Hearing in the Juvenile Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas): A Comparison of Underwater and Aerial Hearing Using Auditory Evoked Potentials

Sea turtles spend much of their life in aquatic environments, but critical portions of their life cycle, such as nesting and hatching, occur in terrestrial environments, suggesting that it may be important for them to detect sounds in both air and water. In this study we compared underwater and aerial hearing sensitivities in five juvenile green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) by measuring auditory evoked potential responses to tone pip stimuli. Green sea turtles detected acoustic stimuli in both media, responding to underwater stimuli between 50 and 1600 Hz and aerial stimuli between 50 and 800 Hz, with maximum sensitivity between 200 and 400 Hz underwater and 300 and 400 Hz in air. When underwater and aerial hearing sensitivities were compared in terms of pressure, green sea turtle aerial sound pressure thresholds were lower than underwater thresholds, however they detected a wider range of frequencies underwater. When thresholds were compared in terms of sound intensity, green sea turtle sound intensity level thresholds were 2–39 dB lower underwater particularly at frequencies below 400 Hz. Acoustic stimuli may provide important environmental cues for sea turtles. Further research is needed to determine how sea turtles behaviorally and physiologically respond to sounds in their environment

Novel Bio-Logging Tool for Studying Fine-Scale Behaviors of Marine Turtles in Response to Sound

Increases in the spatial scale and intensity of activities that produce marine anthropogenic sound highlight the importance of understanding the impacts and effects of sound on threatened species such as marine turtles. Marine turtles detect and behaviorally respond to low-frequency sounds, however few studies have directly examined their behavioral responses to specific types or intensities of anthropogenic or natural sounds. Recent advances in the development of bio-logging tools, which combine acoustic and fine-scale movement measurements, have allowed for evaluations of animal responses to sound. Here, we describe these tools and present a case study demonstrating the potential application of a newly developed technology (ROTAG, Loggerhead Instruments, Inc.) to examine behavioral responses of freely swimming marine turtles to sound. The ROTAG incorporates a three-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer to record the turtle\u27s pitch, roll, and heading; a pressure sensor to record turtle depth; a hydrophone to record the turtle\u27s received underwater acoustic sound field; a temperature gauge; and two VHF radio telemetry transmitters and antennas for tag and turtle tracking. Tags can be programmed to automatically release via a timed corrodible link several hours or days after deployment. We describe an example of the data collected with these tags and present a case study of a successful ROTAG deployment on a juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in the Paranaguá Estuary Complex, Brazil. The tag was deployed for 221 min, during which several vessels passed closely (\u3c2 km) by the turtle. The concurrent movement and acoustic data collected by the ROTAG were examined during these times to determine if the turtle responded to these anthropogenic sound sources. While fine-scale behavioral responses were not apparent (second-by-second), the turtle did appear to perform dives during which it remained still on or near the sea floor during several of the vessel passes. This case study provides proof of concept that ROTAGs can successfully be applied to free-ranging marine turtles to examine their behavioral response to sound. Finally, we discuss the broad applications that these tools have to study the fine-scale behaviors of marine turtles and highlight their use to aid in marine turtle conservation and management

Quantitative Spatial and Temporal Assessment of Regulatory element activity in Zebrafish

Mutations or genetic variation in noncoding regions of the genome harbouring cis-regulatory elements (CREs), or enhancers, have been widely implicated in human disease and disease risk. However, our ability to assay the impact of these DNA sequence changes on enhancer activity is currently very limited because of the need to assay these elements in an appropriate biological context. Here, we describe a method for simultaneous quantitative assessment of the spatial and temporal activity of wild-type and disease-associated mutant human CRE alleles using live imaging in zebrafish embryonic development. We generated transgenic lines harbouring a dual-CRE dual-reporter cassette in a pre-defined neutral docking site in the zebrafish genome. The activity of each CRE allele is reported via expression of a specific fluorescent reporter, allowing simultaneous visualisation of where and when in development the wild-type allele is active and how this activity is altered by mutation

The Role of Personalised Choice in Decision Support: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Decision Aid for Prostate Cancer Screening.

IMPORTANCE: Decision support tools can assist people to apply population-based evidence on benefits and harms to individual health decisions. A key question is whether "personalising" choice within decisions aids leads to better decision quality. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of personalising the content of a decision aid for prostate cancer screening using the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 1,970 men aged 40-69 years were approached to participate in the trial. INTERVENTION: 1,447 men were randomly allocated to either a standard decision aid with a fixed set of five attributes or a personalised decision aid with choice over the inclusion of up to 10 attributes. OUTCOME MEASURES: To determine whether there was a difference between the two groups in terms of: 1) the emergent opinion (generated by the decision aid) to have a PSA test or not; 2) self-rated decision quality after completing the online decision aid; 3) their intention to undergo screening in the next 12 months. We also wanted to determine whether men in the personalised choice group made use of the extra decision attributes. RESULTS: 5% of men in the fixed attribute group scored 'Have a PSA test' as the opinion generated by the aid, as compared to 62% of men in the personalised choice group (χ2 = 569.38, 2df, p< 0001). Those men who used the personalised decision aid had slightly higher decision quality (t = 2.157, df = 1444, p = 0.031). The men in the personalised choice group made extensive use of the additional decision attributes. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of their stated intention to undergo screening in the next 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these findings suggest that personalised decision support systems could be an important development in shared decision-making and patient-centered care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12612000723886

Association of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy With Incident Hypertension: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Increased left ventricular (LV) mass and changes in LV geometry may precede hypertension onset. The authors examined the associations of LV mass and geometry, assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, with hypertension incidence in 2,567 normotensive participants enrolled in 2000–2002 in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, an ethnically diverse, population-based, US study. Over a median follow-up of 4.8 years, 745 (29%) participants developed hypertension. In a fully adjusted model including baseline blood pressure, the relative risks of incident hypertension from the lowest to highest LV mass quartile were 1.00 (referent), 1.13 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89, 1.43), 1.28 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.63), and 1.78 (95% CI: 1.38, 2.30) (P < 0.001 for linear trend). Higher levels of LV concentric geometry, defined by higher LV mass to end-diastolic volume quartiles, were associated with higher risk of incident hypertension in a fully adjusted model (P = 0.044 for linear trend). In a final model containing both quartiles of LV mass and LV mass/volume along with all covariates including baseline blood pressure, higher LV mass quartiles were associated with incident hypertension (P < 0.001 for linear trend), whereas higher LV mass/volume quartiles were not (P = 0.643 for linear trend). In this multiethnic cohort, alterations in LV mass preceded hypertension onset among normotensive individuals

Genetic influences on response to novel objects and dimensions of personality in Papio baboons

Behavioral variation within and between populations and species of the genus Papio has been studied extensively, but little is known about the genetic causes of individual- or population-level differences. This study investigates the influence of genetic variation on personality (sometimes referred to as temperament) in baboons and identifies a candidate gene partially responsible for the variation in that phenotype. To accomplish these goals, we examined individual variation in response to both novel objects and an apparent novel social partner (using a mirror test) among pedigreed baboons (n = 578) from the Southwest National Primate Research Center. We investigated the frequency and duration of individual behaviors in response to novel objects and used multivariate factor analysis to identify trait-like dimensions of personality. Exploratory factor analysis identified two distinct dimensions of personality within this population. Factor 1 accounts for 46.8 % of the variance within the behavioral matrix, and consists primarily of behaviors related to the boldness of the subject. Factor 2 accounts for 18.8 % of the variation, and contains several anxiety like behaviors. Several specific behaviors, and the two personality factors, were significantly heritable, with the factors showing higher heritability than most individual behaviors. Subsequent analyses show that the behavioral reactions observed in the test protocol are associated with animals\u27 social behavior observed later in their home social groups. Finally we used linkage analysis to map quantitative trait loci for the measured phenotypes. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in a positional candidate gene (SNAP25) are associated with variation in one of the personality factors, and CSF levels of homovanillic acid and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol. This study documents heritable variation in personality among baboons and suggests that sequence variation in SNAP25 may influence differences in behavior and neurochemistry in these nonhuman primates

The Impact and Cost of Scaling up GeneXpert MTB/RIF in South Africa

We estimated the incremental cost and impact on diagnosis and treatment uptake of national rollout of Xpert MTB/RIF technology (Xpert) for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB above the cost of current guidelines for the years 2011 to 2016 in South Africa.We parameterised a population-level decision model with data from national-level TB databases (n = 199,511) and implementation studies. The model follows cohorts of TB suspects from diagnosis to treatment under current diagnostic guidelines or an algorithm that includes Xpert. Assumptions include the number of TB suspects, symptom prevalence of 5.5%, annual suspect growth rate of 10%, and 2010 public-sector salaries and drug and service delivery costs. Xpert test costs are based on data from an in-country pilot evaluation and assumptions about when global volumes allowing cartridge discounts will be reached.At full scale, Xpert will increase the number of TB cases diagnosed per year by 30%-37% and the number of MDR-TB cases diagnosed by 69%-71%. It will diagnose 81% of patients after the first visit, compared to 46% currently. The cost of TB diagnosis per suspect will increase by 55% to USD 60-61 and the cost of diagnosis and treatment per TB case treated by 8% to USD 797-873. The incremental capital cost of the Xpert scale-up will be USD 22 million and the incremental recurrent cost USD 287-316 million over six years.Xpert will increase both the number of TB cases diagnosed and treated and the cost of TB diagnosis. These results do not include savings due to reduced transmission of TB as a result of earlier diagnosis and treatment initiation

Governing food and agriculture in a warming world

In order to understand, how, why and whether the trade-offs and tensions around simultaneous implementation of the SDGs are resolved in ways which are both sustainable and equitable requires an appreciation of power relations across multiple scales of governance. We explore the politics and political economy of how the nexus around food-energy and water is being governed through initiatives to promote ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) as it moves from the global to the local. We combine analysis of how these interrelationships are being governed (and ungoverned) by key global institutions with reflection upon the consequences of this for developing countries that are being targeted by CSA initiatives. In particular, we look at Kenya as a country heavily dependent on agriculture, but also subject to some of the worst effects of climate change, and which has been targeted by a range of bilateral and multilateral donors with their preferred vision of CSA. We draw on strands of literature in global environmental politics (GEPs), political ecology and the political economy of development to make sense of the power dynamics which characterize the multi-scalar politics of how CSA is translated, domesticated and operationalized in practice

Improving breast cancer education: the case of an evolving multidisciplinary module for undergraduate medical students (lausanne medical school, 1993-2008).

Breast cancer is a public health issue in numerous countries. Multidisciplinary collaboration is required for patient care, research, and also education of future physicians. This paper uses Kern's framework for curriculum design to demonstrate how a breast diseases module for undergraduate medical students created in 1993 evolved over 15 years. The main outcomes of program refinements were better integrated course content, the development of electronic course documents, and implementation of computer-aided small group learning. A main future challenge is to further develop efficient instructional strategies in line with well-defined learning needs for undergraduate students