Fibrocement slabs as useful tools to monitor juvenile reptiles: a study in a tortoise species

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Ballouard ◽  
Sébastien Caron ◽  
Thibaud Lafon ◽  
Laure Servant ◽  
Bernard Devaux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Recruitment Rate ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Demographic Traits ◽  
Age Cohort ◽  
Testudo Hermanni ◽  
Population Viability Analyses ◽  
Free Ranging

Most species of tortoises are seriously threatened worldwide. Chelonians are long-lived organisms characterized by slow demographic traits; mathematical modeling estimated that a high rate of juvenile annual survival (i.e. >0.6 on average) is essential for the persistence of populations. Unfortunately, current knowledge about free-ranging juveniles is fragmentary. Under field conditions, young tortoises are very secretive, they remain sheltered beneath bushes, and they escape capture. The resulting lack of information impairs the assessment of key parameters such as juvenile survival, habitat use, or recruitment rate and thus seriously impedes both accurate population viability analyses and conservation planning. Large-scale monitoring of different populations of a threatened species (Testudo hermanni hermanni) confirmed that juveniles are rarely seen in the field. In 2011, we placed corrugated fibrocement slabs as alternative refuges for small tortoises in a densely vegetated study site. Many juveniles sheltered under the space offered by the corrugations; consequently they were easily captured and recaptured. Our results suggest that this simple technique may significantly improve the detectability of juveniles, providing access to the life history traits of this otherwise elusive age cohort. The slabs also provide protection against predators (such as dogs and birds) which further suggests that these refuges may also improve the survival of the smallest and most vulnerable individuals.

Looking back to the past and thinking of the future

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surendra Kumar Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Resource Consumption ◽  
High Rate ◽  
World Population ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Environmental Deterioration ◽  
The Future

<p>Earth is the only planet in our solar system where life is known to exist.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The 18 – 20th centuries, especially the last one, is characterized by an unprecedented rapid advance in science and technology, as well as economic growth. These factors, combined together, have provided us with an affluent society and luxurious lifestyle we have never experienced before.   However, such a high standard of living  coupled with a rapid growth of the world population  has necessarily  resulted in  in a high rate of resource consumption to a degree that may be termed almost mass wasting. Such an increase rate of resource consumption has inevitably placed a heavy burden on the environment, and consequently has led to serious environmental deterioration on local and global scales from two aspects : large scale destruction of natural ecosystem due to imprudent resource exploitation, and broadcast pollution resulting from the mass consumption of materials and subsequent discharge of pollutants.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The global-scale environmental deterioration may be regarded as another characteristic of the century as the anthropogenic impact on the environment has reached beyond the tolerable limits of the biosphere.  Human activities influencing the biosphere can limit it.  It is a time both to look back to the past and to think of the future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The 21st century is the age of the Environment. In such an age, students need to be more wise to manage the present as well as the future environment based on their current knowledge of the environment. In order to spread the message among young learners  that the environment is to be protected and improved, the present paper is written.  I am sure that the paper will stimulate interest among participants to find answers for concreate environmental problems on the local and national and global level.</p>

Models, Practices and Methods of Reading: Evolution in Time and Space

2009 ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Yulia P. Melentyeva
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
National Program ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
The Individual

In recent years as public in general and specialist have been showing big interest to the matters of reading. According to discussion and launch of the “Support and Development of Reading National Program”, many Russian libraries are organizing the large-scale events like marathons, lecture cycles, bibliographic trainings etc. which should draw attention of different social groups to reading. The individual forms of attraction to reading are used much rare. To author’s mind the main reason of such an issue has to be the lack of information about forms and methods of attraction to reading.

scholarly journals THU0642-HPR EVOLUTION OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF RA PATIENTS AFTER EDUCATION PATIENT SESSION TEACHING METHOTREXATE SELF-INJECTION A PROSPECTIVE PILOT STUDY

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 566.1-566
Author(s):  
S. Afilal ◽  
H. Rkain ◽  
B. Berchane ◽  
J. Moulay Berkchi ◽  
S. Fellous ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Patient Education ◽  
Median Duration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Education Session ◽  
Prospective Pilot Study ◽  
Mean Delay ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Level Of Satisfaction ◽  
Before And After

Background:Methotrexate is a gold standard for treatment of RA. In our context, RA patients prefer to be injected by paramedics rather than self-injecting. This can be explained by patients’ bad perceptions of self-injection or lack of information. Appropriate self-injection education can therefore be an important element in overcoming these obstacles and improving disease self-management.Objectives:Compare the RA patients’ perceptions on methotrexate self-injection before and after a patient education session.Methods:Prospective pilot study that included 27 consecutive patients (81.5% female, mean age 44.4 years, illiteracy rate 40.7%) with RA (median duration of progression of 4 years, mean delay in referral for specialist of 6 months, median duration of methotrexate use of 1 year). The patients benefited from an individual patient education session to learn how to self-inject with methotrexate subcutaneously. The patient education session was supervised by a nurse and a rheumatologist with a control a week later. Perceptions of the reluctance to self-inject and the difficulties encountered by patients were assessed before the patient education session, after the 1st and 2nd self-injection of methotrexate using a 10 mm visual analog scale. Patients also reported their level of satisfaction (10 mm VAS) after the 1st and 2nd self-injection.Results:The mean duration of patient education session is 13 min.Table I compares the evolution of the degrees of reluctance to self-injection, the difficulties encountered, and the satisfaction experienced by the patients.Table 1.Evolution of RA patients’ perceptions on the methotrexate self-injection. (N = 27)BeforeAfter the 1stself-injectionAfter the 2end self-injectionpVAS reluctance (0-10mm)6,5 ± 3,62,2 ± 2,91,0 ± 2,3<0,0001VAS difficulty (0-10mm)7,5 ± 2,62,5 ± 2,71,0 ± 1,9<0,0001VAS satisfaction (0-10mm)-8,9 ± 1,89,5 ± 1,50,002Conclusion:This study suggests the effectiveness of a methotrexate self-injection patient education session in RA patients. It also highlights the value of patient education in rheumatologic care. A large-scale study is necessary to better interpret and complete these preliminary results from this pilot study.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

scholarly journals Social calls influence the foraging behavior in wild big-footed myotis

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongge Guo ◽  
Jianan Ding ◽  
Heng Liu ◽  
Lin Zhou ◽  
Jiang Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Food Competition ◽  
Insectivorous Bats ◽  
Insect Abundance ◽  
Social Calls ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Free Ranging

Abstract Background Why a variety of social animals emit foraging-associated calls during group foraging remains an open question. These vocalizations may be used to recruit conspecifics to food patches (i.e. food advertisement hypothesis) or defend food resources against competitors (food defence hypothesis), presumably depending on food availability. Insectivorous bats rely heavily on vocalizations for navigation, foraging, and social interactions. In this study, we used free-ranging big-footed myotis (Myotis macrodactylus Temminck, 1840) to test whether social calls produced in a foraging context serve to advertise food patches or to ward off food competitors. Using a combination of acoustic recordings, playback experiments with adult females and dietary monitoring (light trapping and DNA metabarcoding techniques), we investigated the relationship between insect availability and social vocalizations in foraging bats. Results The big-footed myotis uttered low-frequency social calls composed of 7 syllable types during foraging interactions. Although the dietary composition of bats varied across different sampling periods, Diptera, Lepidoptera, and Trichoptera were the most common prey consumed. The number of social vocalizations was primarily predicted by insect abundance, insect species composition, and echolocation vocalizations from conspecifics. The number of conspecific echolocation pulses tended to decrease following the emission of most social calls. Feeding bats consistently decreased foraging attempts and food consumption during playbacks of social calls with distinctive structures compared to control trials. The duration of flight decreased 1.29–1.96 fold in the presence of social calls versus controls. Conclusions These results support the food defence hypothesis, suggesting that foraging bats employ social calls to engage in intraspecific food competition. This study provides correlative evidence for the role of insect abundance and diversity in influencing the emission of social calls in insectivorous bats. Our findings add to the current knowledge of the function of social calls in echolocating bats.

scholarly journals High-Rate Transition Metal-based Cathode Materials for Battery-Supercapacitor Hybrid Devices

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Wang ◽  
Zehao Song ◽  
Pei Shi ◽  
Lin Lv ◽  
Houzhao Wan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Electronic Devices ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Energy Storage Devices ◽  
Storage Devices ◽  
Electrochemical Devices ◽  
Hybrid Devices ◽  
Scale Grid

With the rapid development of portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and large-scale grid energy storage devices, it needs to reinforce specific energy and specific power of related electrochemical devices meeting...

scholarly journals High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Circular Cyclocoagulation in Glaucoma: A Step Forward for Cyclodestruction?

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Mastropasqua ◽  
Vincenzo Fasanella ◽  
Alessandra Mastropasqua ◽  
Marco Ciancaglini ◽  
Luca Agnifili
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Ciliary Body ◽  
Focused Ultrasound ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Dose Effect ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Refractory Glaucoma ◽  
High Level

The ciliary body ablation is still considered as a last resort treatment to reduce the intraocular pressure (IOP) in uncontrolled glaucoma. Several ablation techniques have been proposed over the years, all presenting a high rate of complications, nonselectivity for the target organ, and unpredictable dose-effect relationship. These drawbacks limited the application of cyclodestructive procedures almost exclusively to refractory glaucoma. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), proposed in the early 1980s and later abandoned because of the complexity and side effects of the procedure, was recently reconsidered in a new approach to destroy the ciliary body. Ultrasound circular cyclocoagulation (UC3), by using miniaturized transducers embedded in a dedicated circular-shaped device, permits to selectively treat the ciliary body in a one-step, computer-assisted, and non-operator-dependent procedure. UC3 shows a high level of safety along with a predictable and sustained IOP reduction in patients with refractory glaucoma. Because of this, the indication of UC3 was recently extended also to naïve-to-surgery patients, thus reconsidering the role and timing of ciliary body ablation in the surgical management of glaucoma. This article provides a review of the most used cycloablative techniques with particular attention to UC3, summarizing the current knowledge about this procedure and future possible developments.

scholarly journals Rapid evolution at the Drosophila telomere: transposable element dynamics at an intrinsically unstable locus

Genetics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 217 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P McGurk ◽  
Anne-Marie Dion-Côté ◽  
Daniel A Barbash
Keyword(s):  
Copy Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Insertion Site ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Evolutionary Strategy ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Genetic Conflict ◽  
Number Variation

AbstractDrosophila telomeres have been maintained by three families of active transposable elements (TEs), HeT-A, TAHRE, and TART, collectively referred to as HTTs, for tens of millions of years, which contrasts with an unusually high degree of HTT interspecific variation. While the impacts of conflict and domestication are often invoked to explain HTT variation, the telomeres are unstable structures such that neutral mutational processes and evolutionary tradeoffs may also drive HTT evolution. We leveraged population genomic data to analyze nearly 10,000 HTT insertions in 85  Drosophila melanogaster genomes and compared their variation to other more typical TE families. We observe that occasional large-scale copy number expansions of both HTTs and other TE families occur, highlighting that the HTTs are, like their feral cousins, typically repressed but primed to take over given the opportunity. However, large expansions of HTTs are not caused by the runaway activity of any particular HTT subfamilies or even associated with telomere-specific TE activity, as might be expected if HTTs are in strong genetic conflict with their hosts. Rather than conflict, we instead suggest that distinctive aspects of HTT copy number variation and sequence diversity largely reflect telomere instability, with HTT insertions being lost at much higher rates than other TEs elsewhere in the genome. We extend previous observations that telomere deletions occur at a high rate, and surprisingly discover that more than one-third do not appear to have been healed with an HTT insertion. We also report that some HTT families may be preferentially activated by the erosion of whole telomeres, implying the existence of HTT-specific host control mechanisms. We further suggest that the persistent telomere localization of HTTs may reflect a highly successful evolutionary strategy that trades away a stable insertion site in order to have reduced impact on the host genome. We propose that HTT evolution is driven by multiple processes, with niche specialization and telomere instability being previously underappreciated and likely predominant.

Neurofeedback for Opioid Dependent Patients in an Outpatient Setting: A Pilot Feasibility Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena A. Rempala ◽  
Justin A. Barterian
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Outpatient Setting ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Treatment As Usual ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Study Approach

Abstract Background: Neurofeedback (NF) has been described as “probably efficacious” when used in conjunction with other interventions for substance use disorders, including the most recent studies in population of individuals with opioid use disorder. Despite these promising outcomes, the seriousness of the opioid epidemic, and the high rate of relapse even with the most effective medication-assisted maintenance treatments NF continues to be an under-researched treatment modality. This article explores factors that affected the feasibility of adding Alpha/Theta Neurofeedback to treatment as usual for opioid dependence in an outpatient urban treatment center. The study strived to replicate previous research completed in Iran that found benefits of NF for opioid dependence.Methods: Out of approximately two dozen patients eligible for Alpha/Theta NF, about 60% (n=15) agreed to participate; however, only 2 participants completed treatment. The rates of enrollment in response to active treatment were monitored. Results: The 4 factors affecting feasibility were: 1) the time commitment required of participants, 2) ineffectiveness of standard incentives to promote participation, 3) delayed effects of training, and 4) the length and number of treatments required.Conclusion: The findings indicate a large scale study examining the use of NF for the treatment of opioid use disorder in the United States will likely be difficult to accomplish without modification to the traditional randomized control study approach and suggests challenges to the implementation of this treatment in an outpatient setting.

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