Genomic insights into isolation of the threatened Florida crested caracara (Caracara plancus).

We conducted a population genomic study of the crested caracara (Caracara plancus) using samples (n = 290) collected from individuals in Florida, Texas, and Arizona, United States. Crested caracaras are non-migratory raptors ranging from the southern tip of South America to the southern United States, including a federally protected relict population in Florida long thought to have been isolated since the last ice age. Our objectives were to evaluate genetic diversity and population structure of Florida's apparently isolated population and to evaluate taxonomic relationships of crested caracaras at the northern edge of their range.

The Duty to Care is Not Dead Yet.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed social shortcomings and ethical failures, but it also revealed strengths and successes. In this perspective article, we examine and discuss one strength: the duty to care. We understand this duty in a broad sense, as more than a duty to treat individual patients who could infect health care workers.

Targeted RNA sequencing reveals differential patterns of transcript expression in geographically discrete, insecticide resistant populations of Leptinotarsa decemlineata.

Background: The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say) is a major agricultural pest of commercial potatoes, partially due to its ability to rapidly develop resistance to multiple insecticide modes of action. Patterns of L. decemlineata insecticide resistance in the contiguous United States have been linked to geographic location and regional management practices.

Adherence in chronic hepatitis B: associations between medication possession ratio and adverse viral outcomes.

Background: Antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is effective and can substantially reduce the risk of progressive liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma but is often administered for an indefinite duration. Adherence has been shown in clinical trials to maximize the benefit of therapy and prevent the development of resistance, however the optimal threshold for predicting clinical outcomes has not been identified. The aim of this study was to analyse adherence using the medication possession ration (MPR) and its relation to virological outcomes in a large multi-centre hospital outpatient population, and guide development of an evidence-based threshold for optimal adherence.

Avian injury quantification using the Shoreline Deposition Model and model sensitivities.

Deposition models, such as the Shoreline Deposition Model (SDM) used to quantify nearshore avian injuries resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, were developed to improve the estimates of nearshore avian mortality resulting from the release of oil into coastal and marine environments. Unlike earlier approaches to injury quantification, such as simple counts of carcasses on the shoreline, a modeling approach allows trustees to evaluate the precision of their estimate (i.e.

Evaluation of the fate of carcasses and dummies deployed in the nearshore and offshore waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico.

In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, federal and state agencies conducted field studies to develop inputs for a shoreline deposition model used to estimate nearshore avian mortality resulting from the spill. A 2011 carcass drift study was designed to generate data on the likelihood that birds that died on the water would deposit along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast (rather than becoming lost at sea). In the case of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, carcass losses at sea accounted for a significant portion of nearshore avian mortality.

Environmental migrants, structural injustice, and moral responsibility.

Climate change and environmental problems will force or induce millions of people to migrate. In this article, I describe environmental migration and articulate some of the ethical issues. To begin, I give an account of these migrants that overcomes misleading dichotomies.

Power, pollution, and ethics.

Environmental problems are more urgent and serious than ever: climate change, air pollution, water pollution, shortages of freshwater, deforestation, over-fishing, antibiotic resistance, and more. Discussions in public health address these problems because they affect people's health and life prospects so profoundly. In this work, we add to the discussion by exploring the ethical aspects of a case scenario that involves pollution from a coal-fired power plant.

Speaking Up: An Ethical Action Exercise.

Problem: Health care professionals encounter situations in which they need to speak up to prevent harm, ensure better care, and/or address unprofessional behavior. Speaking up is often difficult, especially for medical students; nonetheless, it is a skill students must practice, so they can better advocate for patients.

Approach: The authors have designed an ethical action exercise and incorporated it into a required bioethics course that meets concurrently with third-year clerkships.

A Case Study of Improving Yield Prediction and Sulfur Deficiency Detection Using Optical Sensors and Relationship of Historical Potato Yield with Weather Data in Maine.

In Maine, potato yield is consistent, 38 t·ha, for last 10 years except 2016 (44 t·ha) which confirms that increasing the yield and quality of potatoes with current fertilization practices is difficult; hence, new or improvised agronomic methods are needed to meet with producers and industry requirements. Normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) sensors have shown promise in regulating N as an in season application; however, using late N may stretch out the maturation stage. The purpose of the research was to test Trimble GreenSeeker (TGS) and Holland Scientific Crop Circle™ ACS-430 (HCCACS-430) wavebands to predict potato yield, before the second hilling (6-8 leaf stage).

Molecular detection of bacteria in the families Rickettsiaceae and Anaplasmataceae in northern crested caracaras (Caracara cheriway).

Bacterial pathogens of the families Anaplasmataceae and Rickettsiaceae are often spread to humans or other animals from bites from infected arthropod hosts. Recently, an increasing number of studies have implicated migratory birds in the circulation of these pathogens through the spread of arthropod vectors. However, few studies have examined the potential for resident bird populations to serve as reservoirs for these zoonoses.

Antepartum dalteparin versus no antepartum dalteparin for the prevention of pregnancy complications in pregnant women with thrombophilia (TIPPS): a multinational open-label randomised trial.

Background: Thrombophilias are common disorders that increase the risk of pregnancy-associated venous thromboembolism and pregnancy loss and can also increase the risk of placenta-mediated pregnancy complications (severe pre-eclampsia, small-for-gestational-age infants, and placental abruption). We postulated that antepartum dalteparin would reduce these complications in pregnant women with thrombophilia.

Methods: In this open-label randomised trial undertaken in 36 tertiary care centres in five countries, we enrolled consenting pregnant women with thrombophilia at increased risk of venous thromboembolism or with previous placenta-mediated pregnancy complications.

Using sparse dose-response data for wildlife risk assessment.

Hazard quotients based on a point-estimate comparison of exposure to a toxicity reference value (TRV) are commonly used to characterize risks for wildlife. Quotients may be appropriate for screening-level assessments but should be avoided in detailed assessments, because they provide little insight regarding the likely magnitude of effects and associated uncertainty. To better characterize risks to wildlife and support more informed decision making, practitioners should make full use of available dose-response data.

Using Alzgene-like approaches to investigate susceptibility genes for vascular cognitive impairment.

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), including vascular dementia, is the second most common dementia after Alzheimer's disease. Despite its prevalence, the genetic etiology of sporadic VCI is largely unknown. We conducted a systematic review of all published genetic association studies of forms of sporadic VCI prior to 6 July 2012.

Differing Relations to Early Atherosclerosis between Vitamin C from Supplements vs. Food in the Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To determine the relationship of vitamin c intake from supplements vs food on early atherosclerosis detected by carotid intima media thickness (IMT).

Background: Oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction play a critical role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Dietary vitamin C appears to have anti-oxidant properties and beneficial relations to endothelial function, yet vitamin C taken as a vitamin supplement does not appear to protect from cardiovascular events.

Ethics in sports medicine.

All physicians are faced at some time with fundamental challenges while striving to respect the principle canons which define a physician's ethical code. These canons are: 1. Primacy of patient interests, 2.

Accreditation. Chassin and Joint Commission aim to inspire. Interview by Howard Larkin.

After two years at the helm of the Joint Commission, Mark Chassin, M.D., is pressing forward with efforts to turn the Joint Commission into a partner with hospitals and other providers and transform health care into a "high reliability" enterprise along the lines of the aviation and nuclear energy industries.

Subaponeurotic or subgaleal fluid collections in infancy: an unusual but distinct cause of scalp swelling in infancy.

Subaponeurotic or subgaleal fluid collection is a rare but important cause of scalp swelling in young infants. Fluid in the subaponeurotic or subgaleal space presents as soft, ill-defined, fluctuant, highly mobile scalp swelling and is not limited by suture lines, which makes it clinically very distinct from other scalp swellings. However, the aetiology of such swelling still remains uncertain but may be related to traumatic labour that manifests after the first few weeks of life.

How to connect bioethics and environmental ethics: health, sustainability, and justice.

In this paper, I explore one way to bring bioethics and environmental ethics closer together. I focus on a question at the interface of health, sustainability, and justice: How well does a society promote health with the use of no more than a just share of environmental capacity? To address this question, I propose and discuss a mode of assessment that combines a measurement of population health, an estimate of environmental sustainability, and an assumption about what constitutes a fair or just share. This mode of assessment provides an estimate of the just and sustainable life expectancy of a population.

Prevalence of antibodies to West Nile virus and other arboviruses among Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) in Florida.

We documented the antibody prevalence to three arboviruses, St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), and West Nile virus (WNV), in Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway; n = 80) in Florida from 2007 to 2008. Antibody prevalence to WNV was higher (9%) than for the other viruses.

Evaluation of acute copper toxicity to juvenile freshwater mussels (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea) in natural and reconstituted waters.

The influence of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and water composition on the toxicity of copper to juvenile freshwater mussels (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea) were evaluated in natural and reconstituted waters. Acute 96-h copper toxicity tests werec onducted at four nominal DOC concentrations (0, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/L as carbon [C]) in dilutions of natural waters and in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) reconstituted hard water.