Mammals of the Upper Henty River Region, Western Tasmania

A mammal survey was conducted in the Upper Henty River Region in western Tasmania. The area had been subject to much disturbance from mining, forestry and frequent fires and was covered by a maze of roads and tracks. Nineteen native species (including bats) were recorded. Four of the species listed in 1983 as occurring in the Lower Gordon Region, 80 km south of the present study area, were not recorded during our survey. It is considered that three of these species would probably have been found in the area with further searching. The fourth species, Mastacomysfuscus, is thought not to be present due to increased fire frequency in the sedgeland areas compared with the Lower Gordon Region. Potorous tridactylus is recorded for the first time from rainforest. Microhabitat selection by Rattus lutreolus and Pseudomys higginsi differed from that previously reported. Disturbance from road construction led to the creation of a new food source for Thylogale billardierii. The abundance of tracks in the area increased ease of movement for carnivorous mammals. Only one introduced species Felis catus, which is also known to occur in the Lower Gordon, was recorded. Disturbance had thus not led to an invasion of exotics

The potential for adverse effects in fish exposed to antidepressants in the aquatic environment.

This is the final version. Available from the American Chemical Society via the DOI in this record. Antidepressants are one of the most commonly prescribed pharmaceutical classes for the treatment of psychiatric conditions. They act via modulation of brain monoaminergic signaling systems (predominantly serotonergic, adrenergic, dopaminergic) that show a high degree of structural conservation across diverse animal phyla. A reasonable assumption, therefore, is that exposed fish and other aquatic wildlife may be affected by antidepressants released into the natural environment. Indeed, there are substantial data reported for exposure effects in fish, albeit most are reported for exposure concentrations exceeding those occurring in natural environments. From a critical analysis of the available evidence for effects in fish, risk quotients (RQs) were derived from laboratory-based studies for a selection of antidepressants most commonly detected in the aquatic environment. We conclude that the likelihood for effects in fish on standard measured end points used in risk assessment (i.e., excluding effects on behavior) is low for levels of exposure occurring in the natural environment. Nevertheless, some effects on behavior have been reported for environmentally relevant exposures, and antidepressants can bioaccumulate in fish tissues. Limitations in the datasets used to calculate RQs revealed important gaps in which future research should be directed to more accurately assess the risks posed by antidepressants to fish. Developing greater certainty surrounding risk of antidepressants to fish requires more attention directed toward effects on behaviors relating to individual fitness, the employment of environmentally realistic exposure levels, on chronic exposure scenarios, and on mixtures analyses, especially given the wide range of similarly acting compounds released into the environment.Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking under “Intelligence-led Assessment of Pharmaceuticals in the Environment” (iPiE)European UnionEuropean Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)MerckBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilUniversity of Exete

Physical abuse against elderly persons in institutional settings

Introduction: People over 65 years old are expected to be an increasing group exposed to abuse. Despite the well-studied intra-familial abuse, institutional abuse still lacks a proper understanding about its determinants and characteristics. Aim: The general objective of this study is to provide a better knowledge about physical abuse against elderly people in institutional settings, in order to contribute to a timely detection, correct forensic diagnosis and prevention of these cases. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted through the analysis of forensic medical exams performed in the North Forensic Medical Services of Portugal, between 2004 and 2013, to elderly persons allegedly victims of physical abuse in an institutional setting by a caregiver (n = 59). Results: All the alleged cases occurred in nursing homes and in most of them (93.2%) the charges were against the institution and not focussing on a particular individual. The alleged victims were mainly female (79.7%), 75 years or older (75.9%), presenting a severe disability (55.9%) and 47.2% being unable to communicate. No injuries or post-traumatic pain were found in 55.9% of the cases to support the charge of physical abuse. Only in 6.8% of the cases were the forensic medical findings suggestive of physical abuse and, although this was not the object of the examination, 69.1% were considered suggestive or highly suggestive of neglect. A statistically significant association was found between the alleged victim's degree of disability and the occurrence of neglect (p = 0.003). Conclusion: The sample's size seems to be underestimated, probably due to lack of detection and/or reporting. The condition of these persons, mainly related with their inability to perceive abusive behaviours and/or to disclose them (mostly by physical and/or mental disability), as well as their reluctance to press charges due to fear of reprisal, affects significantly the detection and diagnosis of physical abuse, particularly in whom injuries are not obvious. In anticipation to the rapid ageing of the population, it is urgent to analyse and understand this emerging issue so that social policies and regulation may be developed, in an effort to protect the elderly, as well as to make improvements in the professionals' skills

Domestic violence against elderly with disability

Abuse against elders with disabilities is a growing problem as the world population ages. Though they require mandatory reporting, these cases are most frequently not detected or not reported by health professionals for a variety of reasons, including the difficulty of making an accurate diagnosis. By performing a retrospective analysis of alleged domestic violence cases against elders with moderate or severe disability, presented to medical forensic examination at the North Branch of the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Portugal, in Porto, between 2005 and 2013 (n = 70), we aimed to improve our knowledge of some demographic and forensic characteristics of these cases as well as improve their detection and prevention. The most frequently reported type of abuse was physical (86%), allegedly perpetrated by male abusers (63%) living with their victims (90%), who were most commonly their children (47%) or partners (49%; when victims are married). The victims were most frequently female (63%) who had motor disabilities (49%) and presented a history of previous episodes of abuse in 74% of cases; however, only 28% were previously reported. The physical consequences were most frequently minor injuries (95%) with permanent consequences (scars) in only 6.8% of the cases. The injuries were multiple in the majority of the cases (64%), and the preferred locations were the head and neck (75%). Elderly females with motor disabilities appear to have a greatest risk of domestic violence, which translates, most frequently, into multiple injuries that are mainly in the head and neck

Genome wide association mapping of grain arsenic, copper, molybdenum and zinc in rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown at four international field sites

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Absorbing and transferring risk: assessing the impact of a statewide high-risk-pregnancy telemedical program on VLBW maternal transports

BACKGROUND: Prior research has shown that resources have an impact on birth outcomes. In this paper we ask how combinations of telemedical and hospital-level resources impact transports of mothers expecting very low birth weight (VLBW) babies in Arkansas. METHODS: Using de-identified birth certificate data from the Arkansas Department of Health, data were gathered on transports of women carrying VLBW babies for two six-month periods: a period just before the start of ANGELS (12/02-05/03), a telemedical outreach program for high-risk pregnancies, and a period after the program had been running for six months (12/03-05/04). For each maternal transport, the following information was recorded: maternal race-ethnicity, maternal age, and the birth weight of the infant. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between the predictors (telemedicine, hospital level, maternal characteristics) and the probability of a transport. RESULTS: Having a telemedical site available increases the probability of a mother carrying a VLBW baby being transported to a level III facility either before or during birth. Having at least a level II nursery also increases the chance of a maternal transport. Where both level II nurseries and telemedical access are available, the odds of VLBW maternal transports are only modestly increased in comparison to the case where neither is present. At the individual level, Hispanic mothers were less likely to be transported than other mothers, and teenaged mothers were more likely to be transported than those 18 and over. A mother's being Black or being over 35 did not have an impact on the odds of being transported to a level III facility. CONCLUSION: Combinations of resources have an impact on physician decisions regarding VLBW transports and are interpretable in terms of the capacity to diagnose and absorb risk. We suggest a collegial review of transport patterns and birth outcomes from areas with different levels of resources as a vehicle for moving the entire system of care forward over time. With such an evidence-based review in place, the collegial relations among level III specialists and obstetricians from around the state can, over time, develop workable protocols for when and how level III facilities should be involved

Community-based rangeland management in Namibia improves resource governance but not environmental and economic outcomes

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData availability: Hypotheses and analytical methods for this research were pre-registered prior to analysis through the American Economic Association’s RCT registry and are available online (https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2723). Data used for this research are accessible at the Millennium Challenge Corporation website (https://data.mcc.gov/evaluations/index.php/catalog/138/study-description) and will also be linked to on the Innovations for Poverty Action dataverse. In the publicly available data, some numerical outliers have been censored in order to preserve the anonymity of the survey respondents. This censoring does not affect the direction and statistical significance of our results. Access to uncensored data is available upon request from the Millennium Challenge Corporation or the corresponding author, subject to approval by the Millennium Challenge Corporation.Code availability: Data analysis was conducted in R and Stata. All code needed to replicate the figures and tables in this paper and the Supplementary Information is available, with accompanying datasets, through the Millennium Challenge Corporation at (https://data.mcc.gov/evaluations/index.php/catalog/138/study-description) and will also be linked to on the Innovations for Poverty Action dataverse.Classic theories suggest that common pool resources are subject to overexploitation. Community-based resource management approaches may ameliorate tragedy of the commons effects. Here we use a randomized evaluation in Namibia’s communal rangelands to study a comprehensive four-year program to support community-based rangeland and cattle management. We find that the program led to persistent and large improvements for eight of thirteen indices of social and behavioral outcomes. Effects on rangeland health, cattle productivity and household economics, however, were either negative or nil. Positive impacts on community resource management may have been offset by communities’ inability to control grazing by non-participating herds and inhibited by an unresponsive rangeland sub-system. This juxtaposition, in which measurable improvements in community resource management did not translate into better outcomes for households or rangeland health, demonstrates the fragility of the causal pathway from program implementation to intended socioeconomic and environmental outcomes. It also points to challenges for improving climate change–adaptation strategies.Millennium Challenge Corporatio

Exposure Effects of Environmentally Relevant Concentrations of the Tricyclic Antidepressant, Amitriptyline in Early Life Stage Zebrafish

This is the final version. Available from the American Chemical Society via the DOI in this record. Antidepressants are one of the most globally prescribed classes of pharmaceuticals, and drug target conservation across phyla means that nontarget organisms may be at risk from the effects of exposure. Here, we address the knowledge gap for the effects of chronic exposure (28 days) to the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline (AMI) on fish, including for concentrations with environmental relevance, using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as our experimental model. AMI was found to bioconcentrate in zebrafish, readily transformed to its major active metabolite nortriptyline, and induced a pharmacological effect (down- regulation of the gene encoding the serotonin transporter; slc6a4a) at environmentally relevant concentrations (0.03 μg/L and above). Exposures to AMI at higher concentrations accelerated the hatch rate and reduced activity levels, the latter of which was abolished after a 14 day period of depuration. The lack of any response on the features of physiology and behavior we measured at concentrations found in the environment would indicate that AMI poses a relatively low level of risk to fish populations. The pseudopersistence and likely presence of multiple drugs acting via the same mechanism of action, however, together with a global trend for increased prescription rates, mean that this risk may be underestimated using current ecotoxicological assessment paradigms.Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint UndertakingEU’s Seventh Framework ProgrammeEuropean Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)MerckUniversity of Exete

Direct and indirect effects of Johne's disease on farm and animal productivity in an Irish dairy herd

Johne's disease (JD) is caused by infection with the organism Mycobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis, leading to chronic diarrhoea and ill thrift in adult cattle. JD is considered to adversely affect farm performance and profitability. This retrospective case study was undertaken on a single commercial dairy herd in the south west of Ireland. Animal production records were interrogated to assess the effect of JD on milk yield (total kg per lactation), somatic cell count (the geometric mean over the lactation), reasons for culling, cull price and changes in herd parity structure over time. JD groups were defined using clinical signs and test results. One control animal was matched to each case animal on parity number and year. Specific lactations (clinical, pre-clinical and test-positive only) from 1994 to 2004 were compared between JD case and control cows. A significantly lower milk yield (1259.3 kg/lactation) was noted from cows with clinical JD in comparison to their matched control group. Clinical animals had an average cull price of €516 less than animals culled without signs of clinical disease. In contrast, little effect was noted for sub-clinical infections. These direct effects of JD infections, in combination with increased culling for infertility and increasing replacement rates, had a negative impact on farm production. Results from this study provide preliminary information regarding the effects of JD status on both herd and animal-level performance in Ireland

Dynamic early identification of hip replacement implants with high revision rates. Study based on the NJR data from UK during 2004-2012

BACKGROUND: Hip replacement and hip resurfacing are common surgical procedures with an estimated risk of revision of 4% over 10 year period. Approximately 58% of hip replacements will last 25 years. Some implants have higher revision rates and early identification of poorly performing hip replacement implant brands and cup/head brand combinations is vital. AIMS: Development of a dynamic monitoring method for the revision rates of hip implants. METHODS: Data on the outcomes following the hip replacement surgery between 2004 and 2012 was obtained from the National Joint Register (NJR) in the UK. A novel dynamic algorithm based on the CUmulative SUM (CUSUM) methodology with adjustment for casemix and random frailty for an operating unit was developed and implemented to monitor the revision rates over time. The Benjamini-Hochberg FDR method was used to adjust for multiple testing of numerous hip replacement implant brands and cup/ head combinations at each time point. RESULTS: Three poorly performing cup brands and two cup/ head brand combinations have been detected. Wright Medical UK Ltd Conserve Plus Resurfacing Cup (cup o), DePuy ASR Resurfacing Cup (cup e), and Endo Plus (UK) Limited EP-Fit Plus Polyethylene cup (cup g) showed stable multiple alarms over the period of a year or longer. An addition of a random frailty term did not change the list of underperforming components. The model with added random effect was more conservative, showing less and more delayed alarms. CONCLUSIONS: Our new algorithm is an efficient method for early detection of poorly performing components in hip replacement surgery. It can also be used for similar tasks of dynamic quality monitoring in healthcare