Habitat selection by mule deer: Effects of migration and population density

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1995I investigated effects of migration and population density on habitat and diet selection in a population of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in southern California from 1989 to 1991. All male deer were migratory, whereas females exhibited a mixed strategy with both migrant and resident individuals. No difference occurred in sizes of home ranges for migratory or resident deer. Home-range size of deer was smaller in summer than in winter, however. Size of home range was positively associated with proximity to human disturbance and the amount of avoided habitat (use $<$ available) in the home range. Deer avoided human disturbance in all seasons. Clear tradeoffs existed for deer in montane southern California with respect to whether they migrated. Migratory females were farther from human disturbance and used high-quality habitats more often than did their nonmigratory conspecifics. Nonetheless, during migration deer were at increased risk of predation, and in years of low precipitation (low snow) had higher rates of mortality than did resident deer. Thus, in areas with extremely variable precipitation and snow cover, a mixed strategy for migration can be maintained. Migration patterns of deer resulted in drastic shifts of population density between seasons as deer migrated into and out of ranges. Quality of diet (as indexed by fecal crude protein) for deer in a low-density area was higher than that of a high-density area in winter, when deer densities were most different. Diet quality was similar in summer when both areas had similar densities of deer. Contrary to predictions of the ideal-free distribution, diet quality was different between the two areas in autumn when population densities were similar; this may have been due to an elevated availability of graminoids on the high-density area. Niche breadth, as measured by diet diversity, differed in a manner opposite to the predictions of the ideal-free distribution. During winter, when differences in density between the two study areas were most evident, niche breadth along the dietary axis in the low-density group was twice the size of this measure for the high-density area. Theoretical models for changes in niche dimension need to consider such empirical outcomes

THE ROLES AND MECHANISMS OF LINEAR AND ANGULAR IMPULSE GENERATION FOR BOTH LEGS IN BASEBALL PITCHING: A WHOLE-BODY PERSPECTIVE

This study compared the role of each leg in generating linear and angular impulse during fastball pitches performed by professional pitchers (n=4). Participants were asked to pitch from an instrumented mound and 6-11 successful fastball pitches were used for the analysis. The results indicate that back leg generated forward linear impulse and the front leg generated backward linear impulse for all pitchers. Back leg ground reaction forces generated significantly larger angular impulse about a horizontal axis passing through the body center of mass from the mound to first base than the front leg in three of four pitchers. Additionally, the mechanisms of moment generation about the axis by each leg differed

A 3D APPROACH TO BASEBALL PITCHING KINEMATIC SEQUENCE

A proximal-to-distal sequence (PDS) in baseball pitching is theorized to be more efficient and can reduce upper limb joint loads. However, studies investigating PDS using timing of peak segment angular velocity magnitude did not identify the use of “full” PDS from pelvis to hand. This study investigated PDS by comparing the timings of peak angular velocities about each global axis for the pelvis, trunk, upper arm, forearm, and hand during fastballs thrown by professional pitchers (n=4). We found that pitchers demonstrated full PDS about the global left axis (from pitching mound to first base) in 67-100% of their trials, depending on the pitcher. No pitcher demonstrated full PDS about the other two global axes. Similar to prior studies, we also did not observe full PDS when using angular velocity magnitude. This could be explained by differences in body segment rotation sequences between global axes. We also preliminarily uncovered impacts of filtering on the kinematic sequence detected. Analyzing 3D angular velocities with carefully selected filters may advance our understanding of the dynamics of pitching

HDAC9 is implicated in atherosclerotic aortic calcification and affects vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype.

Aortic calcification is an important independent predictor of future cardiovascular events. We performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis to determine SNPs associated with the extent of abdominal aortic calcification (n = 9,417) or descending thoracic aortic calcification (n = 8,422). Two genetic loci, HDAC9 and RAP1GAP, were associated with abdominal aortic calcification at a genome-wide level (P &lt; 5.0 × 10-8). No SNPs were associated with thoracic aortic calcification at the genome-wide threshold. Increased expression of HDAC9 in human aortic smooth muscle cells promoted calcification and reduced contractility, while inhibition of HDAC9 in human aortic smooth muscle cells inhibited calcification and enhanced cell contractility. In matrix Gla protein-deficient mice, a model of human vascular calcification, mice lacking HDAC9 had a 40% reduction in aortic calcification and improved survival. This translational genomic study identifies the first genetic risk locus associated with calcification of the abdominal aorta and describes a previously unknown role for HDAC9 in the development of vascular calcification

ELF5 suppresses estrogen sensitivity and underpins the acquisition of antiestrogen resistance in luminal breast cancer.

We have previously shown that during pregnancy the E-twenty-six (ETS) transcription factor ELF5 directs the differentiation of mammary progenitor cells toward the estrogen receptor (ER)-negative and milk producing cell lineage, raising the possibility that ELF5 may suppress the estrogen sensitivity of breast cancers. To test this we constructed inducible models of ELF5 expression in ER positive luminal breast cancer cells and interrogated them using transcript profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation of DNA followed by DNA sequencing (ChIP-Seq). ELF5 suppressed ER and FOXA1 expression and broadly suppressed ER-driven patterns of gene expression including sets of genes distinguishing the luminal molecular subtype. Direct transcriptional targets of ELF5, which included FOXA1, EGFR, and MYC, accurately classified a large cohort of breast cancers into their intrinsic molecular subtypes, predicted ER status with high precision, and defined groups with differential prognosis. Knockdown of ELF5 in basal breast cancer cell lines suppressed basal patterns of gene expression and produced a shift in molecular subtype toward the claudin-low and normal-like groups. Luminal breast cancer cells that acquired resistance to the antiestrogen Tamoxifen showed greatly elevated levels of ELF5 and its transcriptional signature, and became dependent on ELF5 for proliferation, compared to the parental cells. Thus ELF5 provides a key transcriptional determinant of breast cancer molecular subtype by suppression of estrogen sensitivity in luminal breast cancer cells and promotion of basal characteristics in basal breast cancer cells, an action that may be utilised to acquire antiestrogen resistance

ECOSTRESS: NASA's next generation mission to measure evapotranspiration from the International Space Station

The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station ECOSTRESS) was launched to the International Space Station on June 29, 2018. The primary science focus of ECOSTRESS is centered on evapotranspiration (ET), which is produced as level‐3 (L3) latent heat flux (LE) data products. These data are generated from the level‐2 land surface temperature and emissivity product (L2_LSTE), in conjunction with ancillary surface and atmospheric data. Here, we provide the first validation (Stage 1, preliminary) of the global ECOSTRESS clear‐sky ET product (L3_ET_PT‐JPL, version 6.0) against LE measurements at 82 eddy covariance sites around the world. Overall, the ECOSTRESS ET product performs well against the site measurements (clear‐sky instantaneous/time of overpass: r2 = 0.88; overall bias = 8%; normalized RMSE = 6%). ET uncertainty was generally consistent across climate zones, biome types, and times of day (ECOSTRESS samples the diurnal cycle), though temperate sites are over‐represented. The 70 m high spatial resolution of ECOSTRESS improved correlations by 85%, and RMSE by 62%, relative to 1 km pixels. This paper serves as a reference for the ECOSTRESS L3 ET accuracy and Stage 1 validation status for subsequent science that follows using these data

Microbial−mammalian cometabolites dominate the age-associated urinary metabolic phenotype in Taiwanese and American populations

Understanding the metabolic processes associated with aging is key to developing effective management and treatment strategies for age-related diseases. We investigated the metabolic profiles associated with age in a Taiwanese and an American population. 1H NMR spectral profiles were generated for urine specimens collected from the Taiwanese Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study (SEBAS; n = 857; age 54–91 years) and the Mid-Life in the USA study (MIDUS II; n = 1148; age 35–86 years). Multivariate and univariate linear projection methods revealed some common age-related characteristics in urinary metabolite profiles in the American and Taiwanese populations, as well as some distinctive features. In both cases, two metabolites—4-cresyl sulfate (4CS) and phenylacetylglutamine (PAG)—were positively associated with age. In addition, creatine and β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) were negatively correlated with age in both populations (p < 4 × 10–6). These age-associated gradients in creatine and HMB reflect decreasing muscle mass with age. The systematic increase in PAG and 4CS was confirmed using ultraperformance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS). Both are products of concerted microbial–mammalian host cometabolism and indicate an age-related association with the balance of host–microbiome metabolism

Proton Pump Inhibitor Use Affects Pseudarthrosis Rates and Influences Patient-Reported Outcomes.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort review. Objectives: Cervical pseudarthrosis is a frequent cause of need for revision anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and may lead to worse patient-reported outcomes. The effect of proton pump inhibitors on cervical fusion rates are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine if patients taking PPIs have higher rates of nonunion after ACDF. Methods: A retrospective cohort review was performed to compare patients who were taking PPIs preoperatively with those not taking PPIs prior to ACDF. Patients younger than 18 years of age, those with less than 1-year follow-up, and those undergoing surgery for trauma, tumor, infection, or revision were excluded. The rates of clinically diagnosed pseudarthrosis and radiographic pseudarthrosis were compared between PPI groups. Patient outcomes, pseudarthrosis rates, and revision rates were compared between PPI groups using either multiple linear or logistic regression analysis, controlling for demographic and operative variables. Results: Out of 264 patients, 58 patients were in the PPI group and 206 were in the non-PPI group. A total of 23 (8.71%) patients were clinically diagnosed with pseudarthrosis with a significant difference between PPI and non-PPI groups (P = .009). Using multiple linear regression, PPI use was not found to significantly affect any patient-reported outcome measure. However, based on logistic regression, PPI use was found to increase the odds of clinically diagnosed pseudarthrosis (odds ratio 3.552, P = .014). Additionally, clinically diagnosed pseudarthrosis negatively influenced improvement in PCS-12 scores (P = .022). Conclusions: PPI use was found to be a significant predictor of clinically diagnosed pseudarthrosis following ACDF surgery. Furthermore, clinically diagnosed pseudarthrosis negatively influenced improvement in PCS-12 scores