Implications of plastic ingestion on the growth and fledging success of shearwaters.

Ingestion of plastic can have negative health consequences for wildlife. However, our understanding of the physiological impacts of plastics is limited, often relying on opportunistic sampling. We partnered with Tasmanian Aboriginal seabird harvesters, wildlife rescue clinics, and parks managers, to collect >400 fledgling yula/short-tailed and flesh-footed shearwaters across a spectrum of body conditions.

Further characterization of adrenocortical and thyroid hormone concentrations of leatherback turtles () under various stressors, including validation of a plasma aldosterone assay.

Leatherback turtles () are endangered by anthropogenic threats. Characterizing the physiologic response of leatherback turtles under various stressors may inform conservation strategies. In this study, a commercially available enzyme immunoassay for aldosterone was validated for leatherback turtle plasma, and it was used with previously validated assays for corticosterone and free thyroxine (fT4) to evaluate the physiologic status of leatherback turtles that were entangled in fishing gear, stranded on shore, nesting or intentionally captured at sea during ecologic studies.

A Remotely Delivered Light-Intensity Physical Activity Intervention for Older Cancer Survivors: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Older cancer survivors face age- and treatment-related comorbidities, including physical functional impairment, which are exacerbated by physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Regular physical activity can reduce this risk, yet less than 30% of older cancer survivors meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity.

Objective: This study aims to describe the design, methods, and rationale for a remotely delivered intervention that uses a whole-of-day approach to physical activity in older cancer survivors.

Differential interactions of ethacrynic acid and diethyl maleate with glutathione S-transferases and their glutathione co-factor in the house fly.

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are an important class of enzymes that facilitate the conjugation of reduced glutathione (GSH) with electrophilic substrates, including some insecticides. Two inhibitors of GSTs, ethacrynic acid (EA) and diethyl maleate (DEM), are often used as diagnostic tools to implicate GST involvement in insecticide resistance, but their modes of action against insect GSTs are largely assumed based on mammalian studies. In mammalian studies, there are two proposed mechanisms of inhibition of GST function by EA and DEM: 1) scavenging or "depleting" cytosolic GSH through non-enzymatic conjugation, and 2) inhibition of GST activity directly by the inhibitor-GSH conjugate (EA-SG and DEM-SG).

Isolation and characterization of the decreased cuticular penetration mechanism of fluralaner resistance in the house fly, Musca domestica.

Decreased cuticular penetration has been documented as a mechanism of resistance in several insects, yet this mechanism remains poorly understood. Levels of resistance conferred, effects of the physicochemical properties on the manifestation of resistance and the effects of different routes of exposure are largely unknown. We recently selected a strain (FlurR) of house fly that was >11,000-fold resistance to fluralaner, and decreased cuticular penetration was one of the mechanisms of resistance (Norris et al.