significant predictors from the home environmental questions. The results suggest that home rearing environment is indeed important for behavioral development: 9 of 11 environmental variables were significant predictors of behavioral scores. Those environmental variables that appeared most important were social in nature. Dogs were scored as higher in energy level, excitability, and distractibility if they had been raised in a home with children, lower on energy level and distractibility the more experience of puppy walking their carer had, and lower on separation-related behavior the more they had been able to play with other dogs. These findings have implications for matching between dogs' early and later home environments. Follow-up of dogs in this study could help to elucidate effects on guiding suitability and matching between dog and guide dog owner

Association of the PHACTR1/EDN1 genetic locus with spontaneous coronary artery dissection

Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an increasingly recognized cause of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) afflicting predominantly younger to middle-aged women. Observational studies have reported a high prevalence of extracoronary vascular anomalies, especially fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) and a low prevalence of coincidental cases of atherosclerosis. PHACTR1/EDN1 is a genetic risk locus for several vascular diseases, including FMD and coronary artery disease, with the putative causal noncoding variant at the rs9349379 locus acting as a potential enhancer for the endothelin-1 (EDN1) gene. Objectives: This study sought to test the association between the rs9349379 genotype and SCAD. Methods: Results from case control studies from France, United Kingdom, United States, and Australia were analyzed to test the association with SCAD risk, including age at first event, pregnancy-associated SCAD (P-SCAD), and recurrent SCAD. Results: The previously reported risk allele for FMD (rs9349379-A) was associated with a higher risk of SCAD in all studies. In a meta-analysis of 1,055 SCAD patients and 7,190 controls, the odds ratio (OR) was 1.67 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.50 to 1.86) per copy of rs9349379-A. In a subset of 491 SCAD patients, the OR estimate was found to be higher for the association with SCAD in patients without FMD (OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.53 to 2.33) than in SCAD cases with FMD (OR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.28 to 1.99). There was no effect of genotype on age at first event, P-SCAD, or recurrence. Conclusions: The first genetic risk factor for SCAD was identified in the largest study conducted to date for this condition. This genetic link may contribute to the clinical overlap between SCAD and FMD

Outcome data for the remote patient monitoring over three years of over 1000 patients in Northern Ireland with a long-term chronic illness

Over a period of four years Alere Connected Health’s (ACH) management and specialist telehealth nurses have designed, implemented and delivered a completely new and re-engineered model of community care for people with long-term conditions (LTC) that has resulted in the delivery of a full ‘end to end’ clinical telehealth managed service monitoring over the period for over 1000 patients from two NHS Trusts in Northern Ireland. ACH were commissioned to develop programmes to deliver chronic disease monitoring and from the outset it was clear that the Department of Health was looking for a ‘service delivery’ partner rather than a ‘kit provider’. This regional telehealth programme in partnership with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust managed patients with one or more long-term conditions, their main chronic conditions being COPD, CHF and Diabetes. This new model of care has now been commissioned by the NHS in Northern Ireland as a National telehealth monitoring service awarding a 6-year contract for the monitoring of several thousand people with a LTC. The ACH telehealth service is ‘technology agnostic’ and can be used with point of care devices from any manufacturer, making it easier for commissioners and users that are already familiar with a particular telehealth product or manufacturer. During the four-year programme the ACH team developed an innovative web based activity database and telehealth management system software (TMS) in order to gather additional data from and about the patients care in order to determine more accurate programme evaluation data. The data gathered involved clinical, technical and statistical information in order to determine patient utilisation, return on investment (ROI) information and programme outcomes not usually derived from most commercial telehealth ‘back-end’ web server solutions. (In the process the ACH nursing team won two National Awards for ‘Innovation and Partnering’ with the NHS.) A number of significant outcomes and goals have been achieved during the past four years about service delivery and clear evidence suggests that telehealth home patient monitoring can be used as a method of reducing hospital admissions, it appears to promote patients to become better self managers of their long term condition and ultimately enjoy a better quality of life, whilst delivering cost efficiencies to the health care provider. This resulted in fewer unnecessary appointments with their GP. 60% saving of COPD patient unplanned hospital admissions; 33% saving of CHF patient unplanned hospital admissions; 32% of patients escalated during ‘out of hours’. After a period of three years telehealth monitoring of (n=766 COPD patients) equalling some 3% of the Northern Ireland COPD population, the unplanned hospital admission rate for COPD patients reduced from 42% to 9%