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Sub-Antarctic fur seal, Arctocephalus tropicalis, pups were counted on some of the beaches on all four Tristan da Cunha (TdC) islands, in January 2017, to determine the status of the population, in the face of climate change that is magnified in polar regions. Compared to counts done 40 years earlier on Gough, the breeding population increased markedly on some beaches, although negligibly on the largely open boulder beaches on the leeward northeastern sector of the island. Similarly, on the northern group of the TdC islands, the breeding population had increased markedly (including the very first pup counts at Inaccessible and Nightingale), despite fur seal females currently selecting only certain beaches for pupping (at Inaccessible and Tristan). At Tristan da Cunha, only one small breeding colony occurs which is remote from the human settlement, probably the result of anthropogenic disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observer-based studies often underestimate key ecological parameters. Here a fresh approach was used to analyse six years (2006–11) of attendance cycles to estimate foraging trip lengths of a lactating flipper-tagged otariid: subantarctic fur seals at Marion Island. Multi-state mark-recapture models were used to calculate detection failures of females, correct estimates accordingly, and investigate the effects of year, season, pup sex and the presence of a telemetry device on attendance cycle parameters. There were no differences between corrected and uncorrected attendance data. This is attributed to the high capture probability across all seasons (range: 83–98%). This illustrates that observer-based studies are useful to augment telemetry studies. Only season and pup sex had a significant impact on female provisioning rates. In winter, foraging trip durations were longer (t-value=25.22, P<0.0001) and attendance durations shorter (t-value=-2.15, P=0.01) than during summer. Females with female pups spent a higher proportion of their time on land (χ2=6.6, P<0.05). Male pups have higher growth demands and are larger which suggests they can deplete female milk-stores faster. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Communication in neonatal intensive care units and the relationship between families and staff have been reported to influence parental mental well-being. Research has also shown an impact of parental educational level on their well-being. However, whether different educational levels result in different reactions to breaking bad news (BBN) by physicians remains unanswered so far. We therefore examined the impact of parental level of education on their mental state after a BBN conversation and their relation to physicians. A prospective quantitative survey was conducted amongst 54 parents whose preterm or term infants were hospitalized in three German neonatal units. Parental education was classified as low (lower secondary/less (1), n : 23) or high (higher secondary/more (2), n : 31). Parents answered questions about certain aspects of and their mental state after BBN and their trust in physicians. The two groups did not differ significantly in their mental condition after BBN, with both reporting high levels of exhaustion and worries, each (median (min;max): (1): 16 (6;20) vs. (2): 14 (5;20), (scaling: 5-20)). However, lower-educated parents reported a lower trust in physicians (median (min;max): (1): 2 (0;9) vs. (2): 1 (0;6), p < 0.05 (scaling: 0-10)) and felt less safe during BBN (median (min;max): (1): 15 (9;35) vs. (2): 13 (9;33), p < 0.05). Only among higher-educated parents was trust in physicians significantly correlated with the safety and orientation provided during BBN (r: 0.583, p < 0.05, r: 0.584, p < 0.01). Concurrently, only among less-educated parents was safety correlated with the hope conveyed during BBN (r: 0.763, p < 0.01). Therefore, in BBN discussions with less-educated parents, physicians should focus more on giving them hope to promote safety.

Open spina bifida (OSB) is a congenital, non-lethal malformation with multifactorial etiology. Fetal therapy can be offered under certain conditions to parents after accurate prenatal diagnostic and interdisciplinary counseling. Since the advent of prenatal OSB surgery, various modifications of the original surgical techniques have evolved, including laparotomy-assisted fetoscopic repair. After a two-year preparation time, the team at the University of Giessen and Marburg (UKGM) became the first center to provide a three-port, three-layer fetoscopic repair of OSB via a laparotomy-assisted approach in the German-speaking area. We point out that under the guidance of experienced centers and by intensive multidisciplinary preparation and training, a previously described and applied technique could be transferred to a different setting.

Objectives: Little is known about parents' preferences in breaking bad news (BBN) in neonatology. The study was aimed at comparing parents' experiences with their first BBN discussion with a neonatologist/pediatric surgeon to their personal preferences., Methods: We conducted a quantitative survey amongst 54 parents of hospitalized preterm or term infants with severe diseases in two medium-size and one small German neonatal units. Parents answered self-rated questions on how they perceived BBN during their infant's hospital stay, asking for procedure and perception of BBN, their preferences and satisfaction with BBN., Results: Overall satisfaction with BBN was moderate to high (median (min-max): 8 (1-10) on a 1-10-Likert scale). A compassionate way of disclosure correlated highest with overall satisfaction with BBN. Thorough transmission of information in an easy to understand manner emerged as another crucial point and correlated significantly to satisfaction with BBN, too. The study revealed that it was highly important for parents, that physicians had good knowledge of the infant and the course of his/her disease, which was only met in a minority of cases. Moreover, there was a major discrepancy between expected and observed professional competence of the delivering physicians. Additionally, physicians did not set aside sufficient time for BBN and parents reported a lack of transporting assurance and hope., Conclusions: In BBN physicians should draw greatest attention to ensure understanding in parents, with good knowledge of child and disease and sufficient time in a trustworthy manner. Physicians should focus on transporting competence, trust and gentleness., (© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

A breeding colony of notothenioid icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah, Nybelin 1947) of globally unprecedented extent has been discovered in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The colony was estimated to cover at least ∼240 km 2 of the eastern flank of the Filchner Trough, comprised of fish nests at a density of 0.26 nests per square meter, representing an estimated total of ∼60 million active nests and associated fish biomass of >60,000 tonnes. The majority of nests were each occupied by 1 adult fish guarding 1,735 eggs (±433 SD). Bottom water temperatures measured across the nesting colony were up to 2°C warmer than the surrounding bottom waters, indicating a spatial correlation between the modified Warm Deep Water (mWDW) upflow onto the Weddell Shelf and the active nesting area. Historical and concurrently collected seal movement data indicate that this concentrated fish biomass may be utilized by predators such as Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii, Lesson 1826). Numerous degraded fish carcasses within and near the nesting colony suggest that, in death as well as life, these fish provide input for local food webs and influence local biogeochemical processing. To our knowledge, the area surveyed harbors the most spatially expansive continuous fish breeding colony discovered to date globally at any depth, as well as an exceptionally high Antarctic seafloor biomass. This discovery provides support for the establishment of a regional marine protected area in the Southern Ocean under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) umbrella. VIDEO ABSTRACT., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The impacts of climate change in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are not uniform and ice-obligate species with dissimilar life-history characteristics will likely respond differently to their changing ecosystems. We use a unique data set of Weddell Leptonychotes weddellii and crabeater seals' (CESs) Lobodon carcinophaga breeding season distribution in the Weddell Sea, determined from satellite imagery. We contrast the theoretical climate impacts on both ice-obligate predators who differ in life-history characteristics: CESs are highly specialized Antarctic krill Euphausia superba predators and breed in the seasonal pack ice; Weddell seals (WESs) are generalist predators and breed on comparatively stable fast ice. We used presence-absence data and a suite of remotely sensed environmental variables to build habitat models. Each of the environmental predictors is multiplied by a 'climate change score' based on known responses to climate change to create a 'change importance product'. Results show CESs are more sensitive to climate change than WESs. Crabeater seals prefer to breed close to krill, and the compounding effects of changing sea ice concentrations and sea surface temperatures, the proximity to krill and abundance of stable breeding ice, can influence their post-breeding foraging success and ultimately their future breeding success. But in contrast to the Ross Sea, here WESs prefer to breed closer to larger colonies of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri). This suggests that the Weddell Sea may currently be prey-abundant, allowing the only two air-breathing Antarctic silverfish predators (Pleuragramma antarctica) (WESs and emperor penguins) to breed closer to each other. This is the first basin-scale, region-specific comparison of breeding season habitat in these two key Antarctic predators based on real-world data to compare climate change responses. This work shows that broad-brush, basin-scale approaches to understanding species-specific responses to climate change are not always appropriate, and regional models are needed-especially when designing marine protected areas., (© 2021 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The reaction sequence for aerobic degradation of bile salts by environmental bacteria resembles degradation of other steroid compounds. Recent findings show that bacteria belonging to the Sphingomonadaceae use a pathway variant for bile-salt degradation. This study addresses this so-called Δ 4,6 -variant by comparative analysis of unknown degradation steps in Sphingobium sp. strain Chol11 with known reactions found in Pseudomonas stutzeri Chol1. Investigations of strain Chol11 revealed an essential function of the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (ACAD) Scd4AB for growth with bile salts. Growth of the scd4AB deletion mutant was restored with a metabolite containing a double bond within the side chain which was produced by the Δ 22 -ACAD Scd1AB from P. stutzeri Chol1. Expression of scd1AB in the scd4AB deletion mutant fully restored growth with bile salts, while expression of scd4AB only enabled constricted growth in P. stutzeri Chol1 scd1A or scd1B deletion mutants. Strain Chol11 Δ scd4A accumulated hydroxylated steroid metabolites which were degraded and activated with coenzyme A by the wild type. Activities of five Rieske type monooxygenases of strain Chol11 were screened by heterologous expression and compared to the B-ring cleaving KshAB Chol1 from P. stutzeri Chol1. Three of the Chol11 enzymes catalyzed B-ring cleavage of only Δ 4,6 -steroids, while KshAB Chol1 was more versatile. Expression of a fourth KshA homolog, Nov2c228, led to production of metabolites with hydroxylations at an unknown position. These results indicate functional diversity of proteobacterial enzymes for bile-salt degradation and suggest a novel side chain degradation pathway involving an essential ACAD reaction and a steroid hydroxylation step. IMPORTANCE This study highlights the biochemical diversity of bacterial degradation of steroid compounds in different aspects. First, it further elucidates an unexplored variant in the degradation of bile-salt side chains by sphingomonads, a group of environmental bacteria that is well-known for their broad metabolic capabilities. Moreover, it adds a so far unknown hydroxylation of steroids to the reactions Rieske monooxygenases can catalyze with steroids. Additionally, it analyzes a proteobacterial ketosteroid-9α-hydroxylase and shows that this enzyme is able to catalyze side reactions with nonnative substrates.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for quality nurses and nursing education. Virtual simulation emerged as a key component of providing clinical experiences to nursing students., Problem: Commercial virtual simulation products can be costly, and it is difficult to ensure the content meets student needs. In addition, there is a potential for cheating as answers are available online., Methods: Faculty recorded 16 different scenarios in pre-determined segments, including patient report, assessment, provider communication, and conclusion. During the clinical experience, the students watched the videos and participated in faculty-led discussion. At the conclusion of the activity, students completed a reflection assignment providing qualitative data for review., Results: Student feedback was positive. Themes identified in the comments include critical thinking, variety of scenarios, observer role, debriefing, and overall quality of experience., Conclusions: Homemade virtual clinical has the potential to be a low-cost, high-impact method for virtual simulation across nursing curricula. Further research is needed., (© 2021 Organization for Associate Degree Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: To understand and predict the distribution of foragers, it is crucial to identify the factors that affect individual movement decisions at different scales. Individuals are expected to adjust their foraging movements to the hierarchical spatial distribution of resources. At a small local scale, spatial segregation in foraging habitat happens among individuals of closely situated colonies. If foraging segregation is due to differences in distribution of resources, we would expect segregated foraging areas to have divergent habitat characteristics., Results: We investigated how environmental characteristics of preferred foraging areas differ between two closely situated Subantarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus tropicalis) colonies and a single Antarctic fur seal (A. gazella) colony that forage in different pelagic areas even though they are located well within each other's foraging range. We further investigated the influence of the seasonal cycle on those environmental factors. This study used tracking data from 121 adult female Subantarctic and Antarctic fur seals, collected during summer and winter (2009-2015), from three different colonies. Boosted Regression Tree species distribution models were used to determine key environmental variables associated with areas of fur seal restricted search behaviour. There were no differences in the relative influence of key environmental variables between colonies and seasons. The variables with the most influence for each colony and season were latitude, longitude and magnitude of sea-currents. The influence of latitude and longitude is a by-product of the species' distinct foraging areas, despite the close proximity (< 25 km) of the colonies. The predicted potential foraging areas for each colony changed from summer to winter, reflecting the seasonal cycle of the Southern Ocean. The model predicted that the potential foraging areas of females from the three colonies should overlap, and the fact they do not in reality indicates that factors other than environmental are influencing the location of each colony's foraging area., Conclusions: The results indicated that small scale spatial segregation of foraging habitats is not driven by bottom-up processes. It is therefore important to also consider other potential drivers, e.g. competition, information transfer, and memory, to understand animal foraging decisions and movements.

Strategies employed by wide-ranging foraging animals involve consideration of habitat quality and predictability and should maximise net energy gain. Fidelity to foraging sites is common in areas of high resource availability or where predictable changes in resource availability occur. However, if resource availability is heterogeneous or unpredictable, as it often is in marine environments, then habitat familiarity may also present ecological benefits to individuals. We examined the winter foraging distribution of female Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazelle, over four years to assess the degree of foraging site fidelity at two scales; within and between years. On average, between-year fidelity was strong, with most individuals utilising more than half of their annual foraging home range over multiple years. However, fidelity was a bimodal strategy among individuals, with five out of eight animals recording between-year overlap values of greater than 50%, while three animals recorded values of less than 5%. High long-term variance in sea surface temperature, a potential proxy for elevated long-term productivity and prey availability, typified areas of overlap. Within-year foraging site fidelity was weak, indicating that successive trips over the winter target different geographic areas. We suggest that over a season, changes in prey availability are predictable enough for individuals to shift foraging area in response, with limited associated energetic costs. Conversely, over multiple years, the availability of prey resources is less spatially and temporally predictable, increasing the potential costs of shifting foraging area and favouring long-term site fidelity. In a dynamic and patchy environment, multi-year foraging site fidelity may confer a long-term energetic advantage to the individual. Such behaviours that operate at the individual level have evolutionary and ecological implications and are potential drivers of niche specialization and modifiers of intra-specific competition.

Unlabelled: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the development of the circadian rhythm of the salivary cortisol in premature infants and its correlation with the onset of the sleep-activity behavior pattern during the first 3 weeks of life under controlled light:dark conditions. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of acoustic stimulation by audiotaped lullabies or the maternal voice on the cortisol values and long-term sleep-activity patterns. The study was a block-randomized, prospective clinical trial with a study population of 62 preterm neonates (30<37 gestational age). We compared two study groups who listened either to music or to the maternal voice (music: N=20; maternal voice: N=20) with a matched control group (N=22). The acoustic stimulation took place every evening between 20:00 and 21:00 h for 30 min over a period of 2 weeks. The cortisol values and activity-rest behavior of the neonates were determined during the first 3 weeks of life on the 1st, 7th and 14th day. Actigraphic monitoring was used to record the activity pattern continuously over 24 h and a validated algorithm for neonates was used to estimate sleep and wakefulness. The saliva samples were obtained 10 min before and 10 min after the acoustic interventions for the study groups. Additionally, saliva samples were obtained from the control group seven times over a 24-h period (20:00, 21:00, 01:00, 05:00, 08:00, 13:00 and 17:00 h). The cortisol data were analyzed by fast Fourier transformation to assess periodic characteristics and frequencies. Hierarchical linear modeling was further performed for the statistical analysis., Results: The cortisol rhythm analysis indicated a circadian rhythm pattern for only one premature infant, all others of the neonates showed no circadian or ultradian rhythm in cortisol. Cortisol level of the premature neonates was significantly higher during the first day of the study period at night-time (median: 17.1 nmol/L, IQR=9.7-24.4 nmol/L) than on days 7 (median: 9.6 nmol/L, IQR=4.7-14.6 nmol/L; Tukey-HSD, z=4.12, p<0.001) and 14 (IQR=5.8-13.7 nmol/L; Tukey-HSD, z=2.89, p<0.05). No significant effect of acoustic stimulation was observed on the cortisol concentration and sleep-wake behavior. The activity-sleep rhythm of preterm neonates was dominated by ultradian rhythm patterns with a prominent period length of 4 h (30.5%). Activity frequencies of neonates were also significantly higher overnight on the first study day (mean: 329±185.1 U) than of night seven (mean: 260.2±132.4 U; Tukey-HSD, z=2.50, p<0.05). Quiet-activity patterns increased, whereas high-activity patterns decreased during the observation period. Average sleep time increased significantly during the study time from day 1 to day 7 (Tukey-HSD, z=2.51, p<0.05). In conclusion, premature infants showed higher cortisol levels - without a circadian rhythmicity - and higher activity frequencies in the first days after birth which may reflect an adaptation process of neonates after birth. Cortisol concentrations and the activity patterns were not influenced by music interventions.

Asian-origin avian influenza (AI) viruses are spread in part by migratory birds. In Alaska, diverse avian hosts from Asia and the Americas overlap in a region of intercontinental avifaunal mixing. This region is hypothesized to be a zone of Asia-to-America virus transfer because birds there can mingle in waters contaminated by wild-bird-origin AI viruses. Our 7 years of AI virus surveillance among waterfowl and shorebirds in this region (1998-2004; 8,254 samples) showed remarkably low infection rates (0.06%). Our findings suggest an Arctic effect on viral ecology, caused perhaps by low ecosystem productivity and low host densities relative to available water. Combined with a synthesis of avian diversity and abundance, intercontinental host movements, and genetic analyses, our results suggest that the risk and probably the frequency of intercontinental virus transfer in this region are relatively low.