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Globally, habitat loss or degradation is a major threat to many species, and those with specific habitat requirements are particularly vulnerable. Many species of wading birds (Charadrii) are dependent upon intertidal sites to feed, but, as a result of anthropogenic pressures, the prey landscape has changed at many estuaries. Behavioral adaptations may be able to buffer these changes. In this study over multiple seasons, we aimed to investigate the foraging behaviors of wintering Eurasian oystercatchers in the Exe Estuary where mussel beds, the preferred prey at this site, have almost disappeared in the last decade. From 2018 to 2021, GPS tracking devices were deployed on 24 oystercatchers, and the foraging locations of adults, sub‐adults, and juveniles were determined. Of the 12 birds tracked over multiple winter periods, 10 used the same foraging home ranges but a juvenile and sub‐adult changed locations interannually. The dominant prey species at key foraging sites were assessed, and we found that younger birds were more likely to visit sites with lower quality prey, likely due to being at a competitive disadvantage, and also to explore sites further away. Individuals were generally consistent in the areas of the estuary used in early and late winter, and over 90% of locations were recorded in the protected area boundary, which covers the sand and mudflats of the Exe. These findings suggest high specificity of the current protected area for oystercatchers in the Exe Estuary, although, if the prey landscape continues to decline, younger individuals may provide the potential for adaptation by finding and foraging at additional sites. Continued monitoring of individual behavior within populations that are facing dramatic changes to their prey is essential to understand how they may adapt and to develop suitable management plans to conserve threatened species. For many waders reliant on intertidal mudflats, the prey landscape has changed, which may require behavioral adaptations for survival. GPS tracking devices were deployed on 24 wintering Eurasian oystercatchers in a declining population in the Exe Estuary, UK. Adults were consistent in their foraging locations both intra‐ and inter‐annually, whereas sub‐adults and juveniles showed greater flexibility and visited wider areas outside of the estuary. To buffer the loss of prey species in the Exe, oystercatchers may need to forage elsewhere, switch to less profitable prey, or increase foraging time.

The nests of ground‐nesting birds rely heavily on camouflage for their survival, and predation risk, often linked to ecological changes from human activity, is a major source of mortality. Numerous ground‐nesting bird populations are in decline, so understanding the effects of camouflage on their nesting behavior is relevant to their conservation concerns. Habitat three‐dimensional (3D) geometry, together with predator visual abilities, viewing distance, and viewing angle, determine whether a nest is either visible, occluded, or too far away to detect. While this link is intuitive, few studies have investigated how fine‐scale geometry is likely to help defend nests from different predator guilds. We quantified nest visibility based on 3D occlusion, camouflage, and predator visual modeling in northern lapwings, Vanellus vanellus, on different land management regimes. Lapwings selected local backgrounds that had a higher 3D complexity at a spatial scale greater than their entire clutches compared to local control sites. Importantly, our findings show that habitat geometry—rather than predator visual acuity—restricts nest visibility for terrestrial predators and that their field habitats, perceived by humans as open, are functionally closed with respect to a terrestrial predator searching for nests on the ground. Taken together with lapwings' careful nest site selection, our findings highlight the importance of considering habitat geometry for understanding the evolutionary ecology and management of conservation sites for ground‐nesting birds. We used 3D scanning and color‐calibrated images to investigate the effects of local geometry on ground‐nesting bird site selection and camouflage. We found that lapwings, Vanellus vanellus, locally select for more 3D variable areas and that the scale and shape of their nests restrict visibility more than predator visual acuity, with crop fields and wet grassland acting more like a closed habitat from the viewing angles of natural predators.

Individual diet specialization occurs in many populations of generalist predators, with specific individuals developing specialist strategies in their feeding behaviour. Intraspecific resource partitioning is hypothesised to be common amongst species in higher trophic levels where competition for resources is intense, and a key driver in breeding success and community structure. Though well-studied in other predators, there is sparse data on ecological specialization in raptors, which are important drivers of community and trophic structure. In this study, the breeding season diet of an insular population of peregrine falcons was determined from indirect analysis of prey remains collected over three years. An unexpected result was the high proportion of large gulls (Laridae), of the genus in the diet of two breeding pairs of peregrines. Large gulls made up 18.44% by frequency of total prey recorded and 30.81% by biomass. Herring gulls ) were the most common large gull prey, with immatures most frequent (67.95%) compared to adults (19.23%). Overall, most gulls predated were immatures (80.77%). Frequency of predation varied between breeding pairs and months, but was consistent over the three years. Most gulls were taken in April (37.17%), followed by May (19.23%), with a smaller peak of immature herring gulls taken in August and September. The pattern of regular predation by peregrines on large gulls is a new observation with important implications for understanding individual diet specialization in raptors, and its effect on bird populations and community structure.

We use factor analysis to explore motivations for substance use before and/or during sexual activity in order to identify underlying structure in response types. The sample included 1°, 2°, and 3° motivation responses of 1,012 seropositive and 1,084 seronegative participants enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) seen between 2006 and 2010. We found a single common factor for all alcohol and substance use combinations that combines the social and sexual domains. We also identified a second factor with four distinct loading patterns conditional on the alcohol or substance combination used. While there are strong sexual components for each, the underlying structure is complex, and also includes aspects of the social and personal domains. These underlying motivational structures are important in understanding why men engage in substance use in the context of sex, and may help identify men who participate in high-risk sexual behavior. We simultaneously modeled between-subject and within-subject variability using Generalized Mixed Linear Models (GLMMs) to explore the role of key \"person variables\" (HIV serostatus, sexual sensation seeking, and partner type) specific to the venue of sexual encounter in the association between substance use and sexual risk in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). GLMMs were fit for each of three venues (Internet, bars, and bathhouses) using data from 1,012 seropositive and 1,084 seronegative participants seen between 2006 and 2010. We were able to show that venue-specific measurements of HIV serostatus, partner type, and sexual sensation seeking (SSS) are important in understanding the relationship between substance use and sexual risk, and may help explain the absence of consistent main effects seen in correlational or experimental studies. These person variables may aid the development of multivariate theoretical models that better fit substance use and sexual risk behavior associational data. We utilize the multiple measurement approaches available in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) to build Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) describing the association of substance use and sexual risk measured at the global level, and compare results to our previously published work using a venue-specific assessment approach. GLMMs were used to simultaneously model between-subject and within-subject variability in sexual risk behaviors (HIV serostatus, sexual sensation seeking, partner type, and venue of sexual encounter) among 1,012 seropositive and 1,084 seronegative participants seen between 2006 and 2010. All alcohol and drug use combinations were associated with having a higher numbers of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) partners since last visit, regardless of venue of sexual encounter, when measured at the global level. These results reflect those from a venue-specific analyses of substance use and sexual risk conducted in the same cohort. While the global assessment approach used here does not permits causal interpretation of findings, we argue that establishing causality may not be a necessary condition for identifying the underlying person variables that confound the association between substance use and sexual risk, nor the utility of these variables in designing and implementing more tailored interventions.

Diel-cycling hypoxia is widespread in shallow portions of estuaries and lagoons, especially in systems with high nutrient loads resulting from human activities. Far less is known about the effects of this form of hypoxia than deeper-water seasonal or persistent low dissolved oxygen. We examined field patterns of diel-cycling hypoxia and used field and laboratory experiments to test its effects on acquisition and progression of Perkinsus marinus infections in the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, as well as on oyster growth and filtration. P. marinus infections cause the disease known as Dermo, have been responsible for declines in oyster populations, and have limited success of oyster restoration efforts. The severity of diel-cycling hypoxia varied among shallow monitored sites in Chesapeake Bay, and average daily minimum dissolved oxygen was positively correlated with average daily minimum pH. In both field and laboratory experiments, diel-cycling hypoxia increased acquisition and progression of infections, with stronger results found for younger (1-year-old) than older (2-3-year-old) oysters, and more pronounced effects on both infections and growth found in the field than in the laboratory. Filtration by oysters was reduced during brief periods of exposure to severe hypoxia. This should have reduced exposure to waterborne P. marinus, and contributed to the negative relationship found between hypoxia frequency and oyster growth. Negative effects of hypoxia on the host immune response is, therefore, the likely mechanism leading to elevated infections in oysters exposed to hypoxia relative to control treatments. Because there is considerable spatial variation in the frequency and severity of hypoxia, diel-cycling hypoxia may contribute to landscape-level spatial variation in disease dynamics within and among estuarine systems.

3q29 deletion syndrome (3q29del) is a rare (~1:30 000) genomic disorder associated with a wide array of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric phenotypes. Prior work by our team identified clinically significant executive function (EF) deficits in 47% of individuals with 3q29del; however, the nuances of EF in this population have not been described. We used the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) to perform the first in-depth assessment of real-world EF in a cohort of 32 individuals with 3q29del (62.5% male, mean age = 14.5 ± 8.3 years). All participants were also evaluated with gold-standard neuropsychiatric and cognitive assessments. High-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging was performed on a subset of participants ( = 24). We found global deficits in EF; individuals with 3q29del scored higher than the population mean on the BRIEF global executive composite (GEC) and all subscales. In total, 81.3% of study subjects ( = 26) scored in the clinical range on at least one BRIEF subscale. BRIEF GEC scores were higher among 3q29del participants with a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and BRIEF GEC scores were associated with schizophrenia spectrum symptoms as measured by the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes. BRIEF GEC scores were not associated with cognitive ability. The BRIEF-2 ADHD form accurately (sensitivity = 86.7%) classified individuals with 3q29del based on ADHD diagnosis status. BRIEF GEC scores were correlated with cerebellar white matter and subregional cerebellar cortex volumes. Together, these data expand our understanding of the phenotypic spectrum of 3q29del and identify EF as a core feature linked to both psychiatric and neuroanatomical features of the syndrome.

Over the past decade, boldine, a naturally occurring alkaloid found in several plant species including the Chilean Boldo tree, has garnered attention for its efficacy in rodent models of human disease. Some of the properties that have been attributed to boldine include antioxidant activities, neuroprotective and analgesic actions, hepatoprotective effects, anti-inflammatory actions, cardioprotective effects and anticancer potential. Compelling data now indicates that boldine blocks connexin (Cx) hemichannels (HCs) and that many if not all of its effects in rodent models of injury and disease are due to CxHC blockade. Here we provide an overview of boldine’s pharmacological properties, including its efficacy in rodent models of common human injuries and diseases, and of its absorption, distribution, pharmacokinetics, and metabolism.

Mobile phone social networking applications such as GRINDR are potential tools for recruitment of men who have sex with men (MSM) for HIV prevention research. Demographics and sexual risk behaviors of men recruited through GRINDR and through traditional media were compared. GRINDR participants were younger (mean age 31 vs. 42, p  < 0.0001), more White identified (44 vs. 30 %, p  < 0.01), and had more sex partners in the previous 14 days (1.88 vs. 1.10, p  < 0.05) than other recruits. Email responses were less successful for enrollment than phone calls (5 vs. 50 %). This approach resulted in successful recruitment of younger and more educated, White identified MSM.

PurposeAcute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) is a common reason for intensive care unit (ICU) admission. However, patient characteristics, outcomes, and trends over time are unclear. We describe the epidemiology and outcomes of patients with AHRF over time.MethodsIn this binational, registry-based study from 2005 to 2022, we included all adults admitted to an Australian or New Zealand ICU with an arterial blood gas within the first 24 h of ICU stay. AHRF was defined as a partial pressure of oxygen/inspired oxygen ratio (PaO2/FiO2) ≤ 300. The primary outcome was adjusted in-hospital mortality, categorised based on PaO2/FiO2 (mild: 200–300, moderate: 100–200, and severe < 100, and non-linearly). We investigated how adjusted mortality evolved based on temporal trends (by year of admission), sex, age, admission diagnosis and the receipt of mechanical ventilation.ResultsOf 1,560,221 patients, 826,106 (52.9%) were admitted with or developed AHRF within the first 24 h of ICU stay. Of these 826,106 patients, 51.4% had mild, 39.3% had moderate, and 9.3% had severe AHRF. Compared to patients without AHRF (5.3%), patients with mild (8%), moderate (14.2%) and severe (29.9%) AHRF had higher in-hospital mortality rates. As PaO2/FiO2 ratio decreased, adjusted in-hospital mortality progressively increased, particularly below an inflection point at a PaO2/FiO2 ratio of 200. The adjusted in-hospital mortality for all patients decreased over time (13.3% in 2005 to 8.2% in 2022), and this trend was similar in patients with and without AHRF.ConclusionThe healthcare burden due to AHRF may be larger than expected, and mortality rates remain high in severe AHRF. Although mortality has decreased over time, this may reflect improvements in ICU care in general, rather than specifically in AHRF. More research is required to earlier identify AHRF and stratify these patients at risk of deterioration early, and to validate our findings.

Purpose To understand the consequences of the 3q29 deletion on medical, neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, brain structural, and neurological sequalae by systematic evaluation of affected individuals. To develop evidence-based recommendations using these data for effective clinical care. Methods Thirty-two individuals with the 3q29 deletion were evaluated using a defined phenotyping protocol and standardized data collection instruments. Results Medical manifestations were varied and reported across nearly every organ system. The most severe manifestations were congenital heart defects (25%) and the most common were gastrointestinal symptoms (81%). Physical examination revealed a high proportion of musculoskeletal findings (81%). Neurodevelopmental phenotypes represent a significant burden and include intellectual disability (34%), autism spectrum disorder (38%), executive function deficits (46%), and graphomotor weakness (78%). Psychiatric illness manifests across the lifespan with psychosis prodrome (15%), psychosis (20%), anxiety disorders (40%), and attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (63%). Neuroimaging revealed structural anomalies of the posterior fossa, but on neurological exam study subjects displayed only mild or moderate motor vulnerabilities. Conclusion By direct evaluation of 3q29 deletion study subjects, we document common features of the syndrome, including a high burden of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric phenotypes. Evidence-based recommendations for evaluation, referral, and management are provided to help guide clinicians in the care of 3q29 deletion patients.