Living on the edge: spatial response of coyotes (Canis latrans) to wolves (Canis lupus) in the subarctic

Author(s):  
Kaija Klauder ◽  
Bridget Borg ◽  
Laura Prugh

Understanding how mesopredators manage the risks associated with apex predators is key to explaining impacts of apex predators on mesopredator populations and patterns of mesopredator space use. Here we examine the spatial response of coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823) to risk posed by wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) using data from sympatric individuals fitted with GPS collars in subarctic Alaska, near the northern range limit for coyotes. We show that coyotes do not universally avoid wolves, but instead demonstrate season-specific responses to both wolf proximity and long-term use of the landscape by wolves. Specifically, coyotes switched from avoiding wolves in summer to preferring areas with wolves in winter, and this selection was consistent across short and longer-term temporal scales. In the summer, coyotes responded less strongly to risk of wolves when in open areas than when in closed vegetation. We also demonstrate that coyotes maintain extremely large territories averaging 291 km2, and experience low annual survival (0.50) with large carnivores being the largest source of mortality. This combination of attraction and avoidance predicated on season and landcover suggests that mesopredators use complex behavioral strategies to mediate the effects of apex predators.

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Miller ◽  
Henry J. Harlow ◽  
Tyler S. Harlow ◽  
Dean Biggins ◽  
William J. Ripple

When large carnivores are extirpated from ecosystems that evolved with apex predators, these systems can change at the herbivore and plant trophic levels. Such changes across trophic levels are called cascading effects and they are very important to conservation. Studies on the effects of reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone National Park have examined the interaction pathway of wolves ( Canis lupus L., 1758) to ungulates to plants. This study examines the interaction effects of wolves to coyotes to rodents (reversing mesopredator release in the absence of wolves). Coyotes ( Canis latrans Say, 1823) generally avoided areas near a wolf den. However, when in the proximity of a den, they used woody habitats (pine or sage) compared with herbaceous habitats (grass or forb or sedge)– when they were away from the wolf den. Our data suggested a significant increase in rodent numbers, particularly voles (genus Microtus Schrank, 1798), during the 3-year study on plots that were within 3 km of the wolf den, but we did not detect a significant change in rodent numbers over time for more distant plots. Predation by coyotes may have depressed numbers of small mammals in areas away from the wolf den. These factors indicate a top–down effect by wolves on coyotes and subsequently on the rodents of the area. Restoration of wolves could be a powerful tool for regulating predation at lower trophic levels.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian M. Shamblin ◽  
Matthew H. Godfrey ◽  
S. Michelle Pate ◽  
William P. Thompson ◽  
Hope Sutton ◽  
...  

Rheumatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichi Yamasaki ◽  
Norimoto Kobayashi ◽  
Shinji Akioka ◽  
Kazuko Yamazaki ◽  
Shunichiro Takezaki ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis of juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (JIIM) in Japan for each myositis-specific autoantibody (MSA) profile. Methods A multicentre, retrospective study was conducted using data of patients with JIIM at nine paediatric rheumatology centres in Japan. Patients with MSA profiles, determined by immunoprecipitation using stored serum from the active stage, were included. Results MSA were detected in 85 of 96 cases eligible for the analyses. Over 90% of the patients in this study had one of the following three MSA types: anti-melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5) (n = 31), anti-transcriptional intermediary factor 1 alpha and/or gamma subunits (TIF1γ) (n = 25) and anti-nuclear matrix protein 2 (NXP2) (n = 25) antibodies. Gottron papules and periungual capillary abnormalities were the most common signs of every MSA group in the initial phase. The presence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) was the highest risk factor for patients with anti-MDA5 antibodies. Most patients were administered multiple drug therapies: glucocorticoids and MTX were administered to patients with anti-TIF1γ or anti-NXP2 antibodies. Half of the patients with anti-MDA5 antibodies received more than three medications including i.v. CYC, especially patients with ILD. Patients with anti-MDA5 antibodies were more likely to achieve drug-free remission (29 vs 21%) and less likely to relapse (26 vs 44%) than others. Conclusion Anti-MDA5 antibodies are the most common MSA type in Japan, and patients with this antibody are characterized by ILD at onset, multiple medications including i.v. CYC, drug-free remission, and a lower frequency of relapse. New therapeutic strategies are required for other MSA types.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2110036
Author(s):  
Qian Xu ◽  
Chan Lu ◽  
Rachael Gakii Murithi ◽  
Lanqin Cao

A cohort case–control study was conducted in XiangYa Hospital, Changsha, China, which involved 305 patients and 399 healthy women, from June 2010 to December 2018, to evaluate the association between Chinese women’s short- and long-term exposure to industrial air pollutant, SO2 and gynaecological cancer (GC). We obtained personal and family information from the XiangYa Hospital electronic computer medical records. Using data obtained from the air quality monitoring stations in Changsha, we estimated each woman’s exposure to the industrial air pollutant, sulphur dioxide (SO2), for different time windows, including the past 1, 5, 10 and 15 years before diagnosis of the disease. A multiple logistic regression model was used to assess the association between GC and SO2 exposure. GC was significantly associated with long-term SO2 exposure, with adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) = 1.56 (1.10–2.21) and 1.81 (1.07–3.06) for a per interquartile range increase in the past 10 and 15 years, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that different groups reacted in different ways to long-term SO2 exposure. We concluded that long-term exposure to high concentration of industrial pollutant, SO2 is associated with the development of GC. This finding has implications for the prevention and reduction of GC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bohan Liu ◽  
Pan Liu ◽  
Lutao Dai ◽  
Yanlin Yang ◽  
Peng Xie ◽  
...  

AbstractThe pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is causing enormous loss of life globally. Prompt case identification is critical. The reference method is the real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) assay, whose limitations may curb its prompt large-scale application. COVID-19 manifests with chest computed tomography (CT) abnormalities, some even before the onset of symptoms. We tested the hypothesis that the application of deep learning (DL) to 3D CT images could help identify COVID-19 infections. Using data from 920 COVID-19 and 1,073 non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients, we developed a modified DenseNet-264 model, COVIDNet, to classify CT images to either class. When tested on an independent set of 233 COVID-19 and 289 non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients, COVIDNet achieved an accuracy rate of 94.3% and an area under the curve of 0.98. As of March 23, 2020, the COVIDNet system had been used 11,966 times with a sensitivity of 91.12% and a specificity of 88.50% in six hospitals with PCR confirmation. Application of DL to CT images may improve both efficiency and capacity of case detection and long-term surveillance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 175628642092268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Patti ◽  
Andrea Visconti ◽  
Antonio Capacchione ◽  
Sanjeev Roy ◽  
Maria Trojano ◽  
...  

Background: The CLARINET-MS study assessed the long-term effectiveness of cladribine tablets by following patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Italy, using data from the Italian MS Registry. Methods: Real-world data (RWD) from Italian MS patients who participated in cladribine tablets randomised clinical trials (RCTs; CLARITY, CLARITY Extension, ONWARD or ORACLE-MS) across 17 MS centres were obtained from the Italian MS Registry. RWD were collected during a set observation period, spanning from the last dose of cladribine tablets during the RCT (defined as baseline) to the last visit date in the registry, treatment switch to other disease-modifying drugs, date of last Expanded Disability Status Scale recording or date of the last relapse (whichever occurred last). Time-to-event analysis was completed using the Kaplan–Meier (KM) method. Median duration and associated 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated from the model. Results: Time span under observation in the Italian MS Registry was 1–137 (median 80.3) months. In the total Italian patient population ( n = 80), the KM estimates for the probability of being relapse-free at 12, 36 and 60 months after the last dose of cladribine tablets were 84.8%, 66.2% and 57.2%, respectively. The corresponding probability of being progression-free at 60 months after the last dose was 63.7%. The KM estimate for the probability of not initiating another disease-modifying treatment at 60 months after the last dose of cladribine tablets was 28.1%, and the median time-to-treatment change was 32.1 (95% CI 15.5–39.5) months. Conclusion: CLARINET-MS provides an indirect measure of the long-term effectiveness of cladribine tablets. Over half of MS patients analysed did not relapse or experience disability progression during 60 months of follow-up from the last dose, suggesting that cladribine tablets remain effective in years 3 and 4 after short courses at the beginning of years 1 and 2.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 931
Author(s):  
Chi-Leung Chiang ◽  
Sik-Kwan Chan ◽  
Shing-Fung Lee ◽  
Horace Cheuk-Wai Choi

Background: The IMbrave 150 trial revealed that atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (atezo–bev) improves survival in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (1 year survival rate: 67.2% vs. 54.6%). We assessed the cost-effectiveness of atezo–bev vs. sorafenib as first-line therapy in patients with unresectable HCC from the US payer perspective. Methods: Using data from the IMbrave 150, we developed a Markov model to compare the lifetime cost and efficacy of atezo–bev as first-line systemic therapy in HCC with those of sorafenib. The main outcomes were life-years, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), lifetime costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Results: Atezo–bev demonstrated a gain of 0.44 QALYs, with an additional cost of USD 79,074. The ICER of atezo–bev was USD 179,729 per QALY when compared with sorafenib. The model was most sensitive to the overall survival hazard ratio and body weight. If we assumed that all patients at the end of the IMbrave 150 trial were cured of HCC, atezo–bev was cost-effective (ICER USD 53,854 per QALY). However, if all patients followed the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data, the ICER of atezo–bev was USD 385,857 per QALY. Reducing the price of atezo–bev by 20% and 29% would satisfy the USD 150,000/QALY and 100,000/QALY willingness-to-pay threshold. Moreover, capping the duration of therapy to ≤12 months or reducing the dosage of bev to ≤10 mg/kg would render atezo–bev cost-effective. Conclusions: The long-term effectiveness of atezo–bev is a critical but uncertain determinant of its cost-effectiveness. Price reduction would favorably influence cost-effectiveness, even if long-term clinical outcomes were modest. Further studies to optimize the duration and dosage of therapy are warranted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4316
Author(s):  
Shingo Yoshida ◽  
Hironori Yagi

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has forced global food systems to face unprecedented uncertain shocks even in terms of human health. Urban agriculture is expected to be more resilient because of its short supply chain for urban people and diversified farming activities. However, the short-and long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on urban farms remain unclear. This study aims to reveal the conditions for farm resilience to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the relationship between short-term farm resilience and long-term farm development using data from a survey of 74 farms located in Tokyo. The results are as follows. First, more than half of the sample farms increased their farm sales during this period. This resilience can be called the “persistence” approach. Second, short-term farm resilience and other sustainable farm activities contributed to improving farmers’ intentions for long-term farm development and farmland preservation. Third, the most important resilience attributes were the direct marketing, entrepreneurship, and social networks of farmers. We discussed the necessity of building farmers’ transformative capabilities for a more resilient urban farming system. These results imply that support to enhance the short-term resilience of urban farms is worth more than the short-term profit of the farms.


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