First evidence of microplastic inhalation among free-ranging small cetaceans.

Plastic is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant, resulting in widespread exposure across terrestrial and marine spaces. In the environment, plastics can degrade into microparticles where exposure has been documented in a variety of fauna at all trophic levels. Human epidemiological studies have found relationships between inhaled microplastics and oxidative stress and inflammation.

CASPER: A Phase I trial combining calaspargase pegol-mnkl and cobimetinib in pancreatic cancer.

Asparagine synthetase (ASNS) catalyzes the biosynthesis of asparagine from aspartate and glutamine. Cells lacking ASNS, however, are auxotrophic for asparagine. Use of L-asparaginase to promote asparagine starvation in solid tumors with low ASNS levels, such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), is a rationale treatment strategy.

The role of cognition as a factor regulating the diving responses of animals, including humans.

The dive response involves three main components - breath holding, reduced heart rate and increased peripheral vasoconstriction - and is ubiquitous during forced dives in air-breathing vertebrates; however, numerous studies in free-diving animals have shown that the heart rate response to diving varies considerably in a manner that suggests cognitive control. Furthermore, studies on free-diving animals and controlled experiments in trained animals both indicate that the dive response can be conditioned, such that the reduction in heart rate begins before submergence and the extent of the reduction is set early in the dive. In addition, numerous species also experience an increase in heart rate and blood flow during ascent at the end of a dive, a phenomenon commonly called 'ascent tachycardia'.

Cardiorespiratory adaptations in small cetaceans and marine mammals.

The dive response, or the 'master switch of life', is probably the most studied physiological trait in marine mammals and is thought to conserve the available O for the heart and brain. Although generally thought to be an autonomic reflex, several studies indicate that the cardiovascular changes during diving are anticipatory and can be conditioned. The respiratory adaptations, where the aquatic breathing pattern resembles intermittent breathing in land mammals, with expiratory flow exceeding 160 litres s has been measured in cetaceans, and where exposure to extreme pressures results in alveolar collapse (atelectasis) and recruitment upon ascent.

Cardiorespiratory coupling in the bottlenose dolphin ().

The bottlenose dolphin () is an intermittent breather, where the breath begins with an exhalation followed by inhalation and an extended inter-breath interval ranging from 10 to 40 s. Breathing has been shown to alter both the instantaneous heart rate (i ) and stroke volume (iSV) in the bottlenose dolphin, with a transitory ventilatory tachycardia following the breath, and an exponential decrease to a stable i around 40 beats • min during the inter-breath period. As the total breath duration in the dolphin is around 1 s, it is not possible to assess the contribution of exhalation and inhalation to these changes in cardiac function during normal breathing.

Evaluating feasibility of functional near-infrared spectroscopy in dolphins.

Significance: Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in bottlenose dolphins () could help to understand how echolocating animals perceive their environment and how they focus on specific auditory objects, such as fish, in noisy marine settings.

Aim: To test the feasibility of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in medium-sized marine mammals, such as dolphins, we modeled the light propagation with computational tools to determine the wavelengths, optode locations, and separation distances that maximize sensitivity to brain tissue.

Approach: Using frequency-domain NIRS, we measured the absorption and reduced scattering coefficient of dolphin sculp.

New insights into risk variables associated with gas embolism in loggerhead sea turtles () caught in trawls and gillnets.

Tissue and blood gas embolism (GE) associated with fisheries bycatch are likely a widespread, yet underestimated, cause of sea turtle mortality. Here, we evaluated risk factors associated with tissue and blood GE in loggerhead turtles caught incidentally by trawl and gillnet fisheries on the Valencian coastline of Spain. Of 413 turtles (303 caught by trawl, 110 by gillnet fisheries), 54% ( = 222) exhibited GE.

Allometric scaling of metabolic rate and cardiorespiratory variables in aquatic and terrestrial mammals.

While basal metabolic rate (BMR) scales proportionally with body mass (M ), it remains unclear whether the relationship differs between mammals from aquatic and terrestrial habitats. We hypothesized that differences in BMR allometry would be reflected in similar differences in scaling of O delivery pathways through the cardiorespiratory system. We performed a comparative analysis of BMR across 63 mammalian species (20 aquatic, 43 terrestrial) with a M range from 10 kg to 5318 kg.

Modulation of myeloid and T cells in vivo by Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Background: In preclinical studies of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), ibrutinib improved the antitumor efficacy of the standard of care chemotherapy. This led to a phase 1b clinical trial to determine the safety, tolerability, and immunologic effects of ibrutinib treatment in patients with advanced PDAC.

Methods: Previously untreated patients with PDAC were enrolled in a phase 1b clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.

Evidence of orthohantavirus and leptospira infections in small mammals in an endemic area of Gampaha district in Sri Lanka.

Background: Orthohantaviruses and leptospira are emerging zoonotic pathogens of high public health significance. The epidemiology of orthohantavirus infections and leptospirosis is similar and presents related clinical pictures in humans. However, a paucity of data on actual reservoir hosts for orthohantaviruses and leptospira exists.

Key questions in marine mammal bioenergetics.

Bioenergetic approaches are increasingly used to understand how marine mammal populations could be affected by a changing and disturbed aquatic environment. There remain considerable gaps in our knowledge of marine mammal bioenergetics, which hinder the application of bioenergetic studies to inform policy decisions. We conducted a priority-setting exercise to identify high-priority unanswered questions in marine mammal bioenergetics, with an emphasis on questions relevant to conservation and management.

An integrated comparative physiology and molecular approach pinpoints mediators of breath-hold capacity in dolphins.

Background And Objectives: Ischemic events, such as ischemic heart disease and stroke, are the number one cause of death globally. Ischemia prevents blood, carrying essential nutrients and oxygen, from reaching tissues, leading to cell and tissue death, and eventual organ failure. While humans are relatively intolerant to ischemic events, other species, such as marine mammals, have evolved a unique tolerance to chronic ischemia/reperfusion during apneic diving.

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy as a Tool for Marine Mammal Research and Care.

Developments in wearable human medical and sports health trackers has offered new solutions to challenges encountered by eco-physiologists attempting to measure physiological attributes in freely moving animals. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is one such solution that has potential as a powerful physio-logging tool to assess physiology in freely moving animals. NIRS is a non-invasive optics-based technology, that uses non-ionizing radiation to illuminate biological tissue and measures changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin concentrations inside tissues such as skin, muscle, and the brain.

Dynamic body acceleration as a proxy to predict the cost of locomotion in bottlenose dolphins.

Estimates of the energetic costs of locomotion (COL) at different activity levels are necessary to answer fundamental eco-physiological questions and to understand the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance to marine mammals. We combined estimates of energetic costs derived from breath-by-breath respirometry with measurements of overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) from biologging tags to validate ODBA as a proxy for COL in trained common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). We measured resting metabolic rate (RMR); mean individual RMR was 0.

Intranasal oxygen reverses hypoxaemia in immobilised free-ranging capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris).

Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the main host of tick-borne pathogens causing Brazilian spotted fever; therefore, controlling its population is essential, and this may require chemical restraint. We assessed the impact of chemical restraint protocols on the partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2) and other blood variables in 36 capybaras and the effect of different flows of nasal oxygen (O2) supplementation. The capybaras were hand-injected with dexmedetomidine (5 μg/kg) and midazolam (0.

Subsurface swimming and stationary diving are metabolically cheap in adult Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens).

Walruses rely on sea-ice to efficiently forage and rest between diving bouts while maintaining proximity to prime foraging habitat. Recent declines in summer sea ice have resulted in walruses hauling out on land where they have to travel farther to access productive benthic habitat while potentially increasing energetic costs. Despite the need to better understand the impact of sea ice loss on energy expenditure, knowledge about metabolic demands of specific behaviours in walruses is scarce.

A Baseline Model For Estimating the Risk of Gas Embolism in Sea Turtles During Routine Dives.

Sea turtles, like other air-breathing diving vertebrates, commonly experience significant gas embolism (GE) when incidentally caught at depth in fishing gear and brought to the surface. To better understand why sea turtles develop GE, we built a mathematical model to estimate partial pressures of N (PN), O (PO), and CO (PCO) in the major body-compartments of diving loggerheads (), leatherbacks (), and green turtles (). This model was adapted from a published model for estimating gas dynamics in marine mammals and penguins.

Measurement of catestatin and vasostatin in wild boar Sus scrofa captured in a corral trap.

Objective: Our aim was to analyse the chromogranin A-derived peptides vasostatin and catestatin in serum from wild boar (Sus scrofa) captured in a corral trap. Acute capture-related stress quickly leads to a release of adrenalin and noradrenalin, but these hormones have a short half-life in blood and are difficult to measure. Chromogranin A (CgA), a glycoprotein which is co-released with noradrenalin and adrenalin, is relatively stable in circulation and the CgA-derived peptides catestatin and vasostatin have been measured in domestic species, but not yet in wildlife.

What is physiologging? Introduction to the theme issue, part 2.

The physiological mechanisms by which animals regulate energy expenditure, respond to stimuli and stressors, and maintain homeostasis at the tissue, organ and whole organism levels can be described by 'physiologging'-that is, the use of onboard miniature electronic devices to record physiological metrics of animals in captivity or free-living in the wild. Despite its origins in the 1960s, physiologging has evolved more slowly than its umbrella field of biologging. However, the recording of physiological metrics in free-living animals will be key to solving some of the greatest challenges in biodiversity conservation, issues pertaining to animal health and welfare, and for inspiring future therapeutic strategies for human health.

STANDING SEDATION WITH XYLAZINE AND REVERSAL WITH YOHIMBINE IN JUVENILE ASIAN ELEPHANTS ().

Evaluation and improvement of immobilization methods are important for wildlife welfare and biodiversity conservation. The sedative and physiological effects of xylazine (50-110 mg per elephant; 0.09-0.

Introduction to the theme issue: Measuring physiology in free-living animals.

By describing animals go, biologging technologies (i.e. animal attached logging of biological variables with small electronic devices) have been used to document the remarkable athletic feats of wild animals since the 1940s.

Scaling of heart rate with breathing frequency and body mass in cetaceans.

Plasticity in the cardiac function of a marine mammal facilitates rapid adjustments to the contrasting metabolic demands of breathing at the surface and diving during an extended apnea. By matching their heart rate () to their immediate physiological needs, a marine mammal can improve its metabolic efficiency and maximize the proportion of time spent underwater. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a known modulation of that is driven by respiration and has been suggested to increase cardiorespiratory efficiency.