The German Barcoding initiatives BFB and GBOL have generated a reference library of more than 16,000 metazoan species, which is now ready for applications concerning next generation molecular ...biodiversity assessments. To streamline the barcoding process, we have developed a meta-barcoding pipeline: We pre-sorted a single malaise trap sample (obtained during one week in August 2014, southern Germany) into 12 arthropod orders and extracted DNA from pooled individuals of each order separately, in order to facilitate DNA extraction and avoid time consuming single specimen selection. Aliquots of each ordinal-level DNA extract were combined to roughly simulate a DNA extract from a non-sorted malaise sample. Each DNA extract was amplified using four primer sets targeting the CO1-5' fragment. The resulting PCR products (150-400bp) were sequenced separately on an Illumina Mi-SEQ platform, resulting in 1.5 million sequences and 5,500 clusters (coverage ≥10; CD-HIT-EST, 98%). Using a total of 120,000 DNA barcodes of identified, Central European Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera downloaded from BOLD we established a reference sequence database for a local CUSTOM BLAST. This allowed us to identify 529 Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) from our sequence clusters derived from pooled Malaise trap samples. We introduce a scoring matrix based on the sequence match percentages of each amplicon in order to gain plausibility for each detected BIN, leading to 390 high score BINs in the sorted samples; whereas 268 of these high score BINs (69%) could be identified in the combined sample. The results indicate that a time consuming presorting process will yield approximately 30% more high score BINs compared to the non-sorted sample in our case. These promising results indicate that a fast, efficient and reliable analysis of next generation data from malaise trap samples can be achieved using this pipeline.
The habitat template concept applied to a freshwater system indicates that lotic species, or those which occupy permanent habitats along stream courses, are less dispersive than lentic species, or ...those that occur in more ephemeral aquatic habitats. Thus, populations of lotic species will be more structured than those of lentic species. Stream courses include both flowing water and small, stagnant microhabitats that can provide refuge when streams are low. Many species occur in these microhabitats but remain poorly studied. Here, we present population genetic data for one such species, the tropical diving beetle Exocelina manokwariensis (Dytiscidae), sampled from six localities along a ~300 km transect across the Birds Head Peninsula of New Guinea. Molecular data from both mitochondrial (CO1 sequences) and nuclear (ddRAD loci) regions document fine‐scale population structure across populations that are ~45 km apart. Our results are concordant with previous phylogenetic and macroecological studies that applied the habitat template concept to aquatic systems. This study also illustrates that these diverse but mostly overlooked microhabitats are promising study systems in freshwater ecology and evolutionary biology. With the advent of next‐generation sequencing, fine‐scale population genomic studies are feasible for small nonmodel organisms to help illuminate the effect of habitat stability on species’ natural history, population structure and geographic distribution.
Adolescents in Hong Kong have become more liberal and receptive towards sex in recent decades. Research findings indicated an increase in the rate of premarital sex among Hong Kong adolescents. They ...also held a more permissive attitude towards premarital sex than in the past. Sex education, however, is not always well organised and delivered in schools. A recent survey indicated that Hong Kong teachers found themselves not well equipped to teach the sex education and lacked relevant learning and teaching resources. Current educational resources for sex education are mainly designed to be used in classroom. They are typically composed of presentation slides and lesson plans of group based activities. As discussion on sex is still taboo in Chinese society, self-learning resources can supplement classroom teaching. Unfortunately they are rarely offered online or tailored for mobile access. Available online resources are mostly text-based and are unattractive to the most vulnerable adolescent group. This project aims to address this gap by developing an interactive game playable on Facebook, iPad and the web to educate and equip young adolescents with reliable knowledge and positive attitudes towards sex and relationship and life skills necessary for making wise decisions regarding love and sex in a fun way. The game, titled Making Smart Choices, consists of five mini-games, adopting a Chinese user interface, offering different scenarios where players exact their decisions in their chosen virtual characters and learn in the process. The mini-games aim to help young adolescents: to gain better self-understanding for establishing a healthy love relationship; to learn to set and maintain intimate boundaries; to understand about sexual impulse and considerations in deciding whether to have sex or not; to acquire safer sex knowledge including awareness of self- protection, contraceptives, prevention of sexually transmissible diseases, and emergency contraception; and to be aware of available options and support services in case of unplanned pregnancies. To evaluate the effectiveness and acceptance of the game among young adolescents, a series of workshops and game sessions were conducted for more than 1,100 junior students (in Secondary 1 to Secondary 3) in six co-ed secondary schools. Students' knowledge about safer sex was collected before and after playing the game. Participants were also asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their perception of the value of the game and whether they found the game interesting and user-friendly. Focus group interviews were arranged with selected students in order to gather their detailed feedback. The collected data were analysed using SPSS and the results showed that after playing the game, students' sex knowledge improved with a high medium effect size. The improvement was found in every junior secondary level. The survey respondents perceived that the game had helped them enhance their critical thinking, decision-making and ability to seek help regarding matters related to love and sexuality in addition to knowledge and proper attitudes towards relationship and sex. They were mostly receptive to the game, finding it fun to play with and describing the content as "interesting", "interactive", "informative", "close to reality" and "applicable".
Aim
To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and implementation strategies of telecare consultations in post‐stroke nurse‐led clinics.
Background
Telecare consultations could be an alternative to ...conventional in‐person consultations and improve continuity of care for stroke survivors following their discharge from hospital. Previous studies utilizing telecare consultations only focused on testing their clinical effectiveness on stroke survivors; the appropriateness and feasibility of adopting this new delivery modality in a real‐world setting were not examined.
Design
A Type II hybrid effectiveness‐implementation design will be adopted.
Methods
Eligible stroke survivor participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention group (telecare consultation) or control group (usual in‐person clinic consultation). Both groups will receive the same nursing intervention but delivered through different channels. The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance framework will be used to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and implementation outcomes. The primary outcome is the non‐inferiority of the degree of disability between the two groups at 3 months into the intervention and at 3 months post‐intervention. The paper complies with the SPIRIT guidelines for study protocols adapted for designing and reporting parallel group randomized trials.
Conclusion
The findings of this study will provide key insights into the processes for implementing and adopting telecare consultations into long‐term services for post‐stroke patients.
Impact
This study contributes to the translation of telecare consultations for stroke survivors into real‐life settings. If effective, this program may provide guidance for expanding telecare consultations to other post‐stroke nurse‐led clinics or to patients with other chronic diseases.
Trial Registration
This study has been registered at clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT05183672). Registered on 10 January 2022.
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