Economical genotyping of little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) clades from feather-based DNA

Determination of clade membership is a crucial requirement for many research questions addressing phylogeography, population structure, mating patterns, speciation, and hybridisation. The little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) can be separated into two deeply divergent clades. However, assigning clade membership in little blue penguins requires molecular methods. Genetic sequencing can be used to identify clade membership but is expensive. Here, we present an economical alternative to the use of sequencing to determine little blue penguin clade membership. We extracted DNA from feathers using a method that produced reasonable quantities of DNA. We then amplified the D-loop section of the mitochondrial control region from total genomic DNA extracts, using the primers 'C L-tRNAglu' and 'D H-Dbox' followed by digestion with the restriction enzyme AluI. When visualised on a gel, distinctive banding patterns clearly indicated clade membership. We sequenced a subset of our samples and verified the accuracy of this method. The methods we present should facilitate little blue penguin research through a cost-effective approach to clade analysis as well as a successful technique to extract DNA from feathers when blood or tissue samples are not available

Patient evaluations of the interpersonal care experience (ICE) in U.S. hospitals: A factor analysis of the HCAHPS survey

The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey (HCAHPS) is widely used to evaluate patients’ perceptions of their inpatient healthcare experiences. The HCAHPS is organized into 10 measures: six composite measures, two individual measures, and two global measures.1 In prior research on the link between patients’ care experiences and hospital’s quality and cost outcomes, scholars have grouped these measures in a variety of ways. The evident lack of consistency in these groupings along with the persistent lack of empirical justification for these groupings suggests a need to empirically examine the relational structure of HCAHPS measures. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to determine the degree to which patient care evaluations captured by HCAHPS reflect unmeasured aspects of the patient experience. We use two-step factor analytic process on a nationally representative split sample of HCAHPS performance from 2007-2011. The results of the analysis reveal a single latent factor consisting of five measures that correspond conceptually to patients’ evaluations of care provider behaviors during their interpersonal interactions with them. We label this factor Interpersonal Care Experience (I.C.E) and argue that it may prove useful in future practical and scholarly explorations of the link between patient experience and other performance outcomes

Broadening Focus: Spillovers, Complementarities and Specialization in the Hospital Industry

The long-standing argument that focused operations outperform others stands in contrast to claims about the benefits of broader operational scope. The performance benefits of focus are typically attributed to reduced complexity, lower uncertainty, and the development of specialized expertise, while the benefits of greater breadth are linked to the economies of scope achieved by sharing common resources, such as advertising or production capacity, across activities. Within the literature on corporate strategy, this tension between focus and breadth is reconciled by the concept of related diversification (i.e., a firm with multiple operating units, each specializing in distinct but related activities). We consider whether there are similar benefits to related diversification within an operating unit and examine the mechanism that generates these benefits. Using the empirical context of cardiovascular care within hospitals, we first examine the relationship between a hospital’s level of specialization in cardiovascular care and the quality of its clinical performance on cardiovascular patients. We find that, on average, focus has a positive effect on quality performance. We then distinguish between positive spillovers and complementarities to examine: (1) the extent to which a hospital’s specialization in areas related to cardiovascular care directly impacts performance on cardiovascular patients (positive spillovers) and (2) whether the marginal benefit of a hospital’s focus in cardiovascular care depends on the degree to which the hospital “co-specializes” in related areas (complementarities). In our setting, we find evidence of such complementarities in specialization.

Learning From Customers: Individual and Organizational Effects in Outsourced Radiological Services

The ongoing fragmentation of work has resulted in a narrowing of tasks into smaller pieces that can be sent outside the organization and, in many instances, around the world. This trend is shifting the boundaries of organizations and leading to increased outsourcing. Though the consolidation of volume may lead to productivity improvement, little is known about how this shift toward outsourcing influences learning by providers of outsourced services. When producing output, the content of the knowledge gained can vary from one unit to the next. One dimension along which output can vary—a dimension with particular relevance in outsourcing—is the end customer for whom it is produced. The performance benefits of such customer experience remain largely unexamined. We explore this dimension of volume-based learning in a setting where doctors at an outsourcing firm complete radiological reads for hospital customers. We examine more than 2.7 million cases read by 97 radiologists for 1,431 customers and find evidence supporting the benefits of customer-specific experience accumulated by individual radiologists. Additionally, we find that variety in an individual’s customer experience may increase the rate of individual learning from customer-specific experience for a focal task. Finally, we find that the level of experience with a customer for the entire outsourcing firm also yields learning and that the degree of customer depth moderates the impact of customer-specific experience at the individual level. We discuss the implications of our results for the study of learning as well as for providers and consumers of outsourced services

How does climate adaptation affect emergency management?

Recent reports from credible research groups suggest that climate change is a reality. The steady rise in extreme weather events over the past decade represents the leading edge of climate change. Climate-induced interactions within and between the natural environment and our human and constructed systems will not only exacerbate existing vulnerabilities but will create new ones. Emergency managers at all levels need to plan and prepare for climate adaptation challenges, which should enable communities to successfully weather the storm. The ability to adapt to the coming changes is dependent upon the actions we take today to create resilience and sustainability. Leaving aside the issue of causation, this paper discusses the implications of climate change for emergency mangers by examining predicted impacts, exploring barriers to action, and concluding with strategies for moving forward

Post-natal Survival of Raccoons in Relation to Female Age and Denning Behavior

We measured post-natal survival of radio-collared raccoons 1-5 months old in southwest Iowa, 1988-1989. We compared survival of young nurtured by yearling and adult females and related den site selection to survival functions using proportional hazards models. Adult females used upland and farmstead habitats note frequently than yearlings, whereas yearling females used lowland habitats note frequently. Tree cavities and beds on the ground were used most frequently. Adult females denned in buildings 13% of the time and in holes in the ground 9.5% of the time, whereas yearlings frequently tested with litters in beds on the ground (31%). Microhab1tat characteristics including such factors as tree size, surrounding vegetation, and den characteristics had no influence on use. We observed 9 mortalities of 64 earmarked young, 4 caused by dogs, the remaining including vehicle collisions, predation, and disease. All mortalities occurred after litters moved from their natal den to a post-natal den site. We could not show significant differences in survival of young nurtured by yearling and adult females and the best estimate of post-natal survival of raccoons from 22 May to 15 September was 0.65. Post-natal survival was positively influenced by the variety of habitats and den types used by females and their young. Denning habitat selection and post-natal survival of young, particularly those of adult females, may have an important influence on population levels

Reversible DNA micro-patterning using the fluorous effect

We describe a new method for the immobilisation of DNA into defined patterns with sub-micron resolution, using the fluorous effect. The method is fully reversible via a simple solvent wash, allowing the patterning, regeneration and re-patterning of surfaces with no degradation in binding efficiency following multiple removal/attachment cycles of different DNA sequences

New clinically relevant, orthotopic mouse models of human chondrosarcoma with spontaneous metastasis

Chondrosarcoma responds poorly to adjuvant therapy and new, clinically relevant animal models are required to test targeted therapy. Two human chondrosarcoma cell lines, JJ012 and FS090, were evaluated for proliferation, colony formation, invasion, angiogenesis and osteoclastogenesis. Cell lines were also investigated for VEGF, MMP-2, MMP-9, and RECK expression. JJ012 and FS090 were injected separately into the mouse tibia intramedullary canal or tibial periosteum. Animal limbs were measured, and x-rayed for evidence of tumour take and progression. Tibias and lungs were harvested to determine the presence of tumour and lung metastases. JJ012 demonstrated significantly higher proliferative capacity, invasion, and colony formation in collagen I gel. JJ012 conditioned medium stimulated endothelial tube formation and osteoclastogenesis with a greater potency than FS090 conditioned medium, perhaps related to the effects of VEGF and MMP-9. In vivo, tumours formed in intratibial and periosteal groups injected with JJ012, however no mice injected with FS090 developed tumours. JJ012 periosteal tumours grew to 3 times the non-injected limb size by 7 weeks, whereas intratibial injected limbs required 10 weeks to achieve a similar tumour size. Sectioned tumour tissue demonstrated features of grade III chondrosarcoma. All JJ012 periosteal tumours (5/5) resulted in lung micro-metastases, while only 2/4 JJ012 intratibial tumours demonstrated metastases. The established JJ012 models replicate the site, morphology, and many behavioural characteristics of human chondrosarcoma. Local tumour invasion of bone and spontaneous lung metastasis offer valuable assessment tools to test the potential of novel agents for future chondrosarcoma therapy

Truly eccentric. II. When can two circular planets mimic a single eccentric orbit?

When, in the course of searching for exoplanets, sparse sampling and noisy data make it necessary to disentangle possible solutions to the observations, one must consider the possibility that what appears to be a single eccentric Keplerian signal may in reality be attributed to two planets in near-circular orbits. There is precedent in the literature for such outcomes, whereby further data or new analysis techniques reveal hitherto occulted signals. Here, we perform suites of simulations to explore the range of possible two-planet configurations that can result in such confusion. We find that a single Keplerian orbit with $e>$0.5 can virtually never be mimicked by such deceptive system architectures. This result adds credibility to the most eccentric planets that have been found to date, and suggests that it could well be worth revisiting the catalogue of moderately eccentric 'confirmed' exoplanets in the coming years, as more data become available, to determine whether any such deceptive couplets are hidden in the observational data.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA