Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

This study assesses the value of restoring forested wetlands via the U.S. government's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by quantifying and monetizing ecosystem services. The three focal services are greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, nitrogen mitigation, and waterfowl recreation. Site-and region-level measurements of these ecosystem services are combined with process models to quantify their production on agricultural land, which serves as the baseline, and on restored wetlands. We adjust and transform these measures into per-hectare, valuation-ready units and monetize them with prices from emerging ecosystem markets and the environmental economics literature. By valuing three of the many ecosystem services produced, we generate lower bound estimates for the total ecosystem value of the wetlands restoration. Social welfare value is found to be between $1435 and$1486/ha/year, with GHG mitigation valued in the range of $171 to$222, nitrogen mitigation at $1248, and waterfowl recreation at$16. Limited to existing markets, the estimate for annual market value is merely $70/ha, but when fully accounting for potential markets, this estimate rises to$1035/ha. The estimated social value surpasses the public expenditure or social cost of wetlands restoration in only 1 year, indicating that the return on public investment is very attractive for the WRP. Moreover, the potential market value is substantially greater than landowner opportunity costs, showing that payments to private landowners to restore wetlands could also be profitable for individual landowners

The Small Muscle-Specific Protein Csl Modifies Cell Shape and Promotes Myocyte Fusion in an Insulin-like Growth Factor 1–Dependent Manner

We have isolated a murine cDNA encoding a 9-kD protein, Chisel (Csl), in a screen for transcriptional targets of the cardiac homeodomain factor Nkx2-5. Csl transcripts were detected in atria and ventricles of the heart and in all skeletal muscles and smooth muscles of the stomach and pulmonary veins. Csl protein was distributed throughout the cytoplasm in fetal muscles, although costameric and M-line localization to the muscle cytoskeleton became obvious after further maturation. Targeted disruption of Csl showed no overt muscle phenotype. However, ectopic expression in C2C12 myoblasts induced formation of lamellipodia in which Csl protein became tethered to membrane ruffles. Migration of these cells was retarded in a monolayer wound repair assay. Csl-expressing myoblasts differentiated and fused normally, although in the presence of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 they showed dramatically enhanced fusion, leading to formation of large dysmorphogenic “myosacs.” The activities of transcription factors nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and myocyte enhancer–binding factor (MEF)2, were also enhanced in an IGF-1 signaling–dependent manner. The dynamic cytoskeletal localization of Csl and its dominant effects on cell shape and behavior and transcription factor activity suggest that Csl plays a role in the regulatory network through which muscle cells coordinate their structural and functional states during growth, adaptation, and repair

Genetics and the Archaeology of Ancient Israel

This paper is a call for DNA testing on ancient skeletal materials from the southern Levant to begin to database genetic information of the inhabitants of this crossroads region. Archaeologists and biblical historians view the earliest presence in the region of a group that called itself Israel in the Iron I period, traditionally dated to ca. 1200-1000 BCE. These were in villages in the varied hill countries of the region, contemporary with urban settlements in the coastal plains, inland valleys, and central Hill Country attributed to varied indigenous groups collectively called Canaanite. The remnants of Egyptian imperial presence in the region lasted until around 1150 BCE, postdating the arrival of an immigrant group from the Aegean called the Philistines ca. 1175 BCE. The period that follows the Iron I in the southern Levant is marked by the development of territorial states throughout the region, ca. 1000-800 BCE. These patrimonial kingdoms, including the United Kingdom of Israel and the divided kingdoms of northern Israel and Judah, coalesced varied peoples under central leadership and newly founded administrative and religious bureaucracies. Ancient DNA testing will give us a further refined understanding of the individuals who peopled the region of the southern Levant throughout its varied archaeological and historic periods, and put forward scientific data that will support, refute, or nuance our socio-historic reconstruction of ancient group identities. These social identities may or may not map onto genetic data, and without sampling of ancient DNA we may never know. A database of ancient DNA will also allow for comparisons with modern DNA samples collected throughout the greater region and the Mediterranean littoral, giving a more robust understanding of the long historical trajectories of regional human genetics and the genetics of varied ancestral groups of today’s Jewish populations and other cultural groups in the modern Middle East and Mediterranean

Universal sublinear resistivity in vanadium kagome materials hosting charge density waves

The recent discovery of a charge density (CDW) state in ScV$_6$Sn$_6$ at $T_{\textrm{CDW}}$ = 91 K offers new opportunities to understand the origins of electronic instabilities in topological kagome systems. By comparing to the isostructural non-CDW compound LuV$_6$Sn$_6$, we unravel interesting electrical transport properties in ScV$_6$Sn$_6$, above and below the charge ordering temperature. We observed that by applying a magnetic field along the $a$ axis, the temperature behavior of the longitudinal resistivity in ScV$_6$Sn$_6$ changes from metal-like to insulator-like above the CDW transition. We show that in the charge ordered state ScV$_6$Sn$_6$ follows the Fermi liquid behavior while above that, it transforms into a non-Fermi liquid phase in which the resistivity varies sublinearly over a broad temperature range. The sublinear resistivity, which scales by $T^{3/5}$ is a common feature among other vanadium-containing kagome compounds exhibiting CDW states such as KV$_3$Sb$_5$, RbV$_3$Sb$_5$, and CsV$_3$Sb$_5$. By contrast, the non-Fermi liquid behavior does not occur in LuV$_6$Sn$_6$. We explain the $T^{3/5}$ universal scaling behavior from the Coulomb scattering between Dirac electrons and Van Hove singularities; common features in the electronic structure of kagome materials. Finally, we show anomalous Hall-like behavior in ScV$_6$Sn$_6$ below $T_{\textrm{CDW}}$, which is absent in the Lu compound. Comparing the transport properties of ScV$_6$Sn$_6$ and LuV$_6$Sn$_6$ is valuable to highlight the impacts of the unusual CDW in the Sc compound.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. Power law behavior of resistivity as a function temperature is modified and theoretical explanation is added in the second versio

Epidemiology and risk factors for typhoid fever in Central Division, Fiji, 2014-2017: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Typhoid fever is endemic in Fiji, with high reported annual incidence. We sought to identify the sources and modes of transmission of typhoid fever in Fiji with the aim to inform disease control. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We identified and surveyed patients with blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever from January 2014 through January 2017. For each typhoid fever case we matched two controls by age interval, gender, ethnicity, and residential area. Univariable and multivariable analysis were used to evaluate associations between exposures and risk for typhoid fever. We enrolled 175 patients with typhoid fever and 349 controls. Of the cases, the median (range) age was 29 (2-67) years, 86 (49%) were male, and 84 (48%) lived in a rural area. On multivariable analysis, interrupted water availability (odds ratio [OR] = 2.17; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-4.00), drinking surface water in the last 2 weeks (OR = 3.61; 95% CI 1.44-9.06), eating unwashed produce (OR = 2.69; 95% CI 1.48-4.91), and having an unimproved or damaged sanitation facility (OR = 4.30; 95% CI 1.14-16.21) were significantly associated with typhoid fever. Frequent handwashing after defecating (OR = 0.57; 95% CI 0.35-0.93) and using soap for handwashing (OR = 0.61; 95% CI 0.37-0.95) were independently associated with a lower odds of typhoid fever. CONCLUSIONS: Poor sanitation facilities appear to be a major source of Salmonella Typhi in Fiji, with transmission by drinking contaminated surface water and consuming unwashed produce. Improved sanitation facilities and protection of surface water sources and produce from contamination by human feces are likely to contribute to typhoid control in Fiji

Combating subclonal evolution of resistant cancer phenotypes

Metastatic breast cancer remains challenging to treat, and most patients ultimately progress on therapy. This acquired drug resistance is largely due to drug-refractory sub-populations (subclones) within heterogeneous tumors. Here, we track the genetic and phenotypic subclonal evolution of four breast cancers through years of treatment to better understand how breast cancers become drug-resistant. Recurrently appearing post-chemotherapy mutations are rare. However, bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing reveal acquisition of malignant phenotypes after treatment, including enhanced mesenchymal and growth factor signaling, which may promote drug resistance, and decreased antigen presentation and TNF-α signaling, which may enable immune system avoidance. Some of these phenotypes pre-exist in pre-treatment subclones that become dominant after chemotherapy, indicating selection for resistance phenotypes. Post-chemotherapy cancer cells are effectively treated with drugs targeting acquired phenotypes. These findings highlight cancer's ability to evolve phenotypically and suggest a phenotype-targeted treatment strategy that adapts to cancer as it evolves

The endocrine tumor summit 2008: appraising therapeutic approaches for acromegaly and carcinoid syndrome

The Endocrine Tumor Summit convened in December 2008 to address 6 statements prepared by panel members that reflect important questions in the treatment of acromegaly and carcinoid syndrome. Data pertinent to each of the statements were identified through review of pertinent literature by one of the 9-member panel, enabling a critical evaluation of the statements and the evidence supporting or refuting them. Three statements addressed the validity of serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentrations as indicators or predictors of disease in acromegaly. Statements regarding the effects of preoperative somatostatin analog use on pituitary surgical outcomes, their effects on hormone and symptom control in carcinoid syndrome, and the efficacy of extended dosing intervals were reviewed. Panel opinions, based on the level of available scientific evidence, were polled. Finally, their views were compared with those of surveyed community-based endocrinologists and neurosurgeons

High prevalence of mismatch repair deficiency in prostate cancers diagnosed in mismatch repair gene mutation carriers from the colon cancer family registry

The question of whether prostate cancer is part of the Lynch syndrome spectrum of tumors is unresolved. We investigated the mismatch repair (MMR) status and pathologic features of prostate cancers diagnosed in MMR gene mutation carriers. Prostate cancers (mean age at diagnosis = 62 ± SD = 8 years) from 32 MMR mutation carriers (23 MSH2, 5 MLH1 and 4 MSH6) enrolled in the Australasian, Mayo Clinic and Ontario sites of the Colon Cancer Family Registry were examined for clinico-pathologic features and MMR-deficiency (immunohistochemical loss of MMR protein expression and high levels of microsatellite instability; MSI-H). Tumor MMR-deficiency was observed for 22 cases [69 %; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 50–83 %], with the highest prevalence of MMR-deficiency in tumors from MSH2 mutation carriers (19/23, 83 %) compared with MLH1 and MSH6 carriers combined (3/9, 33 %; p = 0.01). MMR-deficient tumors had increased levels of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes compared with tumors without MMR-deficiency (p = 0.04). Under the assumption that tumour MMR-deficiency occurred only because the cancer was caused by the germline mutation, mutation carriers are at 3.2-fold (95 % CI 2.0–6.3) increased risk of prostate cancer, and when assessed by gene, the relative risk was greatest for MSH2 carriers (5.8, 95 % CI 2.6–20.9). Prostate cancer was the first or only diagnosed tumor in 37 % of carriers. MMR gene mutation carriers have at least a twofold or greater increased risk of developing MMR-deficient prostate cancer where the risk is highest for MSH2 mutation carriers. MMR IHC screening of prostate cancers will aid in identifying MMR gene mutation carriers