Diverse University Students Across the United States Reveal Promising Pathways to Hunter Recruitment and Retention

Declining participation in hunting, especially among young adult hunters, affects the ability of state and federal agencies to achieve goals for wildlife management and decreases revenue for conservation. For wildlife agencies hoping to engage diverse audiences in hunter recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) efforts, university settings provide unique advantages: they contain millions of young adults who are developmentally primed to explore new activities, and they cultivate a social atmosphere where new identities can flourish. From 2018 to 2020, we surveyed 17,203 undergraduate students at public universities across 22 states in the United States to explore R3 potential on college campuses and assess key demographic, social, and cognitive correlates of past and intended future hunting behavior. After weighting to account for demographic differences between our sample and the larger student population, 29% of students across all states had hunted in the past. Students with previous hunting experience were likely to be white, male, from rural areas or hunting families, and pursuing degrees related to natural resources. When we grouped students into 1 of 4 categories with respect to hunting (i.e., non-hunters [50%], potential hunters [22%], active hunters [26%], and lapsed hunters [3%]), comparisons revealed differences based on demographic attributes, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Compared to active hunters, potential hunters were more likely to be females or racial and ethnic minorities, and less likely to experience social support for hunting. Potential hunters valued game meat and altruistic reasons for hunting, but they faced unique constraints due to lack of hunting knowledge and skills. Findings provide insights for marketing and programming designed to achieve R3 objectives with a focus on university students. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.     

Screening for Distress in Routine Oncological Care—A Survey in 520 Melanoma Patients

Introduction

Despite the increasing incidence of melanoma little is known about patients'' emotional distress associated with this disease. Supplemented by the problem list (PL), the distress thermometer (DT) is a recommended screening instrument to measure psychosocial distress in cancer patients. Our objective was to explore the acceptance and the feasibility of the DT and PL as a concise screening tool in an ambulatory setting for routine care and to elucidate determinants of distress in melanoma patients with regard to sociodemographic and clinical variables.

Methods

Consecutive melanoma outpatients were asked to complete the DT with the PL prior to their scheduled consultation. Demographic and clinical data were obtained from the patients'' charts. Clinical data included melanoma stage, time since diagnosis, previous treatment, current treatment, and other cancer disease.

Results

Out of 734 patients recruited into the study, 520 patients (71%) completed both the DT and the PL. Forty-seven percent met the ≥5 cut-off score for distress. Younger and employed patients reported higher distress than older and retired patients. A cut-off score of ≥5 was closely associated with self-reported emotional sources of distress, with practical problems, especially at work, family problems (dealing with the partner), and physical problems like pain, appearance, getting around, and nausea. Apart from higher distress under current systemic treatment, no associations were found between distress and clinical data.

Conclusion

The DT together with the PL seems to be an economically reasonable screening tool to measure psychosocial distress in melanoma patients. In particular, younger melanoma patients who are currently employed are prone to experience distress at some point after diagnosis, but there appears to be almost no association between clinical data and the extent of distress. To characterize the impact of distress on disease outcome and quality of life in melanoma patients, further research is needed.     

Context-Dependent Competition in a Model Gut Bacterial Community

Understanding the ecological processes that generate complex community structures may provide insight into the establishment and maintenance of a normal microbial community in the human gastrointestinal tract, yet very little is known about how biotic interactions influence community dynamics in this system. Here, we use natural strains of Escherichia coli and a simplified model microbiota to demonstrate that the colonization process on the strain level can be context dependent, in the sense that the outcome of intra-specific competition may be determined by the composition of the background community. These results are consistent with previous models for competition between organisms where one competitor has adapted to low resource environments whereas the other is optimized for rapid reproduction when resources are abundant. The genomic profiles of E. coli strains representing these differing ecological strategies provide clues for deciphering the genetic underpinnings of niche adaptation within a single species. Our findings extend the role of ecological theory in understanding microbial systems and the conceptual toolbox for describing microbial community dynamics. There are few, if any, concrete examples of context-dependent competition on a single trophic level. However, this phenomenon can have potentially dramatic effects on which bacteria will successfully establish and persist in the gastrointestinal system, and the principle should be equally applicable to other microbial ecosystems.     

Long-distance migration timing of Tringa sandpipers adjusted to recent climate change

Capsule Evidence for earlier spring migration of Tringa sandpipers after warmer winters, but no clear pattern concerning autumn migration timing.

Aim To analyse the timing of migration of three Tringa sandpipers between 1966 and 2002 with respect to recent global warming on a local and a hemispheric scale.

Methods I analysed long-term migration timing variation in Greenshank Tringa nebularia, Spotted Redshank T. erythropus and Wood Sandpiper T. glareola at four Central European staging sites. Variation in passage onset, median and end per migration period was analysed using stepwise regression with respect to variation in (i) local abundance, residence time and age-dependent abundance as an estimate of breeding success and (ii) climate at the staging sites, snowmelt at the presumed central breeding area and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

Results All three species consistently showed an overall spring migration advance and autumn migration delay. Autumn passage timing varied with both climatic conditions at the breeding area and breeding success, while in 43% of all cases spring passage correlated with local and hemispheric climate variation.

Conclusion The distinction between population dynamic and climatic effects on timing of autumn migration requires separate data for local adult and juvenile passage or a larger sample of sites. In spring, the data strongly suggest a flexible response of migration timing to local weather conditions and the hemispheric variation of the North Atlantic Oscillation. This indicates that even long-distance migrants are able to adjust their overall migration pattern to fluctuating environmental conditions on a phenotypic basis.     

Photosynthesis in relation to D1, PsaA and Rubisco in marine and brackish water ecotypes of Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus radicans (Phaeophyceae)

The aim of this study was to investigate photosynthetic differences between the marine, Norwegian Sea ecotype and the brackish, Bothnian Sea ecotype of F. vesiculosus and F. radicans and to see whether photosynthetic differences could be connected with the relative amounts of D1 protein (PSII), PsaA (PSI) protein and/or Rubisco. For this purpose, we tested if a higher photosynthetic maximum (P _max) in the Atlantic Ocean ecotype of F. vesiculosus relative to the Baltic Sea ecotype, and an increase of the P _max in Baltic Sea ecotype of F. vesiculosus at higher salinity, could be due to an increase in the relative amounts of Rubisco. The proteins have been evaluated on a relative basis. Immunoblot signals showed that the amount of Rubisco was higher in both ecotypes of F. vesiculosus than in F. radicans, but no differences could be detected between the two ecotypes of F. vesiculosus. The results suggest an uneven photosystem protein stoichiometry in Fucus, with more of the PSI protein PsaA relative to the PSII protein D1. The difference in P _max between the two ecotypes of F. vesiculosus might be related to the difficulties for the algae to adapt to the environment in Bothnian Sea.     

Laminin Production and Basement Membrane Deposition by Mesenchymal Stem Cells upon Adipogenic Differentiation

The aim was to study laminin (LM) synthesis, integration, and deposition into the basement membrane (BM) during adipogenesis. Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were induced along the adipogenic lineage. LM chain mRNA and protein levels were followed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), immunofluorescence (IF) staining, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and immunoprecipitation. MSCs produced low levels of LM mRNAs but were not surrounded by BM in IF and TEM imaging. LM-α4, LM-β1, and LM-γ1 mRNAs increased during adipogenesis 3.9-, 5.8-, and 2.8-fold by day 28. LM-411 was immunoprecipitated from the ECM of the differentiated cells. Immunostaining suggested deposition of LM-411 and some LM-421. BM build-up was probably organized in part by integrin (Int) α₆β₁. At day 28, TEM images revealed BM-like structures around fat droplet-containing cells. The first signs of BM formation and Int α₆β₁ were seen using IF imaging at day 14. Laminin-411 and Int α₆β₁ were expressed in vivo in mature human subcutaneous fat tissue. Undifferentiated human MSCs did not organize LM subunits into BM, whereas LM-411 and some LM-421 are precipitated in the BM around adipocytes. This is the first demonstration of LM-411 precipitation during hMSC adipogenesis around adipocytes as a structural scaffold and Int-regulated signaling element.     

GABI‐DUPLO: a collection of double mutants to overcome genetic redundancy in Arabidopsis thaliana

Owing to duplication events in its progenitor, more than 90% of the genes in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome are members of multigene families. A set of 2108 gene families, each consisting of precisely two unlinked paralogous genes, was identified in the nuclear genome of A. thaliana on the basis of sequence similarity. A systematic method for the creation of double knock‐out lines for such gene pairs, designated as DUPLO lines, was established and 200 lines are now publicly available. Their initial phenotypic characterisation led to the identification of seven lines with defects that emerge only in the adult stage. A further six lines display seedling lethality and 23 lines were lethal before germination. Another 14 lines are known to show phenotypes under non‐standard conditions or at the molecular level. Knock‐out of gene pairs with very similar coding sequences or expression profiles is more likely to produce a mutant phenotype than inactivation of gene pairs with dissimilar profiles or sequences. High coding sequence similarity and highly similar expression profiles are only weakly correlated, implying that promoter and coding regions of these gene pairs display different degrees of diversification.     

Investigation of acyclic uridine amide and 5′-amido nucleoside analogues as potential inhibitors of the Plasmodium falciparum dUTPase

Previously we have shown that trityl and diphenyl deoxyuridine derivatives and their acyclic analogues can inhibit Plasmodium falciparum dUTPase (PfdUTPase). We report the synthesis of conformationally restrained amide derivatives as inhibitors PfdUTPase, including both acyclic and cyclic examples. Activity was dependent on the orientation and location of the amide constraining group. In the case of the acyclic series, we were able to obtain amide-constrained analogues which showed similar or greater potency than the unconstrained analogues. Unfortunately these compounds showed lower selectivity in cellular assays.