Physical Condition and Reproductive Success of White-Tailed Deer at Fort Chaffee, AR: A Five-Year Study

A baseline study conducted in 1991 demonstrated that the resident white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas was in poor condition, with below average reproductive success, body weight, and antler size, and above average parasite load compared to other regional deer populations. Consequently, a management program was initiated in 1991 which included: (1) neutralizing acidic soils, (2) prescribed burning, (3) planting supplemental food plots, and (4) liberalizing the harvest of female adults from the population. The purpose of this study was to monitor changes in the health and reproductive success of the herd as this program was implemented. I evaluated the physical condition of 2,627 hunter-harvested deer brought to hunter check stations between 1991 and 1995. Reproductive rates, timing of reproduction, disease prevalence and physical condition of the herd were estimated. Condition indices (blood serum parameters, tail fat, kidney fat index, body weight, abomasal parasite counts, ovulation rates and antler measurements) were used to estimate the fitness level of the herd. The number of permits issued yearly to hunters ranged from 2,370 to 3,617. A strong correlation was found between the number of permits issued and the success rate of hunters, suggesting that high hunter density may force the deer to move more, enhancing success rates. Proportions of harvested deer in each age class changed little over the 5- year period. Adult females comprised the largest class, ranging from 34 to 39% of the harvest each year. Screening for 7 common disease agents was done. It suggests that the percentage of the herd that carried antibodies for these diseases changed little from 1991 to 1995. A small percentage of deer tested positive for exposure to parainfluenza, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, and leptospira. No other disease antibodies were detected. Average dressed weights for female adults and yearlings were consistent over the 5-year period, while male yearlings showed a significant increase in body weight. Antlered males showed a significant increase in antler beam diameter. Blood serum parameters suggested an increase in dietary energy and protein over the 5-year period. In addition, kidney fat indexes (KFI) increased significantly from 1991 to 1995 in female adults, and abomasal parasite counts (APC) decreased significantly during this period. The proportion of fawns breeding increased from 1991 to 1995

Environmental Factors in Susceptibility to Noise-induced Hearing Loss in Student Musicians.

Hearing threshold and survey data collected over 3 years in a university school of music indicate that 52% of undergraduate music students show declines in high-frequency hearing at 6000 Hz consistent with acoustic overexposure. Declines at 4000 Hz have grown in number over the 3 years, from 2% the first year to 30% in the third year. These "noise notches" are seen in all instrument groups, including voice, and are seen more in the right ear than the left ear in all groups. Exposure to outside noise does not appear to be a determining factor in who develops these declines. It is concluded that genetic predisposition is a likely risk factor

A New Genetic Locus in \u3ci\u3eSinorhizobium meliloti\u3c/i\u3e is Involved in Stachydrine Utilization

Stachydrine, a betaine released by germinating alfalfa seeds, functions as an inducer of nodulation genes, a catabolite, and an osmoprotectant in Sinorhizobium meliloti. Two stachydrine-inducible genes were found in S. meliloti 1021 by mutation with a Tn5-luxAB promoter probe. Both mutant strains (S10 and S11) formed effective alfalfa root nodules, but neither grew on stachydrine as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. When grown in the absence or presence of salt stress, S10 and S11 took up [14C]stachydrine as well as wild-type cells did, but neither used stachydrine effectively as an osmoprotectant. In the absence of salt stress, both S10 and S11 took up less [14C]proline than wild-type cells did. S10 and S11 appeared to colonize alfalfa roots normally in single-strain tests, but when mixed with the wild- type strain, their rhizosphere counts were reduced more than 50% (P ≤ 0.01) relative to the wild type. These results suggest that stachydrine catabolism contributes to root colonization. DNA sequence analysis identified the mutated locus in S11 as putA, and the luxAB fusion in that gene was induced by proline as well as stachydrine. DNA that restored the capacity of mutant S10 to catabolize stachydrine contained a new open reading frame, stcD. All data are consistent with the concept that stcD codes for an enzyme that produces proline by demethylation of N-methylproline, a degradation product of stachydrine

A Prospective Study of Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis in Relation to Deployment in Support of Iraq and Afghanistan: The Millennium Cohort Study

The objective of this study was to prospectively assess the association between deployment in support of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and newly reported lupus and rheumatoid arthritis while also considering the effects of demographic, behavioral, and occupational characteristics. A total of 77,047 (2001–2003) and 31,110 (2004–2006) participants completed the baseline Millennium Cohort questionnaire and were resurveyed approximately every 3 years. Longitudinal analyses were used to assess the adjusted association between deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan with and without combat exposures and newly reported disease. After adjusting, deployment was not significantly associated with newly reported lupus compared with nondeployers. However, compared with nondeployers, deployers with and without combat exposures were significantly less likely to newly report rheumatoid arthritis. Women, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic participants had a significantly elevated risk for both diseases. Overall, deployment was not associated with an increased risk of newly reported lupus or rheumatoid arthritis

Education, income, and incident heart failure in post-menopausal women: the Women\u27s Health Initiative Hormone Therapy Trials

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to estimate the effect of education and income on incident heart failure (HF) hospitalization among post-menopausal women. BACKGROUND: Investigations of socioeconomic status have focused on outcomes after HF diagnosis, not associations with incident HF. We used data from the Women\u27s Health Initiative Hormone Trials to examine the association between socioeconomic status levels and incident HF hospitalization. METHODS: We included 26,160 healthy, post-menopausal women. Education and income were self-reported. Analysis of variance, chi-square tests, and proportional hazards models were used for statistical analysis, with adjustment for demographics, comorbid conditions, behavioral factors, and hormone and dietary modification assignments. RESULTS: Women with household incomes $50,000 a year (16.7/10,000 person-years; p \u3c 0.01). Women with less than a high school education had higher HF hospitalization incidence (51.2/10,000 person-years) than college graduates and above (25.5/10,000 person-years; p \u3c 0.01). In multivariable analyses, women with the lowest income levels had 56% higher risk (hazard ratio: 1.56, 95% confidence interval: 1.19 to 2.04) than the highest income women; women with the least amount of education had 21% higher risk for incident HF hospitalization (hazard ratio: 1.21, 95% confidence interval: 0.90 to 1.62) than the most educated women. CONCLUSIONS: Lower income is associated with an increased incidence of HF hospitalization among healthy, post-menopausal women, whereas multivariable adjustment attenuated the association of education with incident HF. Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Key Barriers to Medication Adherence in Survivors of Strokes and Transient Ischemic Attacks

Background: Even though medications can greatly reduce the risk of recurrent stroke, medication adherence is suboptimal in stroke survivors. Objective: To identify key barriers to medication adherence in a predominantly low-income, minority group of stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) survivors. Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants: Six hundred stroke or TIA survivors, age ≥ 40 years old, recruited from underserved communities in New York City. Main Measures: Medication adherence was measured using the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Questionnaire. Potential barriers to adherence were assessed using validated instruments. Logistic regression was used to test which barriers were independently associated with adherence. Models were additionally controlled for age, race/ethnicity, income, and comorbidity. Key Results: Forty percent of participants had poor self-reported medication adherence. In unadjusted analyses, compared to adherent participants, non-adherent participants had increased concerns about medications (26 % versus 7 %, p < 0.001), low trust in their personal doctor (42 % versus 29 %, p = 0.001), problems communicating with their doctor due to language (19 % versus 12 %, p = 0.02), perceived discrimination from the health system (42 % versus 22 %, p <0.001), difficulty accessing health care (16 % versus 8 %, p = 0.002), and inadequate continuity of care (27 % versus 20 %, p = 0.05). In the fully adjusted model, only increased concerns about medications [OR 5.02 (95 % CI 2.76, 9.11); p< 0.001] and perceived discrimination [OR 1.85 (95 % CI 1.18, 2.90); p = 0.008] remained significant barriers. Conclusions: Increased concerns about medications (related to worry, disruption, long-term effects, and medication dependence) and perceived discrimination were the most important barriers to medication adherence in this group. Interventions that reduce medication concerns have the greatest potential to improve medication adherence in low-income stroke/TIA survivors