K.E. Orr

We document causes of death in free-ranging California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) from the inception of the reintroduction program in 1992 through December 2009 to identify current and historic mortality factors that might interfere with establishment of self-sustaining populations in the wild. A total of 135 deaths occurred from October 1992 (the first post-release death) through December 2009, from a maximum population-at-risk of 352 birds, for a cumulative crude mortality rate of 38%. A definitive cause of death was determined for 76 of the 98 submitted cases, 70% (53/76) of which were attributed to anthropogenic causes. Trash ingestion was the most important mortality factor in nestlings (proportional mortality rate [PMR] 73%; 8/11), while lead toxicosis was the most important factor in juveniles (PMR 26%; 13/50) and adults (PMR 67%; 10/15). These results demonstrate that the leading causes of death at all California Condor release sites are anthropogenic. The mortality factors thought to be important in the decline of the historic California Condor population, particularly lead poisoning, remain the most important documented mortality factors today. Without effective mitigation, these factors can be expected to have the same effects on the sustainability of the wild populations as they have in the past.

BACKGROUND: WBC-replete blood transfusion has been suggested as an independent cause of increased postoperative infection. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 597 patients undergoing elective coronary artery or heart valve surgery were randomly assigned to receive plasma-reduced (PR), buffy coat-depleted (BCD), or WBC-filtered (WCF) RBCs in the event of requiring blood transfusion. Details of postoperative course were recorded. Further information was collected from the patient's general practitioner 3 months after discharge. RESULTS: No significant difference in inpatient infection rates was observed among patients randomly assigned to receive PR, BCD, or WCF RBCs. When only those receiving transfusion were analyzed (n = 509), use of PR RBCs was associated with more events coded as infections (p < or = 0.05) compared with BCD or WCF RBCs. However, when events coded as urinary tract infections were excluded, there was no significant difference among the three groups. Follow-up performed after discharge showed no difference in readmission rates, but a higher reported rate of infection in those randomly assigned to receive WCF RBCs (p < 0.02). CONCLUSION: No evidence has been found, analyzed by intention to treat, that use of WBC-reduced, BCD, or WCF RBCs reduces postoperative inpatient infection in patients undergoing cardiac bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To report a large prospective, pragmatic, double-blind randomized controlled trial to determine whether oral prophylactic antibiotics reduce the risk of bacteriuria after flexible cystoscopy (FC), as up to 10% of patients develop urinary infection afterwards, with significant morbidity and costs for health services. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 2481 patients were recruited into a three-arm placebo controlled trial and 2083 completed it. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three treatments; (i) placebo; (ii) one oral dose of trimethoprim (200 mg); or (iii) one oral dose of ciprofloxacin (500 mg), each administered 1 h before a FC under local anaesthetic. A mid-stream urine specimen was taken before and 5 days after FC; significant bacteriuria was defined as a pure growth of >10(5) colony-forming units/mL. RESULTS: The rate of bacteriuria after FC was reduced from 9% in the placebo group to 5% and 3% in patients receiving trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin prophylaxis, respectively. When rates of bacteriuria before FC were considered the odds of developing bacteriuria after FC relative to baseline were 5, 2 and 0.5 for placebo, trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin, respectively. CONCLUSION: This large trial shows clearly that one dose of oral ciprofloxacin significantly reduces bacteriuria after FC.