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Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is increasingly being used to assess community composition in coastal ecosystems. In this study, we chose to examine temporal and spatial changes in the aquatic community of Manly Lagoon - one of the most heavily developed and polluted estuaries in eastern Australia. Based on metabarcoding of the 16S mitochondrial gene (for fish) and the 18S nuclear gene (for macroinvertebrates), we identified seasonal differences in fish and macroinvertebrate community composition as well as species richness, which correlated, in some cases, with the environmental parameters of sea surface temperature and freshwater input. Moreover, given the greater taxonomic resolution of fish versus macroinvertebrate assignments, we identified several known migratory fish species of management importance that contributed significantly to the overall patterns observed. Overall, our data support the use of eDNA metabarcoding to track fish assemblages shifting in response to environmental drivers in polluted estuaries with increased sampling and consultation with historical data.

Recent legislative and policy changes in adult social care have refocused attention on a strengths-based approach to social work practice. The Care Act 2014 advocates a more inclusive and holistic understanding of individual well-being, which is evident by its expectation of more personalised responses to safeguarding. Family Group Conferences (FGCs) fit well with this policy shift but require further exploration before being integrated into work with adults. A fictitious case study was analysed through an organic group discussion, during which the authors applied their professional expertise to explore the appropriateness of FGCs to provide a response to adultsafeguarding cases. FGCs provide a viable alternative to traditional decision-making approaches in the adult-safeguarding field. The case analysis exposes three main areas that require further consideration to ensure effective implementation. The areas identified are divided into mental capacity, risk and funding. It is important that policy makers and local authorities acknowledge the complexity of transferring an approach originally designed for working with children and families to the context of social work with older adults. More effort should be made to address the practice tensions outlined within the article.

Introduction and objectiveThe ODHIN trial found that training and support and financial reimbursement increased the proportion of patients that were screened and given advice for their heavy drinking in primary health care. However, the impact of these strategies on professional accuracy in delivering screening and brief advice is underresearched and is the focus of this paper. MethodFrom 120 primary health care units (24 in each jurisdiction: Catalonia, England, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden), 746 providers participated in the baseline and the 12-week implementation periods. Accuracy was measured in 2 ways: correctness in completing and scoring the screening instrument, AUDIT-C; the proportion of screen-negative patients given advice, and the proportion of screen-positive patients not given advice. Odds ratios of accuracy were calculated for type of profession and for intervention group: training and support, financial reimbursement, and internet-based counselling. ResultsThirty-two of 36711 questionnaires were incorrectly completed, and 65 of 29641 screen-negative patients were falsely classified. At baseline, 27% of screen-negative patients were given advice, and 22.5% screen-positive patients were not given advice. These proportions halved during the 12-week implementation period, unaffected by training. Financial reimbursement reduced the proportion of screen-positive patients not given advice (OR=0.56; 95% CI, 0.31-0.99; Pamp;lt;.05). ConclusionAlthough the use of AUDIT-C as a screening tool was accurate, a considerable proportion of risky drinkers did not receive advice, which was reduced with financial incentives., Funding Agencies|Lundbeck; Abbvie; DA Pharm

© 2017, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany. A major outcome of climate change is the poleward shift of species ranges. We use a long-term (16-year) monitoring program to report new poleward observations of the juvenile stages of 30 tropical reef fishes expatriating to temperate southeastern Australia, a global hotspot for ocean warming. Expatriated juveniles (vagrants) from 10 families and 20 genera were observed for the first time on rocky reefs in southern New South Wales, between 57 and 801 km poleward of their previously recorded locations. Vagrants were functionally diverse, ranging from small planktivores (e.g. Dascyllus trimaculatus) through to a large piscivore/invertivore (Epinephelus cyanopodus). Tropical herbivores comprised 20% of vagrant species, with four species (Acanthurus dussumieri, A. lineatus, A. nigrofuscus, A. olivaceus) recognised as grazers of epilithic algae and one species (Naso unicornis) known to feed selectively on macroalgae. Pelagic larval duration (PLD) ranged greatly among vagrant species, with shorter PLDs suggesting sub-tropical breeding populations for some species. As water temperatures continue to increase in southeastern Australia under climate change, the greater supply and survival of tropical vagrants may alter the functioning of temperate reefs in this region.

Contains fulltext : 170028.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access), In this paper, we test path models that study the interrelations between primary health care provider attitudes towards working with drinkers, their screening and brief advice activity, and their receipt of training and support and financial reimbursement. Study participants were 756 primary health care providers from 120 primary health care units (PHCUs) in different locations throughout Catalonia, England, The Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden. Our interventions were training and support and financial reimbursement to providers. Our design was a randomized factorial trial with baseline measurement period, 12-week implementation period, and 9-month follow-up measurement period. Our outcome measures were: attitudes of individual providers in working with drinkers as measured by the Short Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perception Questionnaire; and the proportion of consulting adult patients (age 18+ years) who screened positive and were given advice to reduce their alcohol consumption (intervention activity). We found that more positive attitudes were associated with higher intervention activity, and higher intervention activity was then associated with more positive attitudes. Training and support was associated with both positive changes in attitudes and higher intervention activity. Financial reimbursement was associated with more positive attitudes through its impact on higher intervention activity. We conclude that improving primary health care providers' screening and brief advice activity for heavy drinking requires a combination of training and support and on-the-job experience of actually delivering screening and brief advice activity.

Contains fulltext : 182502.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access), BACKGROUND: The implementation of primary healthcare-based screening and advice that is effective in reducing heavy drinking can be enhanced with training. OBJECTIVES: Undertaking secondary analysis of the five-country ODHIN study, we test: the extent to which practice, provider and patient characteristics affect the likelihood of patients being screened and advised; the extent to which such characteristics moderate the impact of training in increasing screening and advice; and the extent to which training mitigates any differences due to such characteristics found at baseline. METHODS: A cluster randomized factorial trial involving 120 practices, 746 providers and 46 546 screened patients from Catalonia, England, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden. Practices were randomized to receive training or not to receive training. The primary outcome measures were the proportion of adult patients screened, and the proportion of screen-positive patients advised. RESULTS: Nurses tended to screen more patients than doctors (OR = 3.1; 95%CI: 1.9, 4.9). Screen-positive patients were more likely to be advised by doctors than by nurses (OR = 2.3; 95%CI: 1.4, 4.1), and more liable to be advised the higher their risk status (OR = 1.9; 95%CI: 1.3, 2.7). Training increased screening and advice giving, with its impact largely unrelated to practice, provider or patient characteristics. Training diminished the differences between doctors and nurses and between patients with low or high-risk status. CONCLUSIONS: Training primary healthcare providers diminishes the negative impacts that some practice, provider and patient characteristics have on the likelihood of patients being screened and advised. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov. Trial identifier: NCT01501552.

We developed a variant database for diabetes syndrome genes, using the Leiden Open Variation Database platform, containing observed phenotypes matched to the genetic variations. We populated it with 628 published disease-associated variants (December 2016) for: WFS1 (n = 309), CISD2 (n = 3), ALMS1 (n = 268), and SLC19A2 (n = 48) for Wolfram type 1, Wolfram type 2, Alström, and Thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anemia syndromes, respectively; and included 23 previously unpublished novel germline variants in WFS1 and 17 variants in ALMS1. We then investigated genotype-phenotype relations for the WFS1 gene. The presence of biallelic loss-of-function variants predicted Wolfram syndrome defined by insulin-dependent diabetes and optic atrophy, with a sensitivity of 79% (95% CI 75%-83%) and specificity of 92% (83%-97%). The presence of minor loss-of-function variants in WFS1 predicted isolated diabetes, isolated deafness, or isolated congenital cataracts without development of the full syndrome (sensitivity 100% [93%-100%]; specificity 78% [73%-82%]). The ability to provide a prognostic prediction based on genotype will lead to improvements in patient care and counseling. The development of the database as a repository for monogenic diabetes gene variants will allow prognostic predictions for other diabetes syndromes as next-generation sequencing expands the repertoire of genotypes and phenotypes. The database is publicly available online at https://lovd.euro-wabb.org.