SOCS Proteins in Macrophage Polarization and Function

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Population ecology of Pacific common eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2007Knowledge of ecological factors that influence birth, death, immigration, and emigration provide insight into natural selection and population dynamics. Populations of Pacific common eiders (Somateria mollissima v-nigrum) on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) in western Alaska declined by 50-90% from 1957 to 1992 and then stabilized at reduced numbers from the early 1990's to the present. This study investigates the primary underlying processes affecting population dynamics of Pacific common eiders, with the goals of understanding factors that may have led to the observed decline and subsequent stabilization, and providing tools from which conservation, management, and recommendations for future research can be drawn. I examined variation in components of survival and reproduction in order to test hypotheses about the influence of specific ecological factors on life history variables and to investigate their relative contributions to local population dynamics. These analyses include data I collected from 2002 to 2004, in addition to historical data collected from 1991 to 2001. Apparent survival of adult females was high and relatively invariant, while components of reproduction were low and variable, both within and among individuals. Timing of nesting and seasonal declines in clutch size and nest survival indicated that females in the early and mid parts of the breeding season produced the highest numbers of offspring; suggesting directional selection favoring early nesting. Probability of a nest containing [1 or less] nonviable egg was positively related to blood selenium concentrations in hens, but no other contaminant-related reductions to life history variables were found. All estimates of population growth ([lamda]) indicated that the YKD population was stable to slightly increasing during the years of the study (range [lamda]: 1.02-1.05 (CI: 0.98-1.11)), and would respond most dramatically to changes in adult female survival. However, historical fluctuations in [lamda] were primarily explained by variation in reproductive parameters, particularly duckling survival. Practical options for increasing adult survival currently may currently be limited. Thus, enhancing productivity, particularly via methods with simultaneous positive effects on adult survival (e.g., predator removal), may offer a more plausible starting point for management aimed at increasing population growth

Recent Developments in the Role of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) as a Regulator of Immune Cell Signalling in Health and Disease

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Variations in household microclimate affect outdoor-biting behaviour of malaria vectors

Background: Mosquito behaviours including the degree to which they bite inside houses or outside is a crucial determinant of human exposure to malaria. Whilst seasonality in mosquito vector abundance is well documented, much less is known about the impact of climate on mosquito behaviour. We investigated how variations in household microclimate affect outdoor-biting by malaria vectors, Anopheles arabiensis and Anopheles funestus. Methods: Mosquitoes were sampled indoors and outdoors weekly using human landing catches at eight households in four villages in south-eastern Tanzania, resulting in 616 trap-nights over 12 months. Daily temperature, relative humidity and rainfall were recorded. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) were used to test associations between mosquito abundance and the microclimatic conditions. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) were used to investigate the influence of microclimatic conditions on the tendency of vectors to bite outdoors (proportion of outdoor biting). Results: An. arabiensis abundance peaked during high rainfall months (February-May), whilst An. funestus density remained stable into the dry season (May-August). Across the range of observed household temperatures, a rise of 1ºC marginally increased nightly An. arabiensis abundance (~11%), but more prominently increased An. funestus abundance (~66%). The abundance of An. arabiensis and An. funestus showed strong positive associations with time-lagged rainfall (2-3 and 3-4 weeks before sampling). The degree of outdoor biting in An. arabiensis was significantly associated with the relative temperature difference between indoor and outdoor environments, with exophily increasing as temperature inside houses became relatively warmer. The exophily of An. funestus did not vary with temperature differences. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that malaria vector An. arabiensis shifts the location of its biting from indoors to outdoors in association with relative differences in microclimatic conditions. These environmental impacts could give rise to seasonal variation in mosquito biting behaviour and degree of protection provided by indoor-based vector control strategies

The nursing contribution to chronic disease management: a whole systems approach: Report for the National Institute for Health Research Service Delivery and Organisation programme

Background Transforming the delivery of care for people with Long Term Conditions (LTCs) requires understanding about how health care policies in England and historical patterns of service delivery have led to different models of chronic disease management (CDM). It is also essential in this transformation to analyse and critique the models that have emerged to provide a more detailed evidence base for future decision making and better patient care. Nurses have made, and continue to make, a particular contribution to the management of chronic diseases. In the context of this study, there is a particular focus on the origins of each CDM model examined, the processes by which nursing care is developed, sustained and mainstreamed, and the outcomes of each case study as experienced by service users and carers. Aims To explore, identify and characterise the origins, processes and outcomes of effective CDM models and the nursing contribution to such models using a whole systems approach Methods The study was divided into three phases: Phase 1: Systematic mapping of published and web-based literature. Phase 2: A consensus conference of nurses working within CDM. Sampling criteria were derived from the conference and selected nurses attended a follow up workshop where case study sites were identified. Phase 3: Multiple case study evaluation Sample: 7 case studies representing 4 CDM models. These were: i) public health nursing model; ii) primary care nursing model; iii) condition specific nurse specialist model; iv) community matron model. Methods: Evaluative case study design with the unit of analysis the CDM model (Yin, 2003): • semi-structured interviews with practitioners, patients, their carers, managers and commissioners • documentary analysis • psycho-social and clinical outcome data from specific conditions • children and young people: focus groups, age-specific survey tools. Benchmarking outcomes: Adults benchmarked against the Health Outcomes Data Repository (HODaR) dataset (Currie et al, 2005). Young people were benchmarked against the Health Behaviour of School aged Children Survey (Currie et al, 2008). Cost analysis: Due to limitations in the available data, a simple costing exercise was undertaken to ascertain the per patient cost of the nurse contribution to CDM in each of the models, and to explore patterns of health and social care utilisation. Analysis: A whole system methodology was used to establish the principles of CDM. i) The causal system is a “network of causal relationships” and focuses on long term trends and processes. ii) The data system recognises that for many important areas there is very little data. Where a particular explanatory factor is important but precise data are lacking, a range of methods should be employed to illuminate each factor as much as possible. iii) The organisational whole system emphasises how various parts of the health and social care system function together as a single system rather than as parallel systems. iv) The patient experience recognises that the whole system comes together and is embodied in the experience of each patient. Key findings While all the models strove to be patient centred in their implementation, all were linked at a causal level to disease centric principles of care which dominated the patient experience. Public Health Model • The users (both parents and children) experienced a well organised and coordinated service that is crossing health and education sectors. • The lead school nurse has provided a vision for asthma management in school-aged children. This has led to the implementation of the school asthma strategy, and the ensuing impacts including growing awareness, prevention of hospital admissions, confidence in schools about asthma management and healthier children. Primary Care Model • GP practices are providing planned and routine management of chronic disease, tending to focus on single diseases treated in isolation. Care is geared to the needs of the uncomplicated stable patient. • More complex cases tend to be escalated to secondary care where they may remain even after the patient has stabilised. • Patients with multiple diagnoses continue to experience difficulty in accessing services or practice that is designed to provide a coherent response to the idiosyncratic range of diseases with which they present. This is as true for secondary care as for primary care. • While the QOF system has clearly been instrumental in developing and sustaining a primary care nursing model of CDM, it has also limited the scope of the model to single diseases recordable on a register, rather than focus on patient centred care needs. Nurse Specialist Model • The model works under a disease focused system underpinned by evidence based medicine exemplified by NICE guidelines and NSF’s. • The model follows a template drawn from medicine and sustainability is significantly dependent on the championship and protectionism offered by senior medical clinicians. • A focus on self-management in LTCs gives particular impetus to nurse-led enablement of self-management. • The shift of LTC services from secondary care to primary care has often not been accompanied by a shift in expertise. Community Matron Model • The community matron model was distinctive in that it had been implemented as a top down initiative. • The model has been championed by the community matrons themselves, and the pressure to deliver observable results such as hospital admission reductions has been significant. • This model was the only one that consistently resulted in open access (albeit not 24 hours) and first point of contact for patients for the management of their ongoing condition. Survey Findings Compared to patients from our case studies those within HODaR visited the GP, practice nurse or NHS walk-in centres more, but had less home visits from nurses or social services within the six weeks prior to survey. HODaR patients also took significantly more time off work and away from normal activities, and needed more care from friends/ relatives than patients from our study within the last six weeks. The differences between the HODaR and case study patients in service use cannot easily be explained but it could be speculated when referring to the qualitative data that the case study patients are benefiting from nurse-led care. Cost analysis – The nurse costs per patient are at least ten times higher for community matrons conducting CDM than for nurses working in other CDM models. The pattern of service utilisation is consistent with the focus of the community matron role to provide intensive input to vulnerable patients. Conclusions Nurses are spearheading the kind of approaches at the heart of current health policies (Department of Health, 2008a). However, tensions in health policy and inherent contradictions in the context of health care delivery are hampering the implementation of CDM models and limiting the contribution nurses are able to make to CDM. These include: ? data systems that were incompatible and recorded patients as a disease entity ? QOF reinforced a disease centric approach ? practice based commissioning was resulting in increasing difficulties in cross health sector working in some sites ? the value of the public health model may not be captured in evaluation tools which focus on the individual patient experience. Recommendations Commissioners and providers 1. Disseminate new roles and innovations and articulate how the role or service fits and enhances existing provision. 2. Promote the role of the nurses in LTC management to patients and the wider community. 3. Actively engage with service users in shaping LTC services to meet patients’ needs. 4. Improve the support and supervision for nurses working within new roles. 5. Develop training and skills of nurses working in the community to enable them to take a more central role in LTC management. 6. Develop organisations that are enabling of innovation and actively seek funding for initiatives that provide an environment where nurses can reach their potential in improving LTC services. 7. Work towards data systems that are compatible between sectors and groups of professionals. Explore ways of enabling patients to access data and information systems for test results and latest information. 8. Promote horizontal as well as vertical integration of LTC services. Practitioners 1. Increase awareness of patient identified needs through active engagement with the service user. 2. Work to develop appropriate measures of nursing outcomes in LTC management including not only bureaucratic and physiological outcomes, but patient-identified outcomes. Implications of research findings 1. Investment should be made into changing patient perceptions about the traditional division of labour, the nurses’ role and skills, and the expertise available in primary care for CDM. 2. Development and evaluation of patient accessible websites where patients can access a range of information, their latest test results and ways of interpreting these. 3. Long-term funding of prospective evaluations to enable identification of CDM outcomes. 4. Mapping of patient experience and patient satisfaction so that the conceptual differences between these two related ideas can be demonstrated. 5. Development of appropriate measures of patient experience that can be used as part of the quality outcome measures. 6. Cost evaluation/effectiveness studies carried out over time that includes national quality outcome indicators and valid measures of patient experience. 7. The importance of whole system working needs to be identified in the planning of services. 8. Research into the role of the health visitor in chronic disease management within a public health model

Katanning area land resources survey

This report presents results from soil and landform mapping at a scale of 1:150,000 in the Katanning area of Western Australia. It is accompanied by two soil-landscape maps covering 1.45 million hectares in the Kojonup and Darkan area (map 1) and the Katanning and Dumbleyung area (map 2). Most of the Katanning survey occurs within the Blackwood River catchment but also covers the upper catchments of the Pallinup, Frankland-Gordon and Tone-Warren Rivers. The Katanning survey falls within the Narrogin and Katanning advisory districts for Agriculture Western Australia. Twenty one soil-landscape systems have been identified and are represented on the accompanying maps. Most of these systems have been further subdivided into subsystems. The main soils, landforms, geology, land use and native vegetation are described for each system. Within each subsystem, the proportion of main soil series is indicated. One hundred and forty soil series were identified in the survey. Thirty-eight are described in detail including a representative soil profile plus chemical and physical analyses from this profile if available. The main land management characteristics and native vegetation are described. Seventy-three related soil series are also described briefly. Twenty-three minor soil series and six related series that occupy small areas are described in less detail without representative profiles. The report discusses the main properties and land degradation hazards associated with the main soils identified in the survey. This is designed to give a broad overview of the capability of the soils. For specific land capability assessment it is recommended that Agriculture Western Australia’s Map Unit Database be consulted for latest assessments of land qualities and land capabilities for specific land uses. Information on land use history, geology and physiology, climate, native vegetation and previous soil surveys is included. These sections provide additional background material about the land resources within the survey area. This land resource information has been collected to help improve decisions made by planners, researchers and land managers. The information can be used from regional and catchment scales or down to farm level. By improving knowledge of our land resources, more sustainable land uses can be developed within the Katanning region

Critical Role for Inflammatory Macrophages in Driving Antigen-dependent Th17 Cell Responses?

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Final Report: Preparing Academics to Teach in Higher Education

This work is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- ShareAlike 2.5 Australia Licence. Under this Licence you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform the work and to make derivative works. Support for the original work was provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council Ltd, an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

Antennae on transmitters on free-living marine animals: Balancing budgets on the high wire

The effect of externally mounted antennae on the energetics of penguins was studied by mounting various antennae on a transducer fixed to a model Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus to determine drag, run at speeds of up to 2 m s–1 in a swim canal. For rigid antennae set perpendicular to the water flow, measured drag increased with increasing swim speed. Increasing antenna length (for lengths between 100 and 200 mm) or diameter (for diameters between 1 and 4 mm) resulted in accelerating increased drag as a function of both antenna length and diameter. Where antennae were positioned at acute angles to the water flow, drag was markedly reduced, as was drag at higher speeds in flexible antennae. These results were incorporated in a model on the foraging energetics of free-living Magellanic penguins using data (on swim speeds, intervals between prey encounters, amount ingested per patch and dive durations) derived from previously published work and from a field study conducted on birds from a colony at Punta Norte, Argentina, using data loggers. The field work indicated that free-living birds have a foraging efficiency (net energy gain/net energy loss) of about 2.5. The model predicted that birds equipped with the largest rigid external antennae tested (200 mm × 3 mm diameter), set perpendicular to water flow, increased energy expenditure at normal swim speeds of 1.77 m s–1 by 79% and at prey capture speeds of 2.25 m s–1 by 147%, and ultimately led to a foraging efficiency that was about 5 times less than that of unequipped birds. Highly flexible antennae were shown to reduce this effect considerably. Deleterious antenna-induced effects are predicted to be particularly critical in penguins that have to travel fast to capture prey. Possible measures taken by the birds to increase foraging efficiency could include reduced travelling speed and selection of smaller prey types. Suggestions are made as to how antenna-induced drag might be minimized for future studies on marine diving animal