BackgroundDespite being one of the most studied families within the Carnivora, the phylogenetic relationships among the members of the bear family (Ursidae) have long remained unclear. Widely divergent topologies have been suggested based on various data sets and methods.ResultsWe present a fully resolved phylogeny for ursids based on ten complete mitochondrial genome sequences from all eight living and two recently extinct bear species, the European cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) and the American giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus). The mitogenomic data yield a well-resolved topology for ursids, with the sloth bear at the basal position within the genus Ursus. The sun bear is the sister taxon to both the American and Asian black bears, and this clade is the sister clade of cave bear, brown bear and polar bear confirming a recent study on bear mitochondrial genomes.ConclusionSequences from extinct bears represent the third and fourth Pleistocene species for which complete mitochondrial genomes have been sequenced. Moreover, the cave bear specimen demonstrates that mitogenomic studies can be applied to Pleistocene fossils that have not been preserved in permafrost, and therefore have a broad application within ancient DNA research. Molecular dating of the mtDNA divergence times suggests a rapid radiation of bears in both the Old and New Worlds around 5 million years ago, at the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. This coincides with major global changes, such as the Messinian crisis and the first opening of the Bering Strait, and suggests a global influence of such events on species radiations.

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MGO is only partially responsible for the antibiofilm activity of manuka honey. Infusion of MGO-negative honey with MGO, however, achieves similar cidality to the equivalent MGO-rich manuka honey.

Patagonian megafaunal extinctions reveal synergistic roles of climate change and human impacts.

Background: Understanding the health profile, service and medicine use of Australians in the aged care sector will help inform appropriate service provision for our ageing population.Aims: To examine the 2006-2015 trends in (i) comorbidities and frailty of individuals accessing aged care, and (ii) health services, medicine use and mortality after entry into long-term care.Methods: Cross-sectional and population-based trend analyses were conducted using the Registry of Senior Australians. Results: From 2006 to 2015, 509 944 individuals accessed permanent residential care, 206 394 home care, 283 014 respite and 124 943 transition care. Over this time, the proportion of individuals accessing permanent residential care with high frailty scores (≥0.3) increased (19.7-49.7%), as did the proportion with 5-9 comorbidities (46.4-54.5%), with similar trends observed for those accessing other services. The median number of medicines dispensed in the year after entering permanent residential care increased from 9 (interquartile range (IQR) 6-12) to 10 (IQR 7-14), while remaining stable in home care (2006: 9, IQR 5-12, 2015). Short-term (within 100 days) mortality in those accessing permanent care was higher in 2006 (15.6%, 95% CI 15.2-16.0) than 2015 (14.6%, 95% CI 14.3-14.9). Longer term (101-1095 days, 2006: 44.3%, 95% CI 43.7-45.0, 2015) mortality was higher in 2015 compared to 2006. Mortality in individuals accessing home care did not change. Conclusion:The health of older Australians accessing aged care programmes has declined while frailty increased, with an increasing use of medicine and worse long-term mortality in some. Funding and care models need to adapt to this changing profile.

Objectives To introduce the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) Outcome Monitoring System, which can monitor the quality and safety of care provided to individuals accessing residential aged care. Development and examination of twelve quality and safety indicators of care and their 2016 prevalence estimates are presented. Design Retrospective. Setting 2,690 national and 254 South Australian (SA) aged care facilities. Participants 208,355 unique residents nationally and 18,956 in SA. Main Outcome Measures Risk adjusted prevalence of high sedative load, antipsychotic use, chronic opioid use, antibiotic use, premature mortality, falls, fractures, medication-related adverse events, weight loss/malnutrition, delirium and/or dementia hospitalisations, emergency department presentations, and pressure injuries. Results Five indicators were estimated nationally; antibiotic use (67.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 67.3–67.7%) had the highest prevalence, followed by high sedative load (48.1%, 95% CI 47.9–48.3%), chronic opioid use (26.8%, 95% CI 26.6–26.9%), antipsychotic use (23.5%, 95% CI 23.4–23.7%), and premature mortality (0.6%, 95% CI 0.6–0.7%). Seven indicators were estimated in SA; emergency department presentations (19.1%, 95% CI 18.3–20.0%) had the highest prevalence, followed by falls (10.1%, 95% CI 9.7–10.4%), fractures (4.8%, 95% CI 4.6–5.1%), pressure injuries (2.9%, 95% CI 2.7–3.1%), delirium and/or dementia related hospitalisations (2.3%, 95% CI 2.1–2.6%), weight loss/malnutrition (0.7%, 95% CI 0.6–0.8%), and medication-related events (0.6%, 95% CI 0.5–0.7%). Conclusions Twelve quality and safety indicators were developed to monitor aged care provided to older Australians based on the synthesis of existing literature and expert advisory input. These indicators rely on existing data within the aged care and health care sectors, therefore creating a pragmatic tool to examine quality and unwarranted care variation.

Aim Brown bear populations in Scandinavia show a strong mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) phylogeographic structure and low diversity relative to other parts of Europe. Identifying the timing and origins of this mtDNA structure is important for conservation programs aimed at restoring populations to a natural state. Therefore, it is essential to identify whether contemporary genetic structure is linked to post‐glacial recolonisation from divergent source populations or an artefact of demographic impacts during recent population bottlenecks. We employed ancient DNA techniques to investigate the timing and potential causes of these patterns. Location Scandinavia and Europe. Methods Ancient mtDNA sequences from 20 post‐glacial Scandinavian bears were used to investigate phylogeographic structure and genetic diversity over the last 6000 years. MtDNA from 19 Holocene Norwegian bears was compared with 499 sequences from proximate extant populations in Sweden, Finland, Estonia and western Russia. A single mtDNA sequence from a Holocene Denmark sample was compared with 149 ancient and modern bears from Western Europe. Results All nineteen Holocene Norwegian samples are identical to or closely related to the most common mtDNA haplotype found in northern Europe today. MtDNA diversity was low and not significantly different from extant populations in northern Europe. In Denmark, we identified a single mtDNA haplotype that is previously unrecorded from Scandinavia. Main conclusions The current discrete phylogeographic structure and lack of mtDNA diversity in Scandinavia is attributed to serial founder effects during post‐glacial recolonisation from divergent source populations rather than an artefact of recent anthropogenic impacts. In contrast to previous interpretations, the recolonisation of southern Scandinavia may not have been limited to bears from a single glacial refugium. Results highlight the importance of conserving the long‐term evolutionary separation between northern and southern populations and identify southern Scandinavia as an important reservoir of mtDNA diversity that is under threat in other parts of Europe.

The Bering Land Bridge connecting North America and Eurasia was periodically exposed and inundated by oscillating sea levels during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. This land connection allowed the intermittent dispersal of animals, including humans, between Western Beringia (far north-east Asia) and Eastern Beringia (north-west North America), changing the faunal community composition of both continents. The Pleistocene glacial cycles also had profound impacts on temperature, precipitation, and vegetation, impacting faunal community structure and demography. While these paleoenvironmental impacts have been studied in many large herbivores from Beringia (e.g., bison, mammoths, horses), the Pleistocene population dynamics of the diverse guild of carnivorans present in the region are less well understood, due to their lower abundances. In this study, we analyze mitochondrial genome data from ancient brown bears (Ursus arctos; n = 103) and lions (Panthera spp.; n = 39), two megafaunal carnivorans that dispersed into North America during the Pleistocene. Our results reveal striking synchronicity in the population dynamics of Beringian lions and brown bears, with multiple waves of dispersal across the Bering Land Bridge coinciding with glacial periods of low sea levels, as well as synchronous local extinctions in Eastern Beringia during Marine Isotope Stage 3. The evolutionary histories of these two taxa underscore the crucial biogeographic role of the Bering Land Bridge in the distribution, turnover, and maintenance of megafaunal populations in North America.We would like to thank the following institutions for allowing access to specimens in their collections: