IMPLICATIONS OF TREATING PARASITIC INFECTION IN NORTHERN BOBWHITE (COLINUS VIRGINIANUS) ON OVERALL HELMINTH LIFE CYCLE.

This study was conducted to determine how reducing the parasite burden in a definitive host may affect the prevalence in intermediate hosts. Here we used the eyeworm Oxyspirura petrowi and cecal worm Aulonocephalus pennula as model species. Northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) were provided an anthelmintic medicated feed in wild systems because of convincing evidence that these parasites were suppressing their populations. Eyeworm and cecal worm prevalence were measured in Orthopterans, which act as intermediate hosts, using polymerase chain reaction. Individuals were collected from a control site, a site treated for 2 yr, and a site treated for 5 yr. Orthopteran community composition was significantly different among the sites; however, an interaction between subfamily and site was not significant for the eyeworm. There was a significant reduction in eyeworm-infected Orthopterans on the 5-yr site compared with the other 2, suggesting that treatment of a definitive host may indeed affect the prevalence of eyeworms during other life-cycle stages. There was an interaction between the Orthopteran subfamily and the site for the cecal worm, so results were analyzed within each subfamily. A significant reduction in the prevalence of cecal worms was only found in the Cyrtacanthacridinae subfamily on the 5-yr site when compared with the other sites. However, the greatest prevalence in the Gomphocerinae and Oedipodinae subfamilies across all 3 sites was 4.1%. This indicates an unknown degree of cecal worm host specificity. Therefore, conclusions could not be made through the simple assessment of prevalence.

Validation of an enzyme immunoassay for the detection of corticosterone metabolites from northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) feces.

Interest in the effects of stressors on wildlife has grown substantially over the past few decades. As this interest has grown, so has the need for minimally invasive and reliable methods for estimating differences in the levels of stress hormones. An enzyme immunoassay using standardized methods was validated for detecting concentrations of corticosterone (cort) metabolites from northern bobwhite fecal samples. Two physiological challenges and one biological challenge were applied to 18 northern bobwhites (nine males and nine females), and the fecal cort metabolite concentrations were compared to baseline levels. The interactions of sex and treatment, treatment and time and sex and time were all significant. Thus, the methods and tools used here were sensitive enough to detect expected changes to the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis of northern bobwhite.

Understanding job satisfaction in the causal attitude network (CAN) model.

Job satisfaction researchers typically assume a tripartite model, suggesting evaluations of the job are explained by latent cognitive and affective factors. However, in the attitudes literature, connectionist theorists view attitudes as emergent structures resulting from the mutually reinforcing causal force of interacting cognitive evaluations. Recently, the causal attitudes network (CAN; Dalege et al., 2016) model was proposed as an integration of both these perspectives with network theory. Here, we describe the CAN model and its implications for understanding job satisfaction. We extend the existing literature by drawing from both attitude and network theory. Using multiple data sets and measures of job satisfaction, we test these ideas empirically. First, drawing on the functional approach to attitudes, we show the instrumental-symbolic distinction in attitude objects is evident in job satisfaction networks. Specifically, networks for more instrumental features (e.g., pay) show stable, high connectivity and form a single cluster, whereas networks regarding symbolic features (e.g., supervisor) increase in connectivity with exposure (i.e., job tenure) and form clusters based on valence and cognitive-affective distinction. We show these distinctions result in "small-world" networks for symbolic features wherein affective reactions are more central than cognitive reactions, consistent with the affective primacy hypothesis. We show the practical advantage of CAN by demonstrating in longitudinal data that items with high centrality are more likely to affect change throughout the attitude network, and that network models are better able to predict future voluntary turnover compared with structural equation models. Implications of this exciting new model for research and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).