An investigation of the effects of various environmental parameters on underwater foraging behaviour of the American mink, Mustela vison Schreber

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of changes in various environmental parameters on the underwater foraging behaviour of the American mink, Mustela vison. The study was conducted in an indoor pool. The effects of changes in the following parameters were investigated: (i) Water Depth. This was altered from 0.3 m to 1.65 m. (ii) Current Flow. Presence of either a deep or a surface current was compared to no current flowing. (iii) Prey Density. Four prey densities were used, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. (iv) Habitat Complexity. Hides were arranged in a regular, random or clumped pattern. The effects of habitat complexity were investigated in conjunction with prey density. Results are presented for gross changes in foraging behaviour, i.e. dive rate (number of dives per min), successful dive rate, hide visit dive rate, proportion of dives visiting a hide, proportion of successful dives and proportion of successful hide visits, and for finer changes within each dive, i.e. dive duration, time on bottom, number of hides visited per dive, mean time in hide, proportion of time on bottom spent hide searching, distance travelled underwater, proportion of direct to indirect dives, mean number of turns per dive, directionality of dives and revisiting of hides. The results showed that as depth increased, animals made fewer dives, but the dives were of longer duration. The extra time on bottom appeared to be used for locating hideswhich could no longer be located aerially before diving. Deep current was found to be not strong enough to seriously affect foraging behaviour. However, the surface disruption caused by the surface current, led to an increased dive rate, possibly in an attempt to locate hides that could no longer be located aerially, although other parameters such as proportion of dives visiting hides, dive duration etc., were generally unaffected by current flow. The conclusion was that mink were well able to continue foraging with current speeds of up to 0.86 m s(^-1). It was found that as prey density increased, animals, generally, made fewer dives of shorter duration, more of which were successful, although there was considerable individual variation. For habitat complexity, animals, generally, behaved similarly if hides were arranged randomly or in clumps, but when hides were regularly distributed, fewer hide visit dives were performed. However, mean time on bottom tended to be longer, resulting in little difference in foraging efficiency between the three conditions. A brief review of individual strategies revealed that there were considerable individual differences in foraging strategy. These were not related to sex, thus, some individuals consistently used a strategy of many short duration dives, generally visiting only one hide per dive. Others opted for fewer, longer duration, dives, generally involving more than one hide visit. Further, mean dive duration was not related to body weight. An investigation into the maximum underwater swimming speed achieved by mink showed that animals could reach speeds of over 1 m s(^-1). However, comparison with swimming speeds of fish species preyed on by mink, revealed that the fish swam faster. A review of the habits of the fish eaten, however, revealed that most were sedentary, bottom dwellers. The implications from this are that commercially important fish, e.g. salmon and trout, may well be taken mainly as diseased or spent individuals. The overall conclusion reached was that mink are highly versatile mustelids, and have 'specialised' in the ability to utilize both terrestrial and aquatic habitats

Manipulation of Fgf and Bmp signaling in teleost fishes suggests potential pathways for the evolutionary origin of multicuspid teeth

Teeth with two or more cusps have arisen independently from an ancestral unicuspid condition in a variety of vertebrate lineages, including sharks, teleost fishes, amphibians, lizards, and mammals. One potential explanation for the repeated origins of multicuspid teeth is the existence of multiple adaptive pathways leading to them, as suggested by their different uses in these lineages. Another is that the addition of cusps required only minor changes in genetic pathways regulating tooth development. Here we provide support for the latter hypothesis by demonstrating that manipulation of the levels of Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) or Bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) signaling produces bicuspid teeth in the zebrafish (Danio rerio), a species lacking multicuspid teeth in its ancestry. The generality of these results for teleosts is suggested by the conversion of unicuspid pharyngeal teeth into bicuspid teeth by similar manipulations of the Mexican Tetra (Astyanax mexicanus). That these manipulations also produced supernumerary teeth in both species supports previous suggestions of similarities in the molecular control of tooth and cusp number. We conclude that despite their apparent complexity, the evolutionary origin of multicuspid teeth is positively constrained, likely requiring only slight modifications of a pre-existing mechanism for patterning the number and spacing of individual teeth. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

The beginning of time? Evidence for catastrophic drought in Baringo in the early nineteenth century

New developments in the collection of palaeo-data over the past two decades have transformed our understanding of climate and environmental history in eastern Africa. This article utilises instrumental and proxy evidence of historical lake-level fluctuations from Baringo and Bogoria, along with other Rift Valley lakes, to document the timing and magnitude of hydroclimate variability at decadal to century time scales since 1750. These data allow us to construct a record of past climate variation not only for the Baringo basin proper, but also across a sizable portion of central and northern Kenya. This record is then set alongside historical evidence, from oral histories gathered amongst the peoples of northern Kenya and the Rift Valley and from contemporary observations recorded by travellers through the region, to offer a reinterpretation of human activity and its relationship to environmental history in the nineteenth century. The results reveal strong evidence of a catastrophic drought in the early nineteenth century, the effects of which radically alters our historical understanding of the character of settlement, mobility and identity within the Baringo–Bogoria basin

Ovine multiparity is associated with diminished vaginal muscularis, increased elastic fibres and vaginal wall weakness: implication for pelvic organ prolapse

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is a major clinical burden affecting 25% of women, with vaginal delivery a major contributing factor. We hypothesised that increasing parity weakens the vagina by altering the extracellular matrix proteins and smooth muscle thereby leading to POP vulnerability. We used a modified POP-quantification (POP-Q) system and a novel pressure sensor to measure vaginal wall weakness in nulliparous, primiparous and multiparous ewes. These measurements were correlated with histological, biochemical and biomechanical properties of the ovine vagina. Primiparous and multiparous ewes had greater displacement of vaginal tissue compared to nulliparous at points Aa, Ap and Ba and lower pressure sensor measurements at points equivalent to Ap and Ba. Vaginal wall muscularis of multiparous ewes was thinner than nulliparous and had greater elastic fibre content. Collagen content was lower in primiparous than nulliparous ewes, but collagen organisation did not differ. Biomechanically, multiparous vaginal tissue was weaker and less stiff than nulliparous. Parity had a significant impact on the structure and function of the ovine vaginal wall, as the multiparous vaginal wall was weaker and had a thinner muscularis than nulliparous ewes. This correlated with “POP-Q” and pressure sensor measurements showing greater tissue laxity in multiparous compared to nulliparous ewes

Inequalities in colorectal cancer screening uptake in Wales: an examination of the impact of the temporary suspension of the screening programme during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Response to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the temporary disruption of cancer screening in the UK, and strong public messaging to stay safe and to protect NHS capacity. Following reintroduction in services, we explored the impact on inequalities in uptake of the Bowel Screening Wales (BSW) programme to identify groups who may benefit from tailored interventions. Methods: Records within the BSW were linked to electronic health records (EHR) and administrative data within the Secured Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. Ethnic group was obtained from a linked data method available within SAIL. We examined uptake for the first 3 months of invitations (August to October) following the reintroduction of BSW programme in 2020, compared to the same period in the preceding 3 years. Uptake was measured across a 6 month follow-up period. Logistic models were conducted to analyse variations in uptake by sex, age group, income deprivation quintile, urban/rural location, ethnic group, and clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) status in each period; and to compare uptake within sociodemographic groups between different periods. Results: Uptake during August to October 2020 (period 2020/21; 60.4%) declined compared to the same period in 2019/20 (62.7%) but remained above the 60% Welsh standard. Variation by sex, age, income deprivation, and ethnic groups was observed in all periods studied. Compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019/20, uptake declined for most demographic groups, except for older individuals (70–74 years) and those in the most income deprived group. Uptake continues to be lower in males, younger individuals, people living in the most income deprived areas and those of Asian and unknown ethnic backgrounds. Conclusion: Our findings are encouraging with overall uptake achieving the 60% Welsh standard during the first three months after the programme restarted in 2020 despite the disruption. Inequalities did not worsen after the programme resumed activities but variations in CRC screening in Wales associated with sex, age, deprivation and ethnic group remain. This needs to be considered in targeting strategies to improve uptake and informed choice in CRC screening to avoid exacerbating disparities in CRC outcomes as screening services recover from the pandemic

Managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: consensus recommendations from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Toxicity Management Working Group.

Cancer immunotherapy has transformed the treatment of cancer. However, increasing use of immune-based therapies, including the widely used class of agents known as immune checkpoint inhibitors, has exposed a discrete group of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Many of these are driven by the same immunologic mechanisms responsible for the drugs\u27 therapeutic effects, namely blockade of inhibitory mechanisms that suppress the immune system and protect body tissues from an unconstrained acute or chronic immune response. Skin, gut, endocrine, lung and musculoskeletal irAEs are relatively common, whereas cardiovascular, hematologic, renal, neurologic and ophthalmologic irAEs occur much less frequently. The majority of irAEs are mild to moderate in severity; however, serious and occasionally life-threatening irAEs are reported in the literature, and treatment-related deaths occur in up to 2% of patients, varying by ICI. Immunotherapy-related irAEs typically have a delayed onset and prolonged duration compared to adverse events from chemotherapy, and effective management depends on early recognition and prompt intervention with immune suppression and/or immunomodulatory strategies. There is an urgent need for multidisciplinary guidance reflecting broad-based perspectives on how to recognize, report and manage organ-specific toxicities until evidence-based data are available to inform clinical decision-making. The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) established a multidisciplinary Toxicity Management Working Group, which met for a full-day workshop to develop recommendations to standardize management of irAEs. Here we present their consensus recommendations on managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy

Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use.

Tobacco and alcohol use are leading causes of mortality that influence risk for many complex diseases and disorders1. They are heritable2,3 and etiologically related4,5 behaviors that have been resistant to gene discovery efforts6-11. In sample sizes up to 1.2 million individuals, we discovered 566 genetic variants in 406 loci associated with multiple stages of tobacco use (initiation, cessation, and heaviness) as well as alcohol use, with 150 loci evidencing pleiotropic association. Smoking phenotypes were positively genetically correlated with many health conditions, whereas alcohol use was negatively correlated with these conditions, such that increased genetic risk for alcohol use is associated with lower disease risk. We report evidence for the involvement of many systems in tobacco and alcohol use, including genes involved in nicotinic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic neurotransmission. The results provide a solid starting point to evaluate the effects of these loci in model organisms and more precise substance use measures

Establishing a core outcome set for peritoneal dialysis : report of the SONG-PD (standardized outcomes in nephrology-peritoneal dialysis) consensus workshop

Outcomes reported in randomized controlled trials in peritoneal dialysis (PD) are diverse, are measured inconsistently, and may not be important to patients, families, and clinicians. The Standardized Outcomes in Nephrology-Peritoneal Dialysis (SONG-PD) initiative aims to establish a core outcome set for trials in PD based on the shared priorities of all stakeholders. We convened an international SONG-PD stakeholder consensus workshop in May 2018 in Vancouver, Canada. Nineteen patients/caregivers and 51 health professionals attended. Participants discussed core outcome domains and implementation in trials in PD. Four themes relating to the formation of core outcome domains were identified: life participation as a main goal of PD, impact of fatigue, empowerment for preparation and planning, and separation of contributing factors from core factors. Considerations for implementation were identified: standardizing patient-reported outcomes, requiring a validated and feasible measure, simplicity of binary outcomes, responsiveness to interventions, and using positive terminology. All stakeholders supported inclusion of PD-related infection, cardiovascular disease, mortality, technique survival, and life participation as the core outcome domains for PD

Transforming Rehabilitation: The Impact of Austerity and Privatisation on Day-to-Day Cultures and Working Practices in 'Probation'

Viewed as a culmination of broader neoliberal governance within the UK, this paper examines the impact of the government’s Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) agenda on day-to-day working cultures at the frontline of probation work. TR has brought with it extensive structural and cultural changes to probation work in England and Wales. Once a single public-sector service with a social welfare ethos of ‘advise, assist and befriend’, probation has been dismantled, partially privatised and culturally transformed into a collection of fragmented, target-driven organisations, divided according to risk and with an official rhetoric emphasising public protection. The implications of TR are now starting to surface. While much of this attention has focused on the impact of TR on both the supervision of offenders and in terms of public protection, less research has been conducted on how these organisational changes have impacted upon staff. Drawing upon findings from qualitative research, this article suggests that deepening cuts, precarious working environments, and increasingly unmanageable caseloads inflict upon staff what we consider to be a pervasive form of systemic workplace harm, resulting in mental health issues, stress, and professional dissatisfaction

HCMV Targets the Metabolic Stress Response through Activation of AMPK Whose Activity Is Important for Viral Replication

Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection induces several metabolic activities that have been found to be important for viral replication. The cellular AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a metabolic stress response kinase that regulates both energy-producing catabolic processes and energy-consuming anabolic processes. Here we explore the role AMPK plays in generating an environment conducive to HCMV replication. We find that HCMV infection induces AMPK activity, resulting in the phosphorylation and increased abundance of several targets downstream of activated AMPK. Pharmacological and RNA-based inhibition of AMPK blocked the glycolytic activation induced by HCMV-infection, but had little impact on the glycolytic pathway of uninfected cells. Furthermore, inhibition of AMPK severely attenuated HCMV replication suggesting that AMPK is an important cellular factor for HCMV replication. Inhibition of AMPK attenuated early and late gene expression as well as viral DNA synthesis, but had no detectable impact on immediate-early gene expression, suggesting that AMPK activity is important at the immediate early to early transition of viral gene expression. Lastly, we find that inhibition of the Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase (CaMKK), a kinase known to activate AMPK, blocks HCMV-mediated AMPK activation. The combined data suggest a model in which HCMV activates AMPK through CaMKK, and depends on their activation for high titer replication, likely through induction of a metabolic environment conducive to viral replication