Coping with continuous human disturbance in the wild: insights from penguin heart rate response to various stressors.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: A central question for ecologists is the extent to which anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. tourism) might impact wildlife and affect the systems under study. From a research perspective, identifying the effects of human disturbance caused by research-related activities is crucial in order to understand and account for potential biases and derive appropriate conclusions from the data. RESULTS: Here, we document a case of biological adjustment to chronic human disturbance in a colonial seabird, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), breeding on remote and protected islands of the Southern ocean. Using heart rate (HR) as a measure of the stress response, we show that, in a colony with areas exposed to the continuous presence of humans (including scientists) for over 50 years, penguins have adjusted to human disturbance and habituated to certain, but not all, types of stressors. When compared to birds breeding in relatively undisturbed areas, birds in areas of high chronic human disturbance were found to exhibit attenuated HR responses to acute anthropogenic stressors of low-intensity (i.e. sounds or human approaches) to which they had been subjected intensely over the years. However, such attenuation was not apparent for high-intensity stressors (i.e. captures for scientific research) which only a few individuals experience each year. CONCLUSIONS: Habituation to anthropogenic sounds/approaches could be an adaptation to deal with chronic innocuous stressors, and beneficial from a research perspective. Alternately, whether penguins have actually habituated to anthropogenic disturbances over time or whether human presence has driven the directional selection of human-tolerant phenotypes, remains an open question with profound ecological and conservation implications, and emphasizes the need for more knowledge on the effects of human disturbance on long-term studied populations.

Functional analysis of Plasmodium vivax VIR proteins reveals different subcellular localizations and cytoadherence to the ICAM-1 endothelial receptor.

The subcellular localization and function of variant subtelomeric multigene families in Plasmodium vivax remain vastly unknown. Among them, the vir superfamily is putatively involved in antigenic variation and in mediating adherence to endothelial receptors. In the absence of a continuous in vitro culture system for P. vivax, we have generated P. falciparum transgenic lines expressing VIR proteins to infer location and function. We chose three proteins pertaining to subfamilies A (VIR17), C (VIR14) and D (VIR10), with domains and secondary structures that predictably traffic these proteins to different subcellular compartments. Here, we showed that VIR17 remained inside the parasite and around merozoites, whereas VIR14 and VIR10 were exported to the membrane of infected red blood cells (iRBCs) in an apparent independent pathway of Maurer's clefts. Remarkably, VIR14 was exposed at the surface of iRBCs and mediated adherence to different endothelial receptors expressed in CHO cells under static conditions. Under physiological flow conditions, however, cytoadherence was only observed to ICAM-1, which was the only receptor whose adherence was specifically and significantly inhibited by antibodies against conserved motifs of VIR proteins. Immunofluorescence studies using these antibodies also showed different subcellular localizations of VIR proteins in P. vivax-infected reticulocytes from natural infections. These data suggest that VIR proteins are trafficked to different cellular compartments and functionally demonstrates that VIR proteins can specifically mediate cytoadherence to the ICAM-1 endothelial receptor.

Aminogenesis control in fermented sausages manufactured with pressurized meat batter and starter culture

The application of high hydrostatic pressure (200 MPa) to meat batter just before sausage fermentation and the inoculation of starter culture were studied to improve the safety and quality of traditional Spanish fermented sausages (fuet and chorizo). Higher amounts of biogenic amines were formed in chorizo than in fuet. Without interfering with the ripening performance in terms of acidification, drying and proteolysis, hydrostatic pressure prevented enterobacteria growth but did not affect Gram-positive bacteria significantly. Subsequently, a strong inhibition of diamine (putrescine and cadaverine) accumulation was observed, but that of tyramine was not affected. The inoculated decarboxylase-negative strains, selected from indigenous bacteria of traditional sausages, were resistant to the HHP treatment, being able to lead the fermentation process, prevent enterococci development and significantly reduce enterobacteria counts. In sausages manufactured with either non-pressurized or pressurized meat batter, starter culture was the most protective measure against the accumulation of tyramine and both diamines.

Assessment of high hydrostatic pressure and starter culture on the quality properties of low-acid fermented sausages

The addition of starter culture and high pressure processing after ripening improved the microbial quality of low-acid fermented sausages (fuet and chorizo). The use of Lactobacillus sakei CTC6626 and Staphylococcus xylosus CTC6013 as starter culture significantly reduced Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococcus levels in the finished sausages. Moreover, the addition of starter culture produced sausages of similar quality to traditional low-acid fermented sausages. Slightly lower pH values and higher cohesiveness were obtained for both fuet and chorizo with starter culture. Sensory analysis showed no differences between lots of chorizo whereas starter fuet was more acid and gummy. High pressure induced an additional reduction of Enterobacteriaceae in non-starter sausages. An increase of textural properties was observed after pressurization. No other differences were observed between non-treated and pressurized sausages.

Evolutionarily stable learning schedules and cumulative culture in discrete generation models.

Individual learning (e.g., trial-and-error) and social learning (e.g., imitation) are alternative ways of acquiring and expressing the appropriate phenotype in an environment. The optimal choice between using individual learning and/or social learning may be dictated by the life-stage or age of an organism. Of special interest is a learning schedule in which social learning precedes individual learning, because such a schedule is apparently a necessary condition for cumulative culture. Assuming two obligatory learning stages per discrete generation, we obtain the evolutionarily stable learning schedules for the three situations where the environment is constant, fluctuates between generations, or fluctuates within generations. During each learning stage, we assume that an organism may target the optimal phenotype in the current environment by individual learning, and/or the mature phenotype of the previous generation by oblique social learning. In the absence of exogenous costs to learning, the evolutionarily stable learning schedules are predicted to be either pure social learning followed by pure individual learning ("bang-bang" control) or pure individual learning at both stages ("flat" control). Moreover, we find for each situation that the evolutionarily stable learning schedule is also the one that optimizes the learned phenotype at equilibrium.

A Survey of Traffic Safety Culture Among Iowa Adults, TS-1101, 2012

Iowa’s traffic safety culture is influenced by laws and policies, enforcement methods, driver education, roadway engineering, and drivers’ behaviors. The Center for Social and Behavioral Research at the University of Northern Iowa was contracted by the Iowa Department of Transportation to conduct a general population survey of adult Iowans. Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,088 adult Iowans from October to December 2011. A dual-frame (cell phone and landline) sampling design was used. The interview covered a wide range of traffic safety topics (e.g., traffic safety policies, enforcement techniques, and distracted driving). Most Iowans said driving in Iowa is about as safe now as it was 5 years ago; however, one-fourth said driving in Iowa is less safe now. There are a number of driving-related behaviors many adult Iowans consider serious threats to traffic safety and never acceptable to do while driving. Yet, many Iowans report often seeing other drivers engaging in these behaviors and admit engaging in some themselves. For example, nearly 1 in 5 adult Iowa drivers said they have sent or read a text message or email while driving in the past 30 days despite this being prohibited since July of 2011. A slight majority said they support using cameras on highways, interstates, and city streets to automatically ticket drivers for speeding, with even stronger support for red light cameras. A comprehensive approach to traffic safety in Iowa is required to encourage protective factors that enhance traffic safety and reduce the impact of detrimental factors.

La Babele in cui viviamo. Traduzioni, riscritture, culture

Secondo Ludwig Wittgenstein occorre accettare come ovvia l'inconfrontabilità, e non la confrontabilità. E i due termini del confronto possibile o impossibile sono innanzi tutto le lingue. La traduzione svolge dunque una funzione decisiva nella vita del linguaggio. Nella traduzione le lingue si scambiano (e rubano) significati, rompono chiusura e provincialismo e comunicano la propria specifica forza significante. Silvana Borutti e Ute Heidmann riflettono sulla traduzione come esperienza di conoscenza, modello di rapporto tra lingue, letterature e culture, accesso conoscitivo, comunicativo e affettivo alla differenza. Si tratti di un testo o di un intero sistema simbolico, l'alterità non è mai un'entità data, bensì una forma dinamica che solo quando esce da sé riesce a misurare la complessità della propria relazione originaria di appartenenza e a realizzare il proprio potenziale di senso. Tradurre è allora un'operazione innovativa di attraversamento, trasmissione e metamorfosi. Per la vivibilità stessa del mondo, siamo sempre intenti a farlo: al limite, traduciamo noi a noi stessi, atto necessario per uscire dal narcisismo primario che ci trattiene in un orizzonte limitato e immediato.

Mitomycin C with continuous fluorouracil or with cisplatin in combination with radiotherapy for locally advanced anal cancer (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer phase II study 22011-40014).

PURPOSE: To assess the feasibility and activity of radio-chemotherapy with mitomycin C (MMC) and cisplatin (CDDP) in locally advanced squamous cell anal carcinoma with reference to radiotherapy (RT) combined with MMC and fluorouracil (5-FU). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with measurable disease >4 cmN0 or N+ received RT (36Gy+2 week gap+23.4Gy) with either MMC/CDDP or MMC/5-FU (MMC 10mg/m(2) d1 of each sequence; 5-FU 200mg/m(2)/day c.i.v. daily; CDDP 25mg/m(2) weekly). Forty patients/arm were needed to exclude a RECIST objective response rate (ORR), 8 weeks after treatment, of <75% (Fleming 1, alpha=10%, beta=10%). RESULTS: The ORR was 79.5% (31/39) (lower bound confidence interval [CI]: 68.8%) with MMC/5-FU versus 91.9% (34/ 37) (lower bound CI: 82.8%) with MMC/CDDP. In the MMC/5-FU group, two patients (5.1%) discontinued treatment due to toxicity versus 11 (29.7%) in the MMC/CDDP group. Nine grade 3 haematological events occurred with MMC/CDDP versus none with 5-FU/MMC. The rate of other toxicities did not differ. There was no toxic death. Thirty-one patients in the MMC/5-FU arm (79.5%) and 18 in the MMC/CDDP arm (48.6%) were fully compliant with the protocol treatment (p=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Radio-chemotherapy with MMC/CDDP seems promising as only MMC/CDDP demonstrated enough activity (RECIST ORR >75%) to be tested further in phase III trials; MMC/5-FU did not. MMC/CDDP also had an overall acceptable toxicity profile.

Optimal culture incubation time in orthopedic device-associated infections: a retrospective analysis of prolonged 14-day incubation.

Accurate diagnosis of orthopedic device-associated infections can be challenging. Culture of tissue biopsy specimens is often considered the gold standard; however, there is currently no consensus on the ideal incubation time for specimens. The aim of our study was to assess the yield of a 14-day incubation protocol for tissue biopsy specimens from revision surgery (joint replacements and internal fixation devices) in a general orthopedic and trauma surgery setting. Medical records were reviewed retrospectively in order to identify cases of infection according to predefined diagnostic criteria. From August 2009 to March 2012, 499 tissue biopsy specimens were sampled from 117 cases. In 70 cases (59.8%), at least one sample showed microbiological growth. Among them, 58 cases (82.9%) were considered infections and 12 cases (17.1%) were classified as contaminations. The median time to positivity in the cases of infection was 1 day (range, 1 to 10 days), compared to 6 days (range, 1 to 11 days) in the cases of contamination (P < 0.001). Fifty-six (96.6%) of the infection cases were diagnosed within 7 days of incubation. In conclusion, the results of our study show that the incubation of tissue biopsy specimens beyond 7 days is not productive in a general orthopedic and trauma surgery setting. Prolonged 14-day incubation might be of interest in particular situations, however, in which the prevalence of slow-growing microorganisms and anaerobes is higher.

Harmonisation of short-term in vitro culture for the expansion of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells with detection by ELISPOT and HLA-multimer staining.

Ex vivo ELISPOT and multimer staining are well-established tests for the assessment of antigen-specific T cells. Many laboratories are now using a period of in vitro stimulation (IVS) to enhance detection. Here, we report the findings of a multi-centre panel organised by the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy Immunoguiding Program to investigate the impact of IVS protocols on the detection of antigen-specific T cells of varying ex vivo frequency. Five centres performed ELISPOT and multimer staining on centrally prepared PBMCs from 3 donors, both ex vivo and following IVS. A harmonised IVS protocol was designed based on the best-performing protocol(s), which was then evaluated in a second phase on 2 donors by 6 centres. All centres were able to reliably detect antigen-specific T cells of high/intermediate frequency both ex vivo (Phase I) and post-IVS (Phase I and II). The highest frequencies of antigen-specific T cells ex vivo were mirrored in the frequencies following IVS and in the detection rates. However, antigen-specific T cells of a low/undetectable frequency ex vivo were not reproducibly detected post-IVS. Harmonisation of the IVS protocol reduced the inter-laboratory variation observed for ELISPOT and multimer analyses by approximately 20 %. We further demonstrate that results from ELISPOT and multimer staining correlated after (P < 0.0001 and R (2) = 0.5113), but not before IVS. In summary, IVS was shown to be a reproducible method that benefitted from method harmonisation.