Emerging Health Technologies in Long-Term Care and Suppliers' Views on Their Potential to Assist and Support the Workforce.

Emerging technological advances hold potential to assist the long-term care (LTC) workforce in caring for an aging population in the home and LTC settings. Technology may alter workforce needs and mitigate rising workforce demand. This study identified and assessed emerging technologies that may assist, replace, and/or support recruitment and retention of the LTC workforce and identified barriers and facilitators to their implementation. We identified a variety of technologies with applications for LTC, created a taxonomy of technology types and functions across LTC settings, and conducted semi-structured interviews with a sample of company leaders to assess perceived impact of their products and services on the LTC workforce. Thematic analysis of those interviews found that technology is not currently positioned to replace the LTC workforce but may facilitate work and support worker recruitment and retention. More rigorous evaluation of technologies in LTC and financing mechanisms are needed to support widespread adoption.

Stereotypic vocalizations in harvest mice (Reithrodontomys): Harmonic structure contains prominent and distinctive audible, ultrasonic, and non-linear elements.

Reports of audible vocalizations are rare in adult muroid rodents, animals generally very small in body size and under strong predation pressure. By contrast, communication using high, often ultrasonic vocal frequencies is relatively common. There are anecdotal reports of audible vocalizations for some harvest mice (genus Reithrodontomys), however none have been recorded or analyzed. Several species of harvest mice are studied, representing the subgenera Reithrodontomys (R. fulvescens, R. sumichrasti) and Aporodon (R. creper, R. mexicanus, R. spp.), as part of a larger phylogenetic analysis of stereotypical vocal communication. Only R. mexicanus produced stereotyped vocalizations on a regular basis. Acoustic signals of R. mexicanus contain prominent harmonics bridging both the audible and ultrasonic range, with evidence of non-linear distribution of energy within and between notes of an individual call. Harmonic emphasis varies, making the carrier frequency difficult to locate. These Reithrodontomys vocalizations are compared with members of their phylogenetic sister group Onychomys+Peromyscus, genera whose stereotypic calls exclusively occupy the audible or ultrasonic spectrum, respectively. It is hypothesized that the stereotypic signals of harvest mice represent announcement calls. Given the number of anecdotal reports of stereotyped 1, 2, and 3-note calls among Reithrodontomys species, further interspecific comparisons are warranted.

TOWARD A MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY FOR PEROMYSCUS: EVIDENCE FROM MITOCHONDRIAL CYTOCHROME-b SEQUENCES.

One hundred DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene of 44 species of deer mice (Peromyscus (sensu stricto), 1 of Habromys, 1 of Isthmomys, 2 of Megadontomys, and the monotypic genera Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys were used to develop a molecular phylogeny for Peromyscus. Phylogenetic analyses (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference) were conducted to evaluate alternative hypotheses concerning taxonomic arrangements (sensu stricto versus sensu lato) of the genus. In all analyses, monophyletic clades were obtained that corresponded to species groups proposed by previous authors; however, relationships among species groups generally were poorly resolved. The concept of the genus Peromyscus based on molecular data differed significantly from the most current taxonomic arrangement. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian trees depicted strong support for a clade placing Habromys, Megadontomys, Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys within Peromyscus. If Habromys, Megadontomys, Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys are regarded as genera, then several species groups within Peromyscus (sensu stricto) should be elevated to generic rank. Isthmomys was associated with the genus Reithrodontomys; in turn this clade was sister to Baiomys, indicating a distant relationship of Isthmomys to Peromyscus. A formal taxonomic revision awaits synthesis of additional sequence data from nuclear markers together with inclusion of available allozymic and karyotypic data.