Recovery of a US Endangered Fish

BACKGROUND: More fish have been afforded US Endangered Species Act protection than any other vertebrate taxonomic group, and none has been designated as recovered. Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) occupy large rivers and estuaries along the Atlantic coast of North America, and the species has been protected by the US Endangered Species Act since its enactment. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Data on the shortnose sturgeon in the Hudson River (New York to Albany, NY, USA) were obtained from a 1970s population study, a population and fish distribution study we conducted in the late 1990s, and a fish monitoring program during the 1980s and 1990s. Population estimates indicate a late 1990s abundance of about 60,000 fish, dominated by adults. The Hudson River population has increased by more than 400% since the 1970s, appears healthy, and has attributes typical for a long-lived species. Our population estimates exceed the government and scientific population recovery criteria by more than 500%, we found a positive trend in population abundance, and key habitats have remained intact despite heavy human river use. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Scientists and legislators have called for changes in the US Endangered Species Act, the Act is being debated in the US Congress, and the Act has been characterized as failing to recover species. Recovery of the Hudson River population of shortnose sturgeon suggests the combination of species and habitat protection with patience can yield successful species recovery, even near one of the world's largest human population centers

A molecular defect in loricrin, the major component of the cornified cell envelope, underlies Vohwinkel's syndrome.

Terminal keratinocyte differentiation involves coordinated expression of several functionally interdependent genes, many of which have been mapped to the epidermal differentiation complex (EDC) on chromosome 1q21. We have identified linkage of Vohwinkel's syndrome in an extended pedigree to markers flanking the EDC region with a maximum multipoint lod score of 14.3. Sequencing of the loricrin gene revealed an insertion that shifts the translation frame of the C-terminal Gly- and Gln/Lys-rich domains, and is likely to impair cornification. Our findings provide the first evidence for a defect in an EDC gene in human disease, and disclose novel insights into perturbations of cornified cell envelope formation

Masculinity and Race-Related Factors as Barriers to Health Help-Seeking Among African American Men

Men’s tendency to delay health help-seeking is largely attributed to masculinity, but findings scarcely focus on African-American men who face additional race-related, help-seeking barriers. Building principally on reactance theory, we test a hypothesized model situating racial discrimination, masculinity norms salience, everyday racism (ERD), racial identity (RI), sense of control (SOC) and depressive symptomatology as key barriers to African-American men’s health help-seeking. 458 African-American men were recruited primarily from U.S. barbershops in the Western and Southern regions. The primary outcome was Barriers to Help-Seeking Scale (BHSS) scores. The hypothesized model was investigated with confirmatory factor and path analysis with tests for measurement invariance. Our model fit was excellent χ2(4,N = 457) = 3.84, p > .05; CFI = .99; TLI = 1.00; RMSEA = .00, and 90% CI [.00, .07] and operated equivalently across different age, income, and education strata. Frequent ERD and higher MNS contributed to higher BHHS scores. The relationship between ERD exposure and BHHS scores was partially mediated by diminished SOC and greater depressive symptomatology. Interventions aimed at addressing African-American men’s health help-seeking should not only address masculinity norms, but also threats to sense of control, and negative psychological sequelae induced by everyday racism