The Location and Status of Egret Colonies in Coastal New South Wales

Thirteen active egret colonies were located along 800 km of the NSW coastline from Sydney north to the New South Wales-Queensland border. These colonies contained up to four egret species: Great Ardea alba, Intermediate A. intermedia, Little Egretta garzetta, and Cattle Egrets A. ibis. Each colony site is described and its location given. All colonies were located in or near wetlands, and the factors that may be important in determining which wetland is selected for occupation are discussed. The long term future of breeding colonies is examined and a recommendation made about the reservation of potential colony sites

Genetic determinants of telomere length from 109,122 ancestrally diverse whole-genome sequences in TOPMed

Genetic studies on telomere length are important for understanding age-related diseases. Prior GWASs for leukocyte TL have been limited to European and Asian populations. Here, we report the first sequencing-based association study for TL across ancestrally diverse individuals (European, African, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino) from the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. We used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of whole blood for variant genotype calling and the bioinformatic estimation of telomere length in n = 109,122 individuals. We identified 59 sentinel variants (p < 5 × 10−9) in 36 loci associated with telomere length, including 20 newly associated loci (13 were replicated in external datasets). There was little evidence of effect size heterogeneity across populations. Fine-mapping at OBFC1 indicated that the independent signals colocalized with cell-type-specific eQTLs for OBFC1 (STN1). Using a multi-variant gene-based approach, we identified two genes newly implicated in telomere length, DCLRE1B (SNM1B) and PARN. In PheWAS, we demonstrated that our TL polygenic trait scores (PTSs) were associated with an increased risk of cancer-related phenotypes

Mendelian randomization supports bidirectional causality between telomere length and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential

Human genetic studies support an inverse causal relationship between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and coronary artery disease (CAD), but directionally mixed effects for LTL and diverse malignancies. Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), characterized by expansion of hematopoietic cells bearing leukemogenic mutations, predisposes both hematologic malignancy and CAD. TERT (which encodes telomerase reverse transcriptase) is the most significantly associated germline locus for CHIP in genome-wide association studies. Here, we investigated the relationship between CHIP, LTL, and CAD in the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program (n = 63,302) and UK Biobank (n = 47,080). Bidirectional Mendelian randomization studies were consistent with longer genetically imputed LTL increasing propensity to develop CHIP, but CHIP then, in turn, hastens to shorten measured LTL (mLTL). We also demonstrated evidence of modest mediation between CHIP and CAD by mLTL. Our data promote an understanding of potential causal relationships across CHIP and LTL toward prevention of CAD

Reprodução de Nycticorax nycticorax (Linnaeus) no litoral de Santa Catarina, Brasil Reproduction of the Nycticorax nycticorax (Linnaeus) in the Santa Catarina's coast, Brazil

O savacu Nycticorax nycticorax (Linnaeus, 1758) é uma espécie de hábitos crepusculares e noturnos, com ampla distribuição geográfica. Sua biologia reprodutiva tem sido intensivamente estudada nos países de ocorrência, entretanto, no Brasil, é comumente citada nos levantamentos de ornitólogos, mas não existem informações disponíveis sobre seu ciclo de vida. Esse trabalho objetiva contribuir para o conhecimento da biologia reprodutiva dessa espécie no litoral catarinense. As amostragens foram realizadas nos anos de 2000 a 2002 na Ilha dos Pássaros e de 2002 na Ilha dos Lobos, Santa Catarina. As maiores abundâncias de exemplares e ninhos com ovos ocorreram em outubro, sendo que o comprimento médio dos ovos variou entre 5,02 &plusmn; 0,23 a 5,07 &plusmn; 0,21 cm e o volume 31,71 &plusmn; 2,64 a 35,92 &plusmn; 3,47 cm³ e as maiores freqüências de filhotes em novembro, culminando o abandono da colônia em meados de janeiro. Foram identificados sete itens nos regurgitos dos filhotes, sendo que os peixes marinhos representaram 44,4% da massa total. O principal predador na colônia foi o urubu-comum, que atuou sobre os ovos no início da temporada e os filhotes no final.<br>The black-crowned night heron N. nycticorax (Linnaeus, 1758) is a aquatic bird with twilight and night habits, with wide geographical distribution. His reproductive biology has been studied intensively at the occurrence countries, however, in Brazil, it is mentioned commonly in the ornithologists' risings, but available information don't exist on his life cycle. This work aims to contribute for the knowledge of the reproductive biology of that species in the Santa Catarina coast. The samplings were accomplished in the years from 2000 to 2002 in the Ilha dos Pássaros and of 2002 in the Ilha dos Lobos, Santa Catarina. The largest abundances of individuals and nests with eggs happened in October, and the medium length of the eggs varied between 5.02 &plusmn; 0.23 to 5.07 &plusmn; 0.21 cm and the volume 31.71 &plusmn; 2.64 to 35.92 &plusmn; 3.47 cm³ and the largest frequencies of nestlings in November, culminating the abandonment of the colony in the middle of January. They were identified seven items in the chick regurgitations of the nestlings, and the sea fish represented 44.4% of the total weight. The main predator in the colony was the black vulture, that it acted on the eggs in the beginning of the season and the nestlings in the end