Oxidative physiology of two small and highly migratory Arctic seabirds: Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) and long-tailed jaegers (Stercorarius longicaudus)

Arctic ecosystems are changing rapidly. The tundra supports nesting migratory seabirds that spend most of their year over the ocean. Migrations are demanding, but it is unclear how physiological capability may equip organisms to respond to their changing environments. For two migratory seabird species nesting in Alaska, USA, the Arctic tern (n = 10) and the long-tailed jaeger (n = 8), we compared oxidative physiology and aerobic capacity measured during incubation and we recorded individual movement paths using electronic tracking tags. Within species, we hypothesized that individuals with longer-distance migrations would show higher oxidative stress and display better aerobic capacity than shorter-distance migrants. We examined blood parameters relative to subsequent fall migration in jaegers and relative to previous spring migration in terns. We present the first measurements of oxidative stress in these species and the first migratory movements of long-tailed jaegers in the Pacific Ocean. Arctic terns displayed positive correlation of oxidative variables, or better integration than jaegers. Relative to physiological sampling, pre-breeding northward migration data were available for terns and post-breeding southward data were available for jaegers. Terns reached a farther maximum distance from the colony than jaegers (16 199 ± 275 km versus 10 947 ± 950 km) and rate of travel northward (447 ± 41.8 km/day) was positively correlated with hematocrit, but we found no other relationships. In jaegers, there were no relationships between individuals' physiology and southward rate of travel (193 ± 52.3 km/day) or migratory distance. While it is not clear whether the much longer migrations of the terns is related to their better integration, or to another factor, our results spark hypotheses that could be evaluated through a controlled phylogenetic study. Species with better integration may be less susceptible to environmental factors that increase oxidative stress, including thermal challenges or changes in prey distribution as the Arctic climate changes rapidly.

Ecological insights from three decades of animal movement tracking across a changing Arctic

The Arctic is entering a new ecological state, with alarming consequences for humanity. Animal-borne sensors offer a window into these changes. Although substantial animal tracking data from the Arctic and subarctic exist, most are difficult to discover and access. Here, we present the new Arctic Animal Movement Archive (AAMA), a growing collection of more than 200 standardized terrestrial and marine animal tracking studies from 1991 to the present. The AAMA supports public data discovery, preserves fundamental baseline data for the future, and facilitates efficient, collaborative data analysis. With AAMA-based case studies, we document climatic influences on the migration phenology of eagles, geographic differences in the adaptive response of caribou reproductive phenology to climate change, and species-specific changes in terrestrial mammal movement rates in response to increasing temperature.

Scale-insensitive estimation of speed and distance traveled from animal tracking data

BACKGROUND

Speed and distance traveled provide quantifiable links between behavior and energetics, and are among the metrics most routinely estimated from animal tracking data. Researchers typically sum over the straight-line displacements (SLDs) between sampled locations to quantify distance traveled, while speed is estimated by dividing these displacements by time. Problematically, this approach is highly sensitive to the measurement scale, with biases subject to the sampling frequency, the tortuosity of the animal's movement, and the amount of measurement error. Compounding the issue of scale-sensitivity, SLD estimates do not come equipped with confidence intervals to quantify their uncertainty.

METHODS

To overcome the limitations of SLD estimation, we outline a continuous-time speed and distance (CTSD) estimation method. An inherent property of working in continuous-time is the ability to separate the underlying continuous-time movement process from the discrete-time sampling process, making these models less sensitive to the sampling schedule when estimating parameters. The first step of CTSD is to estimate the device's error parameters to calibrate the measurement error. Once the errors have been calibrated, model selection techniques are employed to identify the best fit continuous-time movement model for the data. A simulation-based approach is then employed to sample from the distribution of trajectories conditional on the data, from which the mean speed estimate and its confidence intervals can be extracted.

RESULTS

Using simulated data, we demonstrate how CTSD provides accurate, scale-insensitive estimates with reliable confidence intervals. When applied to empirical GPS data, we found that SLD estimates varied substantially with sampling frequency, whereas CTSD provided relatively consistent estimates, with often dramatic improvements over SLD.

CONCLUSIONS

The methods described in this study allow for the computationally efficient, scale-insensitive estimation of speed and distance traveled, without biases due to the sampling frequency, the tortuosity of the animal's movement, or the amount of measurement error. In addition to being robust to the sampling schedule, the point estimates come equipped with confidence intervals, permitting formal statistical inference. All the methods developed in this study are now freely available in the ctmmR package or the ctmmweb point-and-click web based graphical user interface.

The importance of migratory connectivity for global ocean policy

The distributions of migratory species in the ocean span local, national and international jurisdictions. Across these ecologically interconnected regions, migratory marine species interact with anthropogenic stressors throughout their lives. Migratory connectivity, the geographical linking of individuals and populations throughout their migratory cycles, influences how spatial and temporal dynamics of stressors affect migratory animals and scale up to influence population abundance, distribution and species persistence. Population declines of many migratory marine species have led to calls for connectivity knowledge, especially insights from animal tracking studies, to be more systematically and synthetically incorporated into decision-making. Inclusion of migratory connectivity in the design of conservation and management measures is critical to ensure they are appropriate for the level of risk associated with various degrees of connectivity. Three mechanisms exist to incorporate migratory connectivity into international marine policy which guides conservation implementation: site-selection criteria, network design criteria and policy recommendations. Here, we review the concept of migratory connectivity and its use in international policy, and describe the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean system, a migratory connectivity evidence-base for the ocean. We propose that without such collaboration focused on migratory connectivity, efforts to effectively conserve these critical species across jurisdictions will have limited effect.

Translating Marine Animal Tracking Data into Conservation Policy and Management

There have been efforts around the globe to track individuals of many marine species and assess their movements and distribution, with the putative goal of supporting their conservation and management. Determining whether, and how, tracking data have been successfully applied to address real-world conservation issues is, however, difficult. Here, we compile a broad range of case studies from diverse marine taxa to show how tracking data have helped inform conservation policy and management, including reductions in fisheries bycatch and vessel strikes, and the design and administration of marine protected areas and important habitats. Using these examples, we highlight pathways through which the past and future investment in collecting animal tracking data might be better used to achieve tangible conservation benefits.

Abstract P2-03-12: Role of nucleus-specific intergenic long noncoding RNA-1476 in estrogen-dependent transcription in cancer

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as key regulators of diverse cellular processes, but their roles in cancer biology are just beginning to be elucidated. Previous work using Global Run-On sequencing (GRO-seq) to study the transcriptome of MCF-7 breast cancer cells identified a large number of unannotated noncoding RNAs. Integration of RNA-seq data from subcellular fractionated RNA (i.e., cytoplasm, nucleoplasm, and chromatin-associated) with GRO-seq data using a novel bioinformatics pipeline has yielded a comprehensive catalog of >1900 polyadenylated lncRNAs in MCF-7 cells, about half of which have not been annotated previously and about a quarter of which are estrogen-regulated. Analysis of RNA-seq data from hundreds of samples representing 13 different cancer and normal tissue types, revealed that many lncRNAs are differentially expressed in various cancers. Furthermore, a large number of lncRNAs show distinct expression patterns across molecular subtypes of cancer. In functional assays, Kaplan Meier analysis of selected lncRNA, such as lncRNA 1476, predicts clinical outcome in ER-positive cancer and is transcriptionally upregulated in MCF-7 cells upon estrogen treatment. LncRNA1476 has now been fully annotated (transcription start and stop site, 5' cap, polyA tail, and exon/intron structure), and cloned. Molecular analyses indicate that lncRNA1476 plays a critical role in ER-dependent pathway. Collectively, our results suggest that lncRNAs are essential in controlling biological processes.

Supported by a grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to S.S.G

Citation Format: Choudhari R, Harrison AL, Carrillo CN, Gadad SS. Role of nucleus-specific intergenic long noncoding RNA-1476 in estrogen-dependent transcription in cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-03-12.

Dynamic oceanography determines fine scale foraging behavior of Masked Boobies in the Gulf of Mexico

During breeding, foraging marine birds are under biological, geographic, and temporal constraints. These contraints require foraging birds to efficiently process environmental cues derived from physical habitat features that occur at nested spatial scales. Mesoscale oceanography in particular may change rapidly within and between breeding seasons, and findings from well-studied systems that relate oceanography to seabird foraging may transfer poorly to regions with substantially different oceanographic conditions. Our objective was to examine foraging behavior of a pan-tropical seabird, the Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra), in the understudied Caribbean province, a moderately productive region driven by highly dynamic currents and fronts. We tracked 135 individuals with GPS units during May 2013, November 2013, and December 2014 at a regionally important breeding colony in the southern Gulf of Mexico. We measured foraging behavior using characteristics of foraging trips and used area restricted search as a proxy for foraging events. Among individual attributes, nest stage contributed to differences in foraging behavior whereas sex did not. Birds searched for prey at nested hierarchical scales ranging from 200 m-35 km. Large-scale coastal and shelf-slope fronts shifted position between sampling periods and overlapped geographically with overall foraging locations. At small scales (at the prey patch level), the specific relationship between environmental variables and foraging behavior was highly variable among individuals but general patterns emerged. Sea surface height anomaly and velocity of water were the strongest predictors of area restricted search behavior in random forest models, a finding that is consistent with the characterization of the Gulf of Mexico as an energetic system strongly influenced by currents and eddies. Our data may be combined with tracking efforts in the Caribbean province and across tropical regions to advance understanding of seabird sensing of the environment and serve as a baseline for anthropogenic based threats such as development, pollution, and commercial fisheries.

The chewing robot: a new biologically-inspired way to evaluate dental restorative materials

This paper presents a novel in vitro dental wear simulator based on 6-6 parallel kinematics to replicate mechanical wear formation on dental materials and components, such as individual teeth, crowns or bridges. The human mandible, guided by a range of passive structures moves with up to six degrees of freedom (DOF). Currently available wear simulators lack the ability to perform these complex chewing movements. In addition simulators are unable to replicate the normal range of chewing forces as they have no control system able to mimic the natural muscle function controlled by the human central nervous system. Such discrepancies between true in vivo and simulated in vitro movements will influence the outcome and reliability of wear studies using such approaches. This paper summarizes the development of a new dynamic jaw simulator based on the kinematics of the human jaw.

Who's who in Conservation Biology--an authorship analysis

As the flagship journal of the field, Conservation Biology represents a multidisciplinary, global constituency of conservation professionals--a constituency composed of more than 5200 authors representing 1500 organizations and 89 countries. Using bibliometric records of research published in Conservation Biology, I evaluated trends in authorship of research papers from 1987 to 2005. Authorship diversified and became increasingly collaborative over time. North Americans now compose one-half of primary authorship, down from 75% in the 1990s, and European primary authors contribute a quarter of the journal's contributed research. Forty-five countries were represented in volume 19 of the journal. The top three most-cited authors are Australian. The percentage of single-authored papers declined from 57% in 1987 to 18% in 2005. Collectively, academic institutions contribute the most research to Conservation Biology, although a government agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, was the single most-productive organization. The maturing of conservation biology as a discipline, the complex geographic and multidisciplinary nature of conservation questions, and the increased ease of communication in a technologically connected world contribute to the increasingly diverse and collaborative Conservation Biology authorship.

A distance learning model in a physical therapy curriculum

In response to the rural health initiative established in 1991, the University of Kentucky has developed an innovative distance learning program of physical therapy instruction that combines classroom lecture and discussion via compressed video technology with laboratory experiences. The authors describe the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating a specific distance learning course in pathomechanics for the professional-level master's-degree physical therapy students at the University of Kentucky. This presentation may serve as a model for teaching distance learning. Descriptions of optimal approaches to preclass preparation, scheduling, course delivery, use of audiovisual aids, use of handout material, and video production are given. Special activities that may enhance or deter the achievement of the learning objectives are outlined, and a problem-solving approach to common problems encountered is presented. An approach to evaluating and comparing course outcomes for the distance learnere is presented. For this particular course, there was no statistically significant difference in the outcome measures utilized to compare the distance learners with the on-site learners.

Career satisfaction of physical therapy faculty during their pretenure years

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to compile information about and define variables that are influential in the career satisfaction of tenure-track, full-time, physical therapy faculty who have been employed in academia for 5 years or less but who do not yet have tenure.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

An investigator-developed instrument was used to collect the data. The self-report instrument contained 80 items in four categories: demographics, social supports, teaching, and scholarly activity. Questionnaires were sent to junior physical therapy faculty at the 127 physical therapist schools in the United States and Puerto Rico listed by the American Physical Therapy Association in 1993. There were 163 responses to the survey, representing an estimated 85% of the population of junior faculty as defined by this survey.

RESULTS

Eighty-three percent of junior faculty surveyed were satisfied with having taken an academic position, despite feelings of loneliness, tenure anxiety, heavy work loads, and the desire for more guidance from colleagues.

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

Social and collegial supports such as relationship with senior faculty and experienced colleagues are key elements influencing faculty satisfaction. Information is given that could be utilized by directors and faculty who are planning to guide the professional development of new faculty.

Clinical measurement of head and shoulder posture variables

A reliable method that is practical for clinical use for measuring head posture in standing has not been demonstrated in the literature. The purposes of this study were: 1) to produce a reliable method for measuring sagittal plane head and shoulder posture that is practical for clinical use and 2) to perform a pilot study to compare means between a nonpatient sample and a sample of people who have a history of recurring cervical pain. A method of measuring sagittal plane postural alignment of the head and shoulder in relationship to the lateral malleolus was developed using a carpenter's tri-square with a line level attached to the horizontal arm and a goniometer with a line level attached to the horizontal arm. Horizontal measures were taken with the tri-square from a vertical reference point to the tragus of the ear, to the shoulder axis, and to the lateral malleolus. Angular measures were taken with the goniometer of C7-tragus with the horizontal and tragus-corner of the eye with the horizontal. A reliability study was performed by two therapists with 15 non-patient subjects. Intraclass correlation coefficients measuring interrater reliability for horizontal and angular measures were as follows: 1) tragus to lateral malleolus: R = .87; 2) shoulder to lateral malleolus: R = .91;3) tragus to shoulder: R = .7;4) angle tragus-eye-horizon: R = .68; and 5) angle C7-tragus-horizon: R = .34. In the pilot study, 41 nonpatient subjects (11 males and 30 females, 20-45 years) and 10 patient subjects with cervical pain (one male and nine females, 23-43 years) were measured. Means calculated for horizontal distances (in cm) were: 1) tragus to lateral malleolus (nonpatients: 8.14; patients: 6.65);2) shoulder to lateral malleolus (nonpatients: 5.47; patients: 5.98); and 3) tragus to shoulder (nonpatients: 2.78; patients: .56). Means calculated for angular measures were: 1) tragus-eye-horizon (nonpatients: 18.78 degrees; patients: 21.57 degrees) and 2) C7-tragus-horizon (nonpatients: 49.34 degrees; patients: 49.43 degrees). No statistically significant differences were found between the two samples in this pilot study using an independent two-sample t test. This study demonstrates a reliable and practical method for taking postural measurements in the clinic and describes a pilot study for comparing a patient and a nonpatient sample.

Influence of fungicides and irrigation practice on aflatoxin in peantus before digging

Peanuts grown under dryland conditions where drought stress occurred accumulated more aflatoxin before digging than peanuts grown under irrigation. Kernels became more susceptible to Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus invasion when the soil moisture in the pod zone approached levels at which moisture moved from the pod into the soil and the kernel moisture dropped below 31%. Isolation frequencies of these aspergilli from fresh-dug kernels were lowest in 1968 (maximum of 3%). In 1967 and 1969, maximum percentages of 100 and 74, respectively, were noted. Kernel infestation was correlated with degree of aflatoxin contamination. Dryland fresh-dug kernels contained a maximum of 35,800 parts per billion aflatoxin while a maximum of 50 parts per billion was detected in kernels from irrigated plots. In 1969 A. flavus infestation was as high as 59% in peanuts from irrigated plots; however, no aflatoxin was detected. Absence of aflatoxin in these samples is attributed to the higher kernel moisture content which reduced the aflatoxin-producing potential of A. flavus. Statistical analysis of the data revealed no significant differences in degree of fungal infestation, production levels, and grade factors between any fungicide treatments.