Automatic detection and classification of beluga whale calls in the St. Lawrence estuary.

The endangered beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) of the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLEB) faces threats from a variety of anthropogenic factors. Since belugas are a highly social and vocal species, passive acoustic monitoring has the potential to deliver, in a non-invasive and continuous way, real-time information on SLEB spatiotemporal habitat use, which is crucial for their monitoring and conservation.

Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Seals, St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec, Canada.

We describe an unusual mortality event caused by a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus clade 2.3.4.

Variations in thyroid hormone levels in endangered St. Lawrence Estuary belugas: Potential linkage with stress and organohalogen contaminant exposure.

The St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) population is highly exposed to an array of contaminants that were identified as one of the causes to the non-recovery of this endangered and declining population. In the last decade, an increasing number of parturition-associated complications and calf mortality has been reported in this population.

Effect of Antibiotic Administration Before Joint Aspiration on Synovial Fluid White Blood Cell Count in Native Joint Septic Arthritis.

Background: This study was performed to assess the impact of preaspiration antibiotics on synovial fluid analysis and timing of operative treatment in native-joint septic arthritis.

Methods: We performed a retrospective record review of adult patients from an urban level 1 trauma center with native joint septic arthritis in 2015-2019, identified by means of codes from the ( and ). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine whether antibiotics were associated with lower synovial fluid white blood cell counts (WBCs), the percentage of polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMNs), and rate of culture positivity.

Estimating pregnancy rate from blubber progesterone levels of a blindly biopsied beluga population poses methodological, analytical and statistical challenges.

Beluga () from the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada, have been declining since the early 2000s, suggesting recruitment issues as a result of low fecundity, abnormal abortion rates or poor calf or juvenile survival. Pregnancy is difficult to observe in cetaceans, making the ground truthing of pregnancy estimates in wild individuals challenging.

Geometric Morphometric Assessment of Toe Shape in Forest and Urban Lizards Following Hurricane Disturbances.

Evidence suggests that hurricanes can influence the evolution of organisms, with phenotypic traits involved in adhesion, such as the toepads of arboreal lizards, being particularly susceptible to natural selection imposed by hurricanes. To investigate this idea, we quantified trait variation before and after Hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017) in forest and urban populations of the Puerto Rican lizard . We found that the hurricanes affected toe morphology differently between forest and urban sites.

Avoiding sharp accelerations can mitigate the impacts of a Ferry's radiated noise on the St. Lawrence whales.

Exposure to anthropogenic noise from the commercial fleet is one of the primary constituents of the acoustic pollution perturbing the environment of aquatic life. Merchant ships (e.g.

Machine-Learning Approach for Automatic Detection of Wild Beluga Whales from Hand-Held Camera Pictures.

A key aspect of ocean protection consists in estimating the abundance of marine mammal population density within their habitat, which is usually accomplished using visual inspection and cameras from line-transect ships, small boats, and aircraft. However, marine mammal observation through vessel surveys requires significant workforce resources, including for the post-processing of pictures, and is further challenged due to animal bodies being partially hidden underwater, small-scale object size, occlusion among objects, and distracter objects (e.g.

Extracting spatial networks from capture-recapture data reveals individual site fidelity patterns within a marine mammal's spatial range.

Estimating the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances requires an understanding of the habitat-use patterns of individuals within a population. This is especially the case when disturbances are localized within a population's spatial range, as variation in habitat use within a population can drastically alter the distribution of impacts.Here, we illustrate the potential for multilevel binomial models to generate spatial networks from capture-recapture data, a common data source used in wildlife studies to monitor population dynamics and habitat use.

Agent-based modelling reveals a disproportionate exposure of females and calves to a local increase in shipping and associated noise in an endangered beluga population.

Vessel underwater noise (VUN) is one of the main threats to the recovery of the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga population (SLEB). The 1% yearly population decline indicates that the cumulative threats are already beyond sustainable limits for the SLEB.

Individual and population dietary specialization decline in fin whales during a period of ecosystem shift.

This study sought to estimate the effect of an anthropogenic and climate-driven change in prey availability on the degree of individual and population specialization of a large marine predator, the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). We examined skin biopsies from 99 fin whales sampled in the St. Lawrence Estuary (Canada) over a nine year period (1998-2006) during which environmental change was documented.

Anticipating Urinary Retention Following Total Hip and Total Knee Replacements.

Introduction: Urinary retention is a widely recognised postoperative complication. Although anecdotally lower limb arthroplasty is linked with high rates of urinary retention, there are no current accepted standards for determining which patients are at higher risk and should therefore be offered intra operative catheterisation.

Materials And Methods: One hundred patients, 55 females and 45 males, who underwent uncomplicated total hip or total knee replacements at Furness General Hospital were recruited between January and April 2017.

Lipid metabolites as indicators of body condition in highly contaminant-exposed belugas from the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary population (Canada).

The endangered St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) beluga population is declining and has shown no sign of recovery over the past decades despite several protective measures. Changes in the availability of food resources and exposure to organohalogen contaminants have been suggested as potential factors limiting the recovery of this population.

An enhanced characterization process for the elimination of very low level radioactive waste in particle accelerators.

The elimination of very low level waste towards the French national repository requires their radiological characterization to estimate the radionuclide inventory and the associated activities within a waste package. Such characterization is performed by means of activation calculations and measurements. Two elimination projects have been identified at CERN, to dispose of bulk metallic waste and cables activated in the CERN accelerator complex.

Metabolomic profiles of the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary beluga population and associations with organohalogen contaminants.

The endangered beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) population residing in the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE; Eastern Canada) is declining. The elevated tissue concentrations of a wide range of organohalogen contaminants might play a role in the non-recovery of this whale population.

Associations between organohalogen exposure and thyroid- and steroid-related gene responses in St. Lawrence Estuary belugas and minke whales.

Elevated concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and emerging halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) have been reported in tissues of the endangered St. Lawrence Estuary (Canada) beluga population as well as in minke whales visiting that same feeding area. This study examined the linkages between blubber concentrations of POPs and emerging HFRs, and transcription in skin of genes involved in the regulation of thyroid and steroid axes in belugas and minke whales from the St.

Intestinal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in a population of beluga whales with high levels of gastrointestinal cancers.

Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were disposed directly into the Saguenay River of the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) by local aluminum smelters (Quebec, Canada) for 50 years (1926-1976). PAHs in the river sediments are likely etiologically related to gastrointestinal epithelial cancers observed in 7% of 156 mature (>19-year old) adult beluga found dead along the shorelines.

A voluntary conservation agreement reduces the risks of lethal collisions between ships and whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary (Québec, Canada): From co-construction to monitoring compliance and assessing effectiveness.

Lethal collisions with ships are limiting the recovery of several at-risk whale species worldwide. In the St. Lawrence Estuary (Quebec, Canada), the endangered blue whale and of special concern fin whale are among the migratory species subject to collisions with large ships.

Utilization of cone beam computed tomography to determine the prevalence and anatomical characteristics of bifurcated inferior alveolar nerves.

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) bifurcations through the utilization of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). The secondary purposes of this study were to analyze the average distance from the main trunk to its branch at the greatest point, to calculate the average distance of the bifid IAN from the apices of the teeth, and to determine the appropriate classification for each IAN bifid nerve according to the types described by Nortjé et al: type 1, 2 canals originating from a single foramen with a narrower inferior canal; type 2, 2 canals originating from a single foramen with a superior canal extending to the second or third molar; type 3, 2 canals of equal size that arise from 2 mental foramina that may link into a single canal near the molars. Examination of 194 CBCT scans revealed that IAN bifurcations were present in 13.

Investigation of Dental Implant Referral Patterns Among General Dentists and Dental Specialists: A Survey Approach.

A historical area of referral involves the placement of dental implants. Because there is a high demand for dental implant therapy and relatively few general dentists participating in the surgical aspect, it is important to investigate referral characteristics to specialists. The authors conducted a study in which 6,769 general dentists and specialists were emailed an anonymous online survey.

Multispecies mass mortality of marine fauna linked to a toxic dinoflagellate bloom.

Following heavy precipitation, we observed an intense algal bloom in the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) that coincided with an unusually high mortality of several species of marine fish, birds and mammals, including species designated at risk. The algal species was identified as Alexandrium tamarense and was determined to contain a potent mixture of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST).

Cone Beam Computerized Tomography Analysis of the Posterior and Anterior Mandibular Lingual Concavity for Dental Implant Patients.

This study was conducted to evaluate variations in and the prevalence of the lingual concavity. Images were taken between January 1, 2011, and August 31, 2015, from a total of 104 patient charts randomly selected from a private practice. These images were acquired from a single cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) machine.

Performance and nitrogen use efficiency in mid-lactation dairy cows fed timothy cut in the afternoon or morning.

Shifting cutting from morning to afternoon has been shown to increase the concentration of nonstructural carbohydrates in forages. We hypothesized that, compared with a total mixed ration containing timothy baleage and silage cut in the morning (a.m.

Genomic Prediction of Biomass Yield in Two Selection Cycles of a Tetraploid Alfalfa Breeding Population.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a widely planted perennial forage legume grown throughout temperate and dry subtropical regions in the world. Long breeding cycles limit genetic improvement of alfalfa, particularly for complex traits such as biomass yield.