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Chlamydia psittaci and C. gallinacea are obligate intracellular bacteria infecting poultry. We conducted a survey in two poultry slaughterhouses that were processing either exclusively ducks (A) or various poultry species except ducks (B). Cloacal swabs were collected from all incoming poultry flocks in the course of a week, and blood samples and pharyngeal swabs were taken from workers. Swabs were examined using PCR and sera were analyzed with two immunoassays. PCR testing revealed the presence of C. psittaci in 9/38 duck flocks and the complete absence of C. gallinacea in these flocks (slaughterhouse A), whereas 16/33 Chlamydiaceae-positive poultry flocks handled in slaughterhouse B harbored C. gallinacea only. In an episode of psittacosis in slaughterhouse A, where one PCR-positive worker presented clinical signs, seroconversions were detected in 10 workers. In contrast, serological responses of slaughterhouse B workers to C. psittaci were generally low. This is in line with the almost complete absence of C. psittaci in handled flocks, where in additional sampling campaigns the agent was detected only once in the course of a year. Our study indicates that C. psittaci has a certain preference for ducks, whereas C. gallinacea was the predominant chlamydial agent in chickens and guinea fowl flocks., (© FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The aim of the study is to evaluate the utility of the website http://www.g-oubliemapilule.com/ that contains the recommendations of the French Haute Autorité de santé in case of oral contraceptive pill missing. This epidemiologic prospective study was conducted using an online questionnaire available at http://www.g-oubliemapilule.com/. The results emphasize the poor quality of information provided by the physicians. 40% of the physicians don't provide information about what to do in case of oral contraceptive pill missing during the first medical visit for oral contraceptive prescription and the physicians don't inquire about oral contraceptive pill missing during the follow-up in 3/4 of the cases. Furthermore, when women find information about what to do in case of oral contraceptive pill missing, a majority of them won't follow the advice provided even if it is fully understood. 60% of the women who should use the condom during the 7 days following the oral contraceptive pill missing don't use it and 86% of the women who should use the emergency contraceptive pill don't use it. The reason mostly invoked (1/3 of the cases) to support that behaviour is the assumption that the risk of pregnancy is too low. The results help to understand the gap between theoretical efficacy (Pearl Index: 0.3%) and real efficacy (8%) of the oral contraceptive pill. Finally, the website http://www.g-oubliemapilule.com/ is a useful well understood additional tool but can't replace the medical follow-up.

In species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), global climate change may result in a strong sex ratio bias that could lead to extinction. The relationship between sex ratio and egg incubation at constant temperature in TSD species is characterized by two parameters: the pivotal temperature (P) and the transitional range of temperature that produces both sexes (TRT). Here, we show that the proportion of nests producing both sexes is positively correlated to the width of the TRT by a correlative approach from sex ratio data collected in the literature and by simulations of TSD using a mechanistic model. From our analyses, we predict that species with a larger TRT should be more likely to evolve in response to new thermal conditions, thus putting them at lower risk to global change.

Background: We use a simulation-based model to study the impact of female philopatry and heterogeneity of habitat quality on the evolution of primary sex ratio., Results: We show that these conditions may lead to strongly biased ESS habitat-dependent sex ratios, under two kinds of density-dependent population regulation. ESS sex ratios are always biased towards females in good habitats, towards males in poor habitats, and are generally equilibrated considering the whole population. Noticeably, the predicted bias of sex ratio usually increases with decreasing female philopatry., Conclusion: The selection forces responsible for these results are fully described. This study provides a new perspective on the evolutionary significance of temperature sex determination. We discuss the case of turtles by comparing our theoretical results with field observations.

Background: Marine turtles deposit their eggs on tropical or subtropical beaches during discrete nesting seasons that span several months. The number and distribution of nests laid during a nesting season provide vital information on various aspects of marine turtle ecology and conservation., Results: In the case of leatherback sea turtles nesting in French Guiana, we developed a mathematical model to explore the phenology of their nesting season, derived from an incomplete nest count dataset. We detected 3 primary components in the nest distribution of leatherbacks: an overall shape that corresponds to the arrival and departure of leatherback females in the Guianas region, a sinusoidal pattern with a period of approximately 10 days that is related to physiological constraints of nesting female leatherbacks, and a sinusoidal pattern with a period of approximately 15 days that likely reflects the influence of spring high tides on nesting female turtles., Conclusion: The model proposed here offers a variety of uses for both marine turtles and also other taxa when individuals are observed in a particular location for only part of the year.