Use of Enrofloxacin and Hydrotherapy in the Management of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) in a Savannah Cat.

FOP is a rare genetic condition, described mainly in man and cats, characterized by progressive, painful debilitation and shortened lifespan. A 10-month-old neutered male Savannah cat was referred for progressive gait abnormalities and multifocal firm masses within the soft-tissues that were unresponsive to previous treatment. Diagnosis of FOP was based on histopathological evaluation of intralesional biopsies, which revealed osteo-cartilaginous metaplasia and fibrocellular proliferation with intralesional chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification. The cat was managed with 5 mg/kg BID enrofloxacin and hydrotherapy for 3 years until acute death. During that three-year period, the cat displayed consistent improvement in endurance, quality of life, and range of motion. Postmortem histopathology further confirmed the diagnosis of FOP via identification of intramuscular and intra-fascial ossification with lymphoplasmacytic infiltration, degeneration, and regeneration of adjacent myocytes. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of long-term enrofloxacin treatment and hydrotherapy for the management of FOP in a cat, leading to improved mobility and survival time, and the first report of FOP in an exotic breed cat.

Environmental Persistence of the World's Most Burdensome Infectious and Parasitic Diseases.

Humans live in complex socio-ecological systems where we interact with parasites and pathogens that spend time in abiotic and biotic environmental reservoirs (e.g., water, air, soil, other vertebrate hosts, vectors, intermediate hosts). Through a synthesis of published literature, we reviewed the life cycles and environmental persistence of 150 parasites and pathogens tracked by the World Health Organization's Global Burden of Disease study. We used those data to derive the time spent in each component of a pathogen's life cycle, including total time spent in humans versus all environmental stages. We found that nearly all infectious organisms were "environmentally mediated" to some degree, meaning that they spend time in reservoirs and can be transmitted from those reservoirs to human hosts. Correspondingly, many infectious diseases were primarily controlled through environmental interventions (e.g., vector control, water sanitation), whereas few (14%) were primarily controlled by integrated methods (i.e., combining medical and environmental interventions). Data on critical life history attributes for most of the 150 parasites and pathogens were difficult to find and often uncertain, potentially hampering efforts to predict disease dynamics and model interactions between life cycle time scales and infection control strategies. We hope that this synthetic review and associated database serve as a resource for understanding both common patterns among parasites and pathogens and important variability and uncertainty regarding particular infectious diseases. These insights can be used to improve systems-based approaches for controlling environmentally mediated diseases of humans in an era where the environment is rapidly changing.

Corticomuscular coherence is reduced in relation to dorsiflexion fatigability to the same extent in adults with cerebral palsy as in neurologically intact adults.

PURPOSE: Fatigue is frequent in adults with cerebral palsy (CP) and it is unclear whether this is due to altered corticospinal drive. We aimed to compare changes in corticospinal drive following sustained muscle contractions in adults with CP and neurologically intact (NI) adults. METHODS: Fourteen adults with CP [age 37.6 (10.1), seven females, GMFCS levels I-II] and ten NI adults [age 35.4 (10.3), 6 females] performed 1-min static dorsiflexion at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) before and after a submaximal contraction at 60% MVC. Electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) from the anterior tibial muscle were analyzed to quantify the coupling, expressed by corticomuscular coherence (CMC). RESULTS: Adults with CP had lower MVCs but similar time to exhaustion during the relative load of the fatigability trial. Both groups exhibited fatigability-related changes in EMG median frequency and EMG amplitude. The CP group showed lower beta band (16-35 Hz) CMC before fatigability, but both groups decreased beta band CMC following fatigability. There was a linear correlation between decrease of beta band CMC and fatigability-related increase in EMG. CONCLUSION: Fatigability following static contraction until failure was related to decreased beta band CMC in both NI adults and adults with CP. Our findings indicate that compensatory mechanisms to fatigability are present in both groups, and that fatigability affects the corticospinal drive in the same way. We suggest that the perceived physical fatigue in CP is related to the high relative load of activities of daily living rather than any particular physiological mechanism.

The importance of tangible and intangible factors in human-carnivore coexistence.

Conflict with humans is one of the major threats facing the world's remaining large carnivore populations, and understanding human attitudes is key to improving coexistence. We surveyed people living near Hwange National Park about their attitudes toward coexisting with lions. We used ordinal regression models with the results of the survey to investigate the importance of a range of tangible and intangible factors on attitudes. The variables investigated included the costs and benefits of wildlife presence, emotion, culture, religion, vulnerability, risk perception, notions of responsibility, and personal value orientations. This was for the purpose of effectively tailoring conservation efforts but also for ethical policy making. Intangible factors (e.g., fear and ecocentric values) were as important as, if not more important than, tangible factors (such as livestock losses) for understanding attitudes, based on the effect sizes of these variables. The degree to which participants' fear of lions interfered with their daily activities was the most influential variable. The degree to which benefits accrue to households from the nearby protected area was also highly influential, as was number of livestock lost, number of dependents, ecocentric value orientation, and participation in conflict mitigation programs. Contrary to what is often assumed, metrics of livestock loss did not dominate attitudes to coexistence with lions. Furthermore, we found that socioeconomic variables may appear important when studied in isolation, but their effect may disappear when controlling for variables related to beliefs, perceptions, and past experiences. This raises questions about the widespread reliance on socioeconomic variables in the field of human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. To facilitate coexistence with large carnivores, we recommend measures that reduce fear (through education and through protective measures that reduce the need to be fearful), reduction of livestock losses, and ensuring local communities benefit from conservation. Ecocentric values also emerged as influential, highlighting the need to develop conservation initiatives tailored to local values.

Importancia de los Factores Tangibles e Intangibles en la Coexistencia Humanos-Carnívoros Resumen Los conflictos con humanos son una de las principales amenazas que enfrentan las poblaciones permanentes de grandes carnívoros del planeta y el entendimiento de las actitudes humanas es importante para mejorar la coexistencia. Preguntamos a las personas que viven cerca del Parque Nacional Hwange sobre su postura hacia la coexistencia con leones. Usamos modelos de regresión ordinal en los resultados del cuestionario para investigar la importancia de una gama de factores tangibles e intangibles para estas posturas. Las variables investigadas incluyeron el costo y beneficio de la presencia de fauna, emociones, cultura, religión, vulnerabilidad, percepción de riesgos, nociones de la responsabilidad y orientaciones de valor personal. Realizamos esto con el propósito de diseñar efectivamente los esfuerzos de conservación pero también para la generación de políticas éticas. Los factores intangibles (p. ej.: el miedo y los valores ecocéntricos) fueron tan importantes, si no es que más importantes, como los factores tangibles (como la pérdida de cabezas de ganado) para el entendimiento de las actitudes, con base en los tamaños del efecto de estas variables. El grado al que el miedo que los participantes sienten por los leones interfiere con sus actividades diarias fue la variable con mayor influencia. El grado al que los hogares del área protegida cercana devengan beneficios también tuvo una influencia alta, como lo tuvo el número de cabezas de ganado perdidas, el número de dependientes, la orientación de los valores ecocéntricos y la participación en programas de mitigación del conflicto. Contrario a lo que frecuentemente se asume, las medidas de la pérdida de cabezas de ganado no dominó sobre las actitudes por la coexistencia con leones. Más allá, encontramos que las variables socioeconómicas pueden parecer importantes cuando se estudian de manera aislada pero su efecto puede desaparecer cuando se controlan las variables relacionadas con las creencias, percepciones y experiencias pasadas. Esto genera preguntas sobre la dependencia hacia las variables socioeconómicas en el área de estudios de conflictos y coexistencia entre humanos y fauna. Para facilitar la coexistencia con carnívoros mayores recomendamos tomar medidas que reduzcan el miedo (por medio de la educación y medidas de protección que reduzcan la necesidad de vivir con miedo), la disminución de la pérdida de cabezas de ganado y garantizarles a las comunidades locales los beneficios que proporciona la conservación. Los valores ecocéntricos también surgieron como influyentes, lo que resalta la necesidad de desarrollar iniciativas de conservación adaptadas a los valores locales.

A nutritional intervention program improves the nutritional status of geriatric patients at nutritional risk-a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of a nutrition intervention program for geriatric nutritional at-risk patients. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Department of geriatric medicine in a university hospital and in the primary healthcare sector, Copenhagen. SUBJECTS: Geriatric patients ( N = 144) at nutritional risk. INTERVENTION: The intervention consisted of an individual dietary plan for home, including pre-discharge advice on nutritional intake, combined with three follow-up visits after discharge (one, four, and eight weeks). MAIN MEASURES: Change in body weight, Barthel Index, hand-grip strength and self-rated health from baseline (discharge) to three months after discharge, readmission, and mortality (90 and 120 days). RESULTS: The mean (SD) age in total sample was 87.2 (6.2) years. Sample size in the intervention group (IG) was N = 72, and in the control group (CG), N = 72. IG had a mean (SD) weight gain of 0.9 (4.2) kg compared to a weight loss of 0.8 (3.6) kg in the CG ( P = 0.032). In addition, an improvement in self-rated health was seen in the IG compared to CG (IG: 23 (47%) vs. CG: 12 (24%); P = 0.021). No significant difference between groups was found in functional status, mortality, or readmission rates. CONCLUSION: An individual dietary plan based on everyday food, combined with three follow-up visits (one, four, and eight weeks) after discharge, led to an improvement in nutritional status and self-rated health in geriatric patients.

Bacterial Diseases of Bananas and Enset: Current State of Knowledge and Integrated Approaches Toward Sustainable Management.

Bacterial diseases of bananas and enset have not received, until recently, an equal amount of attention compared to other major threats to banana production such as the fungal diseases black leaf streak (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) and Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense). However, bacteria cause significant impacts on bananas globally and management practices are not always well known or adopted by farmers. Bacterial diseases in bananas and enset can be divided into three groups: (1) Ralstonia-associated diseases (Moko/Bugtok disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum and banana blood disease caused by R. syzygii subsp. celebesensis); (2) Xanthomonas wilt of banana and enset, caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum and (3) Erwinia-associated diseases (bacterial head rot or tip-over disease Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora and E. chrysanthemi), bacterial rhizome and pseudostem wet rot (Dickeya paradisiaca formerly E. chrysanthemi pv. paradisiaca). Other bacterial diseases of less widespread importance include: bacterial wilt of abaca, Javanese vascular wilt and bacterial fingertip rot (probably caused by Ralstonia spp., unconfirmed). This review describes global distribution, symptoms, pathogenic diversity, epidemiology and the state of the art for sustainable disease management of the major bacterial wilts currently affecting banana and enset.

Cecil: A Moment or a Movement? Analysis of Media Coverage of the Death of a Lion, Panthera leo.

The killing of a satellite-tagged male lion by a trophy hunter in Zimbabwe in July 2015 provoked an unprecedented media reaction. We analyse the global media response to the trophy hunting of the lion, nicknamed "Cecil", a study animal in a long-term project run by Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU). We collaborated with a media-monitoring company to investigate the development of the media coverage spatially and temporally. Relevant articles were identified using a Boolean search for the terms Cecil AND lion in 127 languages. Stories about Cecil the Lion in the editorial media increased from approximately 15 per day to nearly 12,000 at its peak, and mentions of Cecil the Lion in social media reached 87,533 at its peak. We found that, while there were clear regional differences in the level of media saturation of the Cecil story, the patterns of the development of the coverage of this story were remarkably similar across the globe, and that there was no evidence of a lag between the social media and the editorial media. Further, all the main social media platforms appeared to react in synchrony. This story appears to have spread synchronously across media channels and geographically across the globe over the span of about two days. For lion conservation in particular, and perhaps for wildlife conservation more generally, we speculate that the atmosphere may have been changed significantly. We consider the possible reasons why this incident provoked a reaction unprecedented in the conservation sector.

The embryonic cell lineage of the nematode Rhabditophanes sp.

One of the unique features of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans is its invariant development, where a stereotyped cell lineage generates a fixed number of cells with a fixed cell type. It remains unclear how embryonic development evolved within the nematodes to give rise to the complex, invariant cell lineage of C. elegans. Therefore, we determined the embryonic cell lineage of the nematode, Rhabditophanes sp. (family Alloionematidae) and made detailed cell-by-cell comparison with the known cell lineages of C. elegans, Pellioditis marina and Halicephalobus gingivalis. This gave us a unique data set of four embryonic cell lineages, which allowed a detailed comparison between these cell lineages at the level of each individual cell. This lineage comparison revealed a similar complex polyclonal fate distribution in all four nematode species (85% of the cells have the same fate). It is striking that there is a conservation of a 'C. elegans' like polyclonal cell lineage with strong left-right asymmetry. We propose that an early symmetry-breaking event in nematodes of clade IV-V is a major developmental constraint which shapes their asymmetric cell lineage.

Unusual intestinal lamellae in the nematode Rhabditophanes sp. KR3021 (Nematoda: Alloinematidae).

The free-living nematode Rhabditophanes sp. has recently been placed in a clade of animal parasites and may be a unique example of a reversal to a nonparasitic lifestyle. Detailed morphological analysis of the intestine reveals the unusual and unique structure of splitting microlamellae forming a meshwork with cavities along the entire intestinal tract. Secretion vesicles were observed along the whole tract and along the length of the lamellae. It is suggested that these lamellae are adaptations to a different digestive strategy where low food availability and a low absorption surface are compensated for by maximizing the nutrient uptake efficiency along the entire length of the intestine. The likely reversal to a free-living life cycle may have caused drastic changes in diet, providing the necessary driving forces to such morphological changes.

Embryonic cell lineage of the marine nematode Pellioditis marina.

We describe the complete embryonic cell lineage of the marine nematode Pellioditis marina (Rhabditidae) up to somatic muscle contraction, resulting in the formation of 638 cells, of which 67 undergo programmed cell death. In comparison with Caenorhabditis elegans, the overall lineage homology is 95.5%; fate homology, however, is only 76.4%. The majority of the differences in fate homology concern nervous, epidermal, and pharyngeal tissues. Gut and, remarkably, somatic muscle is highly conserved in number and position. Partial lineage data from the slower developing Halicephalobus sp. (Panagrolaimidae) reveal a lineage largely, but not exclusively, built up of monoclonal sublineage blocs with identical fates, unlike the polyclonal fate distribution in C. elegans and P. marina. The fate distribution pattern in a cell lineage could be a compromise between minimizing the number of specification events by monoclonal specification and minimizing the need for migrations by forming the cells close at their final position. The latter could contribute to a faster embryonic development. These results reveal that there is more than one way to build a nematode.