bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
772 Psychosocial Impact of a New Peer-support Program at a Burn Center
Authors: Lam Loc H , Cancio Leopoldo C
Published: March 2020

Introduction

In March 2019, this Burn Center became the 76th active Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery (SOAR) hospital in the U.S. and Canada. Burn survivors are directly affected by their burn injuries, but so is the survivor’s family, their healthcare staff, and their community. The purpose of this project is to describe our efforts to improve psychosocial care after discharge.

Methods

The Burn Center’s SOAR peer-support program consists of: 1) group care, 2) individual care, 3) staff care, and 4) community care. Group care consists of weekly peer-support sessions for burn survivors, led by certified SOAR peer supporters/burn survivors, with support from certified SOAR program coordinators. We also host monthly social outings. Individual care occurs when a SOAR peer supporter provides one-on-one support to another survivor. Our burn survivors have historically visited patients in their support of each other’s recovery. We expanded this by teaching survivors an evidence-based approach. Care has been conducted in-person, via phone, social media, and/or through the SOAR webpage. It seems most effective for people who live at a distance from the burn center and who cannot attend weekly sessions. Staff care aims to increase morale and mitigate burnout. Burn survivors, who are deemed psychiatrically stable, are invited to speak to the same staff who took care of them. The intent is to remind staff of the life-saving effect of their daily work, and to instill a sense of meaningfulness. Staff are also invited to attend burn community activities. Community care consists of survivors speaking at various community events to raise awareness and promote prevention.

Results

At 24 weeks, there have been 931 SOAR encounters: group care (24 group sessions and n=216), individual care (n=55), staff care (4 events and n=212), and community care (7 events and n=448). The weekly groups currently have an average of 10 participants. There are 55 documented individual-care encounters. A common staff theme revolves around regaining a sense of meaningfulness. Qualitative reports show improved mood, community reintegration, anxiety, pain, and rehabilitation. Recent survivors and their families report feeling better connected to the community than those injured years ago.

Conclusions

There is a desire for the continuation of the Burn Center’s peer-support program. There continue to be new and recurring attendees at our weekly group sessions. Our peer supporters are semi-autonomous and eager to provide individual support. The program coordinators and peer supporters continue to support Burn Center staff.

Applicability of Research to Practice

Programs such as this are a powerful venue for sharing one’s experiences and for inspiring others on the path of burn recovery.
800 Incorporating Medical Simulation into Nursing Burn Competencies: Adding a New Degree of Realism to the Nursing Burn Competency Experience
Authors: Decerbo Paul C , Nickerson Jillian , Coelho Elizabeth , Burton-Williams Kristen , O’Rourke Cassandra
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Many factors are incorporated into designing medical simulation curriculum. If the action or procedure falls into a low volume / high acuity category there is typically a focus on simulating the action or procedure in the lab with those who are responsible for performing it. The main objective is to increase knowledge and skill as well as self-efficacy (confidence) in a controlled simulation environment in order to decrease provider anxiety and medical error. Medical simulation can be moved “into the field” or in-situ to replicate the actual environment. This simple action builds muscle memory as well as increases provider awareness of tools at their disposal in their own working environments. We examined the burn competency feedback and discovered a consistent request for a more hands-on approach. Some reviews stated that nurses felt that the competencies were not relevant to their duties and tasks. Taking all of this into consideration we decided that this year the competencies will follow a single patient through every step from arrival to discharge, incorporating hands on medical simulation and realistic moulage.

The goal of this implementation of medical simulation into burn nurse competencies is to provide a more direct, hands-on, learning experience where nursing staff could follow a patient from arrival to discharge.

Methods

Our objective was to provide an effective and engaging competency curriculum while maintaining adherence to the ABA Burn Nursing Competency Domains. The main stations that were identified, ED, OR, ICU, Floor Level Care, and Discharge/Follow Up Care. We then created a pediatric track, and an adult track following the main station identification. Learners will follow the selected case, determined by the clinical background of the group, from EMS report to discharge planning. Each station will incorporate ABA Burn Nurse Competency Domain objectives. These objectives include, but are not limited to, dosing of analgesia, airway management, wound management, and providing ongoing resources for the simulated patient.

Results

The program will begin on Oct. 2nd 2019 with sessions through October and November of 2019. Data will be collected from a pre and post survey to ascertain if incorporating simulation into the burn nurse competency curriculum is an effective tool to increase knowledge, skill, and confidence of the burn team RN.

Conclusions

Upon conclusion of this years burn nurse competencies, we aim to establish a working model to incorporate relevant simulations to all future competencies in order to complete all ABA domain objectives within a three year cycle.

Applicability of Research to Practice

The program, if proven effective, will provide a framework for future burn competency curriculum and could be utilized in multiple aspects of nursing competencies throughout the entire system and beyond.
806 Hip Hip Heels Raised: A Pressure Injury Prevention Initiative
Authors: Grubbs Alicia , Mueller Jocelyn J , Kelly Jenna C
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Patients with dermal burns are at a greater risk of developing pressure injury secondary to critical illness and increased length of stay. Our burn center had four hospital-acquired pressure injuries, grade two or greater, in two months within our patient population. This incidence placed the burn unit in the top five units at our institution with the highest prevalence of hospital-acquired pressure injury. After discussion with nursing staff, we discovered a large variance in pressure injury prevention strategies, many of which were not focused on heel protection.

Methods

With rising prevalence, the burn team assembled a multidisciplinary team to combat the issue. The team consisted of day and night shift staff nurses, quality improvement nurse, physical therapist, and nursing management. We examined heel injury prevention evidence-based practice and then modified it for our unique patient population to develop a recommendation for best practice on our unit. The recommendations, affectionately known as the Hip Hip Heels Raised Campaign, include:

Results

To assess compliance to the new unit recommendations, patient positioning audits were completed before and after staff education. Prior to instruction and implementation of the campaign, compliance with heel elevation varied from 75–83%. With this information in mind, our goal was to achieve greater than 90% compliance during audits by January, with education beginning in mid- November. Our goal was met the week of December 27, 2018 and compliance has remained strong, averaging 92% implementation of heel elevation since campaign implementation.

Conclusions

Per the AHRQ, the average cost of a hospital acquired pressure injury averages $43,180. Our retrospective analysis for patients in our burn center discovered four pressure injuries, grade two or greater, in a two-month period prior to the campaign implementation. Over the five-month span since campaign application, only three pressure injuries have occurred in our patient population, a reduction of approximately seven pressure injuries. This reduction is the equivalence of $300,000 in patient care costs saved.

Applicability of Research to Practice

This model worked well for our unit and it is applicable to practice in the burn population because it is simple to implement and good for patient care outcomes.
826 Geographic Mapping to Target Adult Burn Prevention for an Urban Burn Center
Authors: Chandramouli Mathangi A , Rabbitts Angela , Heffernan Jamie , Chang Philip
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Burn prevention is one of the core missions of burn centers. Geomapping has been instrumental for police departments to target resources for crime prevention. Similarly, geomapping could assist burn specialists in identifying “hotspots” of injury. The purpose of this study is to visually identify the incidence and location of adult burn injury within the catchment area of a single tertiary urban regional burn center. Data mapping can thus then be used to target burn outreach and prevention efforts.

Methods

Demographic and deidentified clinical data was collected from a single institution over a 3 year period. 1986 burn patients were admitted between 1/2016 and 12/2018. 1360 patients were 16 years of age or greater. Geriatric patients were defined as age 60 or greater to facilitate comparison with National Burn Repository data which breaks down age by decades. The patients were mapped by their home zip code.

Results

1360 burn patients 16 years or older were admitted to this single tertiary burn center between 1/2016 and 12/2018 with an age range from 16–101.

393 patients were 60 years or older (28.9% of the adult population compared to 19.8% of the NBR population)

6 zip codes within the catchment area were identified as “hotspots” as having more than 30 inpatients listing that zip code as their home address (see figure).

The results show an unequal distribution of patients over the burn center’s catchment area with hotspots (defined by > 30 burn admissions during the study period) in 6 zip codes.

Conclusions

The local demographics of this inpatient adult burn population follow national trends in etiology but differ with regards to age and race. The geomapping tool visualizes burn incidence by geography. Based on this analysis, outreach and prevention efforts should target elderly populations especially in the “hotspots.”

Applicability of Research to Practice

This research will inform targeted efforts towards burn prevention and education outreach.
833 The Importance of Trajectory Curves for the Implementation of Outcome Benchmarks in a Clinical Setting
Authors: Kelter Brian M , Wolfe Audrey E , Slavin Mary D , Kazis Lewis , Ryan Colleen M , Schneider Jeffrey C
Published: March 2020

Introduction

The creation of individualized treatment plans that address social participation in burn survivors requires an understanding of the expected changes over time from the original burn injury. The Life Impact Burn Recovery Evaluation (LIBRE) Profile is a patient-reported outcome measure for social participation after burn injury. Visual representation of expected change over time of a population is achieved through the development of trajectory curves (TCs), serving as benchmarks for recovery. In order to optimize the implementation of LIBRE Profile TCs, a literature review was conducted to examine utilization of TCs in other clinical settings.

Methods

A review of studies published from 2014–2019, demonstrating TCs as growth or treatment models in clinical settings, was performed. Literature was identified by searching “trajectory curves,” “trajectory models,” and “clinic” or “clinical” in PubMed. Articles focusing on three areas of inquiry were included: 1) measuring individual patient growth; 2) comparing progress for similar patient cohorts to provide contextualized reference for personal growth; 3) predictive medicine/risk assessment for interventional care in various conditions.

Results

The initial literature review identified 141 manuscripts. A total of 107 were excluded and 34 manuscripts were reviewed and categorized based on the three areas of inquiry (Figure 1; Table 1). Positive results from TCs in all areas of inquiry were noted in 22 of the 34 the chosen studies. General trends for each area of inquiry include: an increased ability for parents and clinicians to track individual patient progress in what was primarily anthropometric studies; articles relating to comparative cohort tracking show that trajectory-driven analytical approaches offer displays of progress across similar clinical groups of recovery for given conditions. Use of TCs in predictive care or risk assessment typically relate to acute conditions such as asthma, traumatic brain injury, or degenerative conditions (neurocognitive or musculoskeletal). For the most part, these diagnoses depict a positive trend for clinicians to identify future outcomes using fitted trajectories.

Conclusions

These findings support the clinical use of trajectory curves to present patient-specific, cohort-relative, and predictive treatment for outcome-based results post-burn for burn survivors.

Applicability of Research to Practice

Future research will assess the use of LIBRE Profile recovery trajectories as benchmarks for optimization of social participation outcomes.
854 Modified Millard Forked-flap for Complete Nasal Stenosis After Smoking While on Home Oxygen
Authors: Mulay Sagar , Simpson Roger L , Nasser Ahmed , Nwaoz Basil
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Nasal stenosis is an uncommon burn scar deformity which can result in breathing obstruction. The reconstruction of nasal stenosis secondary to burns can be challenging due to the limitation of localized tissue, rate of recurrence, and burn injury to the surrounding areas. A vascularized composite flap of local composite tissue (forked flap) from the lip can reliably reconstruct the nasal vestibule and nasal sill diminishing the risk of recurrent nasal stenosis. We describe our use of a modified Millard forked flap, a cleft lip repair technique.

Methods

A 52-year-old female presented with complete stenosis of the right nares secondary to burn contracture of the nostril, vestibule, and upper lip. She had suffered a flash burn to her face while smoking on home oxygen requiring prolonged ventilatory support and only received topical dressings. Three months after her burn injury she was referred for the reconstruction of her contractures.

A lateral rhinotomy was performed to define the nasal floor defect. Scar release of the remaining vestibule and ala and the aesthetic units of the lip were defined. A supple unburned area of the upper lip was harvested as a vascularized composite forked flap and rotated into the vestibule defining the vestibule floor. The ala was rotated outward and full-thickness skin grafts was used to resurface the vestibular portion. The lateral aesthetic subunit of the lip was then resurfaced as a complete unit with a full-thickness skin graft. She later required fabricated nasal splint for nighttime stenting and serial daytime nostril dilatation with Hegar dilators.

Results

At nine months post-reconstruction, the patient maintains a patent nasal airway with limited vertical lip contraction, resolution of her initial symptoms of sinus congestion, and no further difficulty breathing.

Conclusions

In 1955, Ralph Millard presented the rotation-advancement technique for cleft lip repair. The Procedure was designed to create a softer, more natural-looking reconstructed lip. In the cleft lip repair, he suggested preserving the prolabial tissue lateral to the central segment as forked flaps that were rotated and banked on the nasal vestibule floor. Had that principle not been appreciated, that tissue might have been discarded in order to respect the aesthetic unit of the lip. The surgeon must utilize reliable principles to restore and retain form and function. The use of this modified forked flap incorporated composite vascularized tissue for the nostril floor reconstruction while respecting the subunit reconstruction of the lip.

Applicability of Research to Practice

Reconstruction of the injury needs to restore both functional and aesthetic deformities. Utilization of a local vascularized composite graft, taken from an area to be discarded within the upper lip subunit, provided quality tissue that significantly reduces the risk of secondary nasal contracture.
856 A Pilot Study of a Point-of-care Wound Bed Assay to Predict Graft Take
Authors: Barrios Evan L , Volland Kelly B , Thigpin Tera , Mozingo David , Schultz Gregory , Gibson Daniel J , Carson Joshua S
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Deciding when to graft a burn wound is instrumental in acute reconstruction. A technology capable of predicting autograft success would help optimize timing of initial debridement and grafting. In prior work, members of our team developed a point-of-care proteinase assay capable of predicting delayed wound healing in chronic wounds. In the work reported here, we seek to quantify these proteolytic enzymes in acute burn wounds in an effort to ultimately determine whether a quantitative assessment of proteinase activity in a burn wound might predict successful healing of autograft.

Methods

Eight burn patients were taken to the operating room for autografting. Tissue samples were obtained from unique sites, as well as swabs of wounds pre- and post-excision. A point-of-care proteinase assay determined initial rates of fluorescence, which correlates with the amount of proteolytic enzyme activity. Autograft sites were assessed after two weeks, with ≥50% take considered successful and < 50% take deemed unsuccessful. Initial rates of fluorescence were compared. These groups were analyzed using two-sided student’s t tests, with p< 0.05 identified as significant.

Results

The pre-excision group initial rate was significantly higher than the post-excision group (p=0.0006). The tissue group initial rate was also significantly higher than the post-excision group (p = 0.0028). We also compared pre-excision initial rates of enzymatic activity between successful autografts (n=10, 18.34±20.90 RFU/min) and unsuccessful autografts (n=5, 4.32±4.62 RFU/min) with p = 0.169.

Conclusions

Multiple findings indicate the potential of this assay to differentiate burn wounds based on proteinase activity. Pre-excision tissue beds contained significantly higher rates of proteinase activity compared to excised and debrided tissue beds (p = 0.0006). This is consistent with burn wound morphology, as proteolytic enzymes function to debride damaged tissue and promote angiogenesis in acute wounds. Interestingly, initial rates of proteolytic enzymatic activity in pre-excised wounds of successful autografts trended towards significance compared to unsuccessful autografts (p = 0.169), suggesting that these proteolytic enzymes reflect an overall healthy wound bed, the presence of which could portend a heightened chance for autograft success.

Applicability of Research to Practice

This pilot study confirms the presence of proteinase activity in acute burn wounds utilizing a point-of-care test. Future work will investigate whether this test can assist physicians in predicting amenability of burn wounds to autografting.
861 Analgesia After Burns: A Case Series and Development of a Multimodal Analgesic Enhanced Recovery Pathway
Authors: Mendelson Andrew m , Elkhashab Yasmin , Hughes William , Viscusi Eugene R
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Burn pain is grossly undertreated which may result in poorer outcomes including chronic pain, anxiety and persistent opioid use. Opioids are currently the mainstay of treatment with many burn patients receiving long term opioid management even in the context of the opioid crisis. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of burn patients admitted to our hospital to evaluate the impact of our multimodal pain management approach on overall opioid consumption.

Methods

Following IRB approval, a retrospective chart review of all patients with burn injuries over a one year period was performed. The Acute Pain Management Service was consulted for analgesic management for all patients. Patient data was collected from their electronic medical records on Epic HyperSpace and included total body surface area of burn, age and gender, length of hospital stay, amount of opioid usage throughout admission, average verbal numerical score for pain, and use of adjuvant analgesics was gathered. The amount of opioid usage was obtained from the chart and then converted to oral morphine equivalents (OME) using the CDC Prevention Conversion Chart.

Results

During the study period, eight patients met inclusion criteria. The average patient age was 42.5 years, with a mean of 26.8 % TBSA (Total body surface area) burn and mean length of stay of 23 days. Our pain pathway consisted of non-opioid analgesic adjuncts that were given around-the-clock with opioids used only on an as-needed basis. The nonopioid analgesics include acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), gabapentin or pregabalin, and a ketamine infusion. Initial opioid consumption (on day of APMS consult) as well as median hospital day was compared to opioid consumption on day of discharge. Six out of eight patients showed a reduction in their oral morphine equivalent (OME) following APMS consult usage from day of admission with average 76 OME to 44.6 OME on day of discharge.

Conclusions

We were able to reduce patient’s opioid requirement in 6 out of 8 patients upon discharge. These findings suggest that a further more rigorous study is warranted to demonstrate the benefits of multimodal therapy in burn pain.

Applicability of Research to Practice

The multimodal approach to pain control for burn patients may possibly be able to reduce the overall opioid requirements and theoretically the opioid associated side effects.
863 Drug Addiction and Opioid Use in the Acute Burn Patient
Authors: Duraes Eliana F , Asif Mohammed , Modica Ashley , Sikorski Giulia , Hultman C Scott , Caffrey Julie
Published: March 2020

Introduction

In light of the opioid crisis, there is an increased interest in the acute pain management of patients with history of drug addiction. There is no consensus on pain management among different burn centers and the amount of narcotic prescription reportedly doubled over a seven year period according to Tully in 20191. Our aim was to study the association of previous drug addiction history and the treatment of acute burn patients with special interest on the daily morphine equivalent requirements.

Methods

A prospectively maintained database was queried to study acute burn patients admitted in a reference burn center from 2013 to 2018. Patients with a previous history of drug addiction (group 1) were compared to patients without it (group 2). Drug abuse was defined as patients with history of opioids abuse, heroin, cocaine, cannabis, inhalants, and alcoholism, specifically those with diagnostic codes on file. The expected mortality was calculated using the Premier® database. A p0.05 was considered significant.

Results

A total of 3046 patients were studied, 502 (16.5%) had previous history of drug abuse on file. Compared to group 2, group 1 had: more males - 343 (68.3%) vs 1456 (57.2%) p0.001; was younger - 45.7914.65 vs 52.0219.57 p0.001; required intubation at a higher rate - 100 (19.9%) vs 329 (12.9%) p0.001; longer intubation period - 2.4310.05 vs 1.377.71 p0.001; had a prolonged admission - 13.8728.82 vs 8.4816.58 p0.001; more surgeries - 1.213.30 vs 0.71.58 p=0.002, and a higher daily morphine milligram equivalent requirement - 148.34320.56 vs 56.0297.81 p0.001. The groups had similar expected mortality rates: 3.03% vs 3.56%p=0.483; which may be partly explained by the fact that the drug use history is not accounted for on the formula. No significant difference was seen on the burned area between the groups.

Conclusions

Drug addiction was associated with increased need for intubation and length of intubation, prolonged admission, increased surgery rate and a higher daily morphine equivalent usage. Further studies are necessary guide the treatment of the specific needs of these increasingly common burn patients subgroup and also to define the need of including the history of drug use on the expected mortality rate formula.

Applicability of Research to Practice

This study adds to the literature differences in the treatment of burn patients with history of drug addiction and highlights the need for specific protocols for improved care.
A Diagnostic Guide for Basil Downy Mildew
Authors: Standish Jeffrey R. , Raid Richard N. , Pigg Stacey , Quesada-Ocampo Lina M.
Published: March 2020

Downy mildew, caused by the oomycete pathogen Peronospora belbahrii, is one of the most important diseases affecting sweet basil worldwide. Field- and greenhouse-grown basil may be affected, and crop losses are observed as the reduction of marketable leaves during both the production and postharvest handling stages. As an obligate biotroph, P. belbahrii cannot be cultured and maintained without live plant tissue, which may complicate efforts to diagnose and identify the causal agent. Thus, the goal of this diagnostic guide is to outline the appropriate methods required to identify basil downy mildew based on the symptoms of the disease and signs of the pathogen. Additionally, methods for pathogen identification, pathogen isolation, storage of single-sporangium cultures on live plants, and pathogenicity testing are described in detail.
Metacarpophalangeal joint loads during bonobo locomotion: model predictions versus proxies
Authors: Synek Alexander , Lu Szu-Ching , Nauwelaerts Sandra , Pahr Dieter H. , Kivell Tracy L.
Published: March 2020

The analysis of internal trabecular and cortical bone has been an informative tool for drawing inferences about behaviour in extant and fossil primate taxa. Within the hand, metacarpal bone architecture has been shown to correlate well with primate locomotion; however, the extent of morphological differences across taxa is unexpectedly small given the variability in hand use. One explanation for this observation is that the activity-related differences in the joint loads acting on the bone are simply smaller than estimated based on commonly used proxies (i.e. external loading and joint posture), which neglect the influence of muscle forces. In this study, experimental data and a musculoskeletal finger model are used to test this hypothesis by comparing differences between climbing and knuckle-walking locomotion of captive bonobos (Pan paniscus) based on (i) joint load magnitude and direction predicted by the models and (ii) proxy estimations. The results showed that the activity-related differences in predicted joint loads are indeed much smaller than the proxies would suggest, with joint load magnitudes being almost identical between the two locomotor modes. Differences in joint load directions were smaller but still evident, indicating that joint load directions might be a more robust indicator of variation in hand use than joint load magnitudes. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of including muscular forces in the interpretation of skeletal remains and promotes the use of musculoskeletal models for correct functional interpretations.
Practical parameter identifiability for spatio-temporal models of cell invasion
Authors: Simpson Matthew J. , Baker Ruth E. , Vittadello Sean T. , Maclaren Oliver J.
Published: March 2020

We examine the practical identifiability of parameters in a spatio-temporal reaction–diffusion model of a scratch assay. Experimental data involve fluorescent cell cycle labels, providing spatial information about cell position and temporal information about the cell cycle phase. Cell cycle labelling is incorporated into the reaction–diffusion model by treating the total population as two interacting subpopulations. Practical identifiability is examined using a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) framework, confirming that the parameters are identifiable when we assume the diffusivities of the subpopulations are identical, but that the parameters are practically non-identifiable when we allow the diffusivities to be distinct. We also assess practical identifiability using a profile likelihood approach, providing similar results to MCMC with the advantage of being an order of magnitude faster to compute. Therefore, we suggest that the profile likelihood ought to be adopted as a screening tool to assess practical identifiability before MCMC computations are performed.
A new Rayleigh-like wave in guided propagation of antiplane waves in couple stress materials
Authors: Nobili A. , Radi E. , Signorini C.
Published: March 2020

Motivated by the unexpected appearance of shear horizontal Rayleigh surface waves, we investigate the mechanics of antiplane wave reflection and propagation in couple stress (CS) elastic materials. Surface waves arise by mode conversion at a free surface, whereby bulk travelling waves trigger inhomogeneous modes. Indeed, Rayleigh waves are perturbations of the travelling mode and stem from its reflection at grazing incidence. As is well known, they correspond to the real zeros of the Rayleigh function. Interestingly, we show that the same generating mechanism sustains a new inhomogeneous wave, corresponding to a purely imaginary zero of the Rayleigh function. This wave emerges from ‘reflection’ of a bulk standing mode: This produces a new type of Rayleigh-like wave that travels
away from
, as opposed to along, the free surface, with a speed lower than that of bulk shear waves. Besides, a third complex zero of the Rayleigh function may exist, which represents waves attenuating/exploding both along and away from the surface. Since none of these zeros correspond to leaky waves, a new classification of the Rayleigh zeros is proposed. Furthermore, we extend to CS elasticity Mindlin’s boundary conditions, by which partial waves are identified, whose interference lends Rayleigh–Lamb guided waves. Finally, asymptotic analysis in the thin-plate limit provides equivalent one-dimensional models.
Mixed-species herding levels the landscape of fear
Authors: Stears Keenan , Schmitt Melissa H. , Wilmers Christopher C. , Shrader Adrian M.
Published: March 2020

Prey anti-predator behaviours are influenced by perceived predation risk in a landscape and social information gleaned from herd mates regarding predation risk. It is well documented that high-quality social information about risk can come from heterospecific herd mates. Here, we integrate social information with the landscape of fear to quantify how these landscapes are modified by mixed-species herding. To do this, we investigated zebra vigilance in single- and mixed-species herds across different levels of predation risk (lion versus no lion), and assessed how they manage herd size and the competition–information trade-off associated with grouping behaviour. Overall, zebra performed higher vigilance in high-risk areas. However, mixed-species herding reduced vigilance levels. We estimate that zebra in single-species herds would have to feed for approximately 35 min more per day in low-risk areas and approximately 51 min more in high-risk areas to compensate for the cost of higher vigilance. Furthermore, zebra benefitted from the competition–information trade-off by increasing the number of heterospecifics while keeping the number of zebra in a herd constant. Ultimately, we show that mixed-species herding reduces the effects of predation risk, whereby zebra in mixed-species herds, under high predation risk, perform similar levels of vigilance compared with zebra in low-risk scenarios.
Juvenile rank acquisition is associated with fitness independent of adult rank
Authors: Strauss Eli D. , Shizuka Daizaburo , Holekamp Kay E.
Published: March 2020

Social rank is a significant determinant of fitness in a variety of species. The importance of social rank suggests that the process by which juveniles come to establish their position in the social hierarchy is a critical component of development. Here, we use the highly predictable process of rank acquisition in spotted hyenas to study the consequences of variation in rank acquisition in early life. In spotted hyenas, rank is ‘inherited’ through a learning process called ‘maternal rank inheritance.’ This pattern is very consistent: approximately 80% of juveniles acquire the exact rank expected under the rules of maternal rank inheritance. The predictable nature of rank acquisition in these societies allows the process of rank acquisition to be studied independently from the ultimate rank that each juvenile attains. In this study, we use Elo-deviance scores, a novel application of the Elo-rating method, to calculate each juvenile's deviation from the expected pattern of maternal rank inheritance during development. Despite variability in rank acquisition among juveniles, most of these juveniles come to attain the exact rank expected of them according to the rules of maternal rank inheritance. Nevertheless, we find that transient variation in rank acquisition in early life is associated with long-term fitness consequences for these individuals: juveniles ‘underperforming’ their expected ranks show reduced survival and lower lifetime reproductive success than better-performing peers, and this relationship is independent of both maternal rank and rank achieved in adulthood. We also find that multiple sources of early life adversity have cumulative, but not compounding, effects on fitness. Future work is needed to determine if variation in rank acquisition directly affects fitness, or if some other variable, such as maternal investment or juvenile condition, causes variation in both of these outcomes.
Role of the intestinal microbiome in low-density polyethylene degradation by caterpillar larvae of the greater wax moth,
Galleria mellonella
Authors: Cassone Bryan J. , Grove Harald C. , Elebute Oluwadara , Villanueva Sachi M. P. , LeMoine Christophe M. R.
Published: March 2020

Recently, a few insects, including the caterpillar larva of the greater wax moth
Galleria mellonella
, have been identified as avid ‘plastivores’. These caterpillars are able to ingest and metabolize polyethylene at unprecedented rates. While it appears that
G. mellonella
plays an important role in the biodegradation process, the contribution of its intestinal microbiome remains poorly understood and contested. In a series of experiments, we present strong evidence of an intricate relationship between an intact microbiome, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) biodegradation and the production of glycol as a metabolic by-product. First, we biochemically confirmed that
G. mellonella
larvae consume and metabolize LDPE, as individual caterpillars fed on polyethylene excreted glycol, but those excretions were reduced by antibiotic treatment. Further, while the gut bacterial communities remained relatively stable regardless of diet, we showed that during the early phases of feeding on LDPE (24–72 h), caterpillars exhibited increased microbial abundance relative to those starved or fed on their natural honeycomb diet. Finally, by isolating and growing gut bacteria with polyethylene as their exclusive carbon source for over 1 year, we identified microorganisms in the genus
Acinetobacter
that appeared to be involved in this biodegradation process. Taken collectively, our study indicates that during short-term exposure, the intestinal microbiome of
G. mellonella
is intricately associated with polyethylene biodegradation
in vivo
.
Adaptive evolution of honeybee dance dialects
Authors: Kohl Patrick L. , Thulasi Neethu , Rutschmann Benjamin , George Ebi A. , Steffan-Dewenter Ingolf , Brockmann Axel
Published: March 2020

Efficient communication is highly important for the evolutionary success of social animals. Honeybees (genusApis) are unique in that they communicate the spatial information of resources using a symbolic ‘language’, the waggle dance. Different honeybee species differ in foraging ecology but it remains unknown whether this shaped variation in the dance. We studied distance dialects—interspecific differences in how waggle duration relates to flight distance—and tested the hypothesis that these evolved to maximize communication precision over the bees' foraging ranges. We performed feeder experiments withApis cerana,A. floreaandA. dorsatain India and found thatA. ceranahad the steepest dialect, i.e. a rapid increase in waggle duration with increasing feeder distance,A. floreahad an intermediate, andA. dorsatahad the lowest dialect. By decoding dances for natural food sites, we inferred that the foraging range was smallest inA. cerana, intermediate inA. floreaand largest inA. dorsata. The inverse correlation between foraging range and dialect was corroborated when comparing six (sub)species across the geographical range of the genus including previously published data. We conclude that dance dialects constitute adaptations resulting from a trade-off between the spatial range and the spatial accuracy of communication.
Phylogenomic revision of the family Streptosporangiaceae, reclassification of Desertactinospora gelatinilytica as Spongiactinospora gelatinilytica comb. nov. and a taxonomic home for the genus Sinosporangium in the family Streptosporangiaceae
Authors: Ay Hilal , Saygin Hayrettin , Sahin Nevzat
Published: March 2020

In recent years, the results of genome-based phylogenetic analyses have contributed to microbial systematics by increasing the availability of sequenced microbial genomes. Therefore, phylogenomic analysis within large taxa in the phylum

Actinobacteria

has appeared as a useful tool to clarify the taxonomic positions of ambiguous groups. In this study, we provide a revision of the actinobacterial family

Streptosporangiaceae

using a large collection of genome data and phylogenomics approaches. The phylogenomic analyses included the publicly available genome data of the members of the family

Streptosporangiaceae

and the state-of-the-art tools are used to infer the taxonomic affiliation of these species within the family. By comparing genome-based and 16S rRNA gene-based trees, as well as pairwise genome comparisons, the recently described genera

Spongiactinospora

and

Desertactinospora

are combined in the genus

Spongiactinospora

. In conclusion, a comprehensive phylogenomic revision of the family

Streptosporangiaceae

is proposed.
Relations of parameters for describing the epidemic of COVID―19 by the Kermack―McKendrick model
Authors: Tomie Toshihisa
Published: March 2020

In order to quantitatively characterize the epidemic of COVID-19, useful relations among parameters describing an epidemic in general are derived based on the Kermack–McKendrick model. The first relation is 1/τgrow =1/τtrans−1/τinf, where τgrow is the time constant of the exponential growth of an epidemic, τtrans is the time for a pathogen to be transmitted from one patient to uninfected person, and the infectious time τinf is the time during which the pathogen keeps its power of transmission. The second relation p(∞) ≈ 1−exp(−(R0−1)/0.60) is the relation between p(∞), the final size of the disaster defined by the ratio of the total infected people to the population of the society, and the basic reproduction number, R0, which is the number of persons infected by the transmission of the pathogen from one infected person during the infectious time. The third relation 1/τend = 1/τinf−(1−p(∞))/τtrans gives the decay time constant τend at the ending stage of the epidemic. Derived relations are applied to influenza in Japan in 2019 for characterizing the epidemic.
B cells engineered to express an anti-HIV antibody allow memory retention, class switch recombination and clonal selection in mice
Authors: Nahmad Alessio D. , Raviv Yuval , Horovitz-Fried Miriam , Sofer Ilan , Akriv Tal , Nataf Daniel , Dotan Iris , Burstein David , Wine Yariv , Benhar Itai , Barzel Adi
Published: March 2020

HIV viremia can be controlled by chronic antiretroviral therapy. As a potentially single-shot alternative, B cells engineered by CRISPR/Cas9 to express anti-HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) were shown capable of secreting high antibody titers. Here, we demonstrate that, upon immunization of mice, adoptively transferred engineered B cells home to germinal centers (GC) where they predominate over the endogenous response and differentiate into memory and plasma cells while undergoing class switch recombination (CSR). Immunization with a higher affinity antigen increases accumulation in GCs and CSR rates. Boost immunization increases rates of engineered B cells in GCs and antibody secretion, indicating memory retention. Finally, antibody sequences of engineered B cells in the spleen show patterns of clonal selection. B cells may thus be engineered as a living and evolving drug.
Hysteresis in calcium rhythm patterns during electric field stimulation of cardiac tissue
Authors: Bien Harold , Kalkhoran Salmon , Entcheva Emilia
Published: March 2020

Cardiac tissue subjected to fast pacing via electric field stimulation revealed hysteresis in calcium instability patterns (stimulus:response patterns) beyond departure and return to 1:1 response. The pacing frequency at which the first appearance of instabilities occurred (Fa) was higher than the frequency of ultimate disappearance (Fd) upon rate deceleration. Furthermore, hysteresis was observed in multiple pattern transitions. In the spatially extended system studied here, 2:2 alternans were the preferred starting point (Fa) in calcium instability development, while 2:1 blocks were more common in the return to Fa from higher pacing rates. Recovery of 1:1 patterns was preceded mostly by 2:2 alternans at Fd. In addition to previously reported hysteresis in action potential duration during 1:1 rhythm and alternans magnitude hysteresis (in 2:2 rhythm), our data revealhysteresis in rhythm pattern transitionsnot just away from and return to 1:1, but also between different instability patterns, and thus provide insight into the rules of such transitions in electrically stimulated cardiac tissue.
Emotional news affects social judgments independent of perceived media credibility
Authors: Baum Julia , Abdel Rahman Rasha
Published: March 2020

How does the credibility we attribute to media sources influence our opinions and judgments derived from news? Participants read headlines about the social behavior of depicted unfamiliar persons from websites of trusted or distrusted well-known German news media. As a consequence, persons paired with negative or positive headlines were judged more negative or positive than persons associated with neutral information independent of source credibility. Likewise, electrophysiological signatures of slow and controlled evaluative brain activity revealed a dominant influence of emotional headline contents regardless of credibility. Modulations of earlier brain responses associated with arousal and reflexive emotional processing show an effect of negative news and suggest that distrusted sources may even enhance the impact of negative headlines. These findings demonstrate that though we may have distinct perceptions about the credibility of media sources, information processing and social judgments rely on the emotional content of headlines, even when they stem from sources we distrust.
Are ants always mutualistic? Influence of ants and variation in flowerets ofClerodendrum chinense
Authors: Gawde Rupesh , Ghayal Nivedita
Published: March 2020

Ants are the major mutualists in the plant -ant interaction system playing a major role in the survival of plants by deterring herbivore and increasing plant health and fitness of the plant. To get better insights into the ant-plant interaction system,Clerodendrum chinenseoccupied byCrematogaster roghenoferiwere observed for six months to assess the influence of presence and absence of ants on the flowerets blooming. In a total of (n=34) flowerets bunch, 17 were used as control and 17 experimentation that were treated with ant barrier glue to restrict the ants visitation to the flowerets bunch. By using the Students t-test, our study revealed the facultative behaviour of ants. Citing the equal presence of herbivores in both the control and experimented sets, and decreased floweret blooming in anting-continued (control) whereas increased floweret blooming in de-anted (experimented). The present study has shown the facultative interaction ofC. roghenoferiwithC. chinenseand its effects on the reproductive structures (flowerets) of the shrub. This study makes a clear case stating that not always an interaction between ant and plant is the mutualism.
Population structure and dispersal across small and large spatial scales in a direct developing marine isopod
Authors: Pearman William S. , Wells Sarah J. , Silander Olin K. , Freed Nikki E. , Dale James
Published: March 2020

Marine organisms generally exhibit one of two developmental modes: biphasic, with distinct adult and larval morphology, and direct development, in which larvae resemble adults. Developmental mode is thought to significantly influence dispersal, with direct developers expected to have much lower dispersal potential. However, in contrast to our relatively good understanding of dispersal and population connectivity for biphasic species, comparatively little is known about direct developers. In this study, we use a panel of 8,020 SNPs to investigate population structure and gene flow for a direct developing species, the New Zealand endemic marine isopodIsocladus armatus. On a small spatial scale (20 kms), gene flow between locations is extremely high and suggests an island model of migration. However, over larger spatial scales (600km), populations exhibit a clear pattern of isolation-by-distance. Because our sampling range is intersected by two well-known biogeographic barriers (the East Cape and the Cook Strait), our study provides an opportunity to understand how such barriers influence dispersal in direct developers. Our results indicate thatI. armatusexhibits significant migration across these barriers, and suggests that ocean currents associated with these locations do not present a barrier to dispersal. Interestingly, we do find evidence of a north-south population genetic break occurring between Māhia and Wellington, two locations where there are no obvious biogeographic barriers between them. We conclude that developmental life history largely predicts dispersal in intertidal marine isopods. However, localised biogeographic processes can disrupt this expectation.
Breaking Apart Contact Networks with Vaccination
Authors: Lazzari Gianrocco , Salathé Marcel
Published: March 2020

Infectious diseases can cause large disease outbreaks due to their transmission potential from one individual to the next. Vaccination is an effective way of cutting off possible chains of transmission, thereby mitigating the outbreak potential of a disease in a population. From a contact network perspective, vaccination effectively removes nodes from the network, thereby breaking apart the contact network into a much smaller network of susceptible individuals on which the disease can spread. Here, we look at the continuum of small world networks to random networks, and find that vaccination breaks apart networks in ways that can dramatically influence the maximum outbreak size. In particular, after the removal of a constant number of nodes (representing vaccination coverage), the more clustered small world networks more readily fall apart into many disjoint and small susceptible sub-networks, thus preventing large outbreaks, while more random networks remain largely connected even after node removal through vaccination. We further develop a model of social mixing that moves small world networks closer to the random regime, thereby facilitating larger disease outbreaks after vaccination. Our results show that even when vaccination is entirely random, social mixing can lead to contact network structures that strongly influence outbreak sizes. We find the largest effects to be in the regime of relatively high vaccination coverages of around 80%, where despite vaccination being random, outbreak sizes can vary by a factor of 20.