Two hundred years after a commercial marine turtle fishery: the current status of marine turtles nesting in the Cayman Islands

Large populations of marine turtles breeding in the Cayman Islands were drastically reduced in the early 1800s. However, marine turtle nesting still occurs in the islands. The present-day status of this nesting population provides insight into the conservation of marine turtles, a long-lived species. In 1998 and 1999, the first systematic survey of marine turtle nesting in the Cayman Islands found 38 nests on 22 beaches scattered through the three islands. Three species were found: the green Chelonia mydas, hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata and loggerhead Caretta caretta turtles. Comparison with other rookeries suggests that the small number of sexually mature adults surviving Cayman’s huge perturbations may be impeding population recovery. This shows the need to implement conservation measures prior to massive reductions in population size

A fossil peat deposit from the Late Triassic (Carnian) of Zimbabwe with preserved cuticle of Pteridospermopsida and Ginkgoales, and its geological setting

Well-preserved cuticular material of Pteridospermopsida and Ginkgoales from the Late Triassic of Zimbabwe is described here for the first time. It is preserved within a brown peat-like lens in the Upper Karoo Angwa Sandstone Formation. The locality is on the Manyima River in the lower portion of the mid-Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe. Using SEM and light microscopy to identify the taxa, the fragmentary cuticles are of Pteridospermopsida type and have been assigned to Lepidopteris sp. (Peltaspermales) and Dicroidium sp. A, B, (Corystospermales). Cuticles of the ginkgoalean leaf genus, Sphenobaiera, are also described. Well-preserved ovules were found in close association with the cuticles, but as the stomata are not visible they cannot be assigned to any genus. Based on their close similarity to the Dicroidium flora of the South African Upper Karoo, the plants are considered to be equivalent to the South African Molteno Formation in age (Carnian). The palynoflora supports this age bracket, as does fauna preserved nearby. The taphonomic process was one of transport, sorting and deposition in a fluvial system.The CNRS-NRF agreement between France and South Afric

Millimeter-wave Signature of Strange Matter Stars

One of the most important questions in the study of compact objects is the nature of pulsars, including whether they consist of neutron matter or strange quark matter (SQM). However, few mechanisms for distinguishing between these two possibilities have been proposed. The purpose of this paper is to show that a strange star (one made of SQM) will have a vibratory mode with an oscillation frequency of approximately 250 GHz (millimeter wave). This mode corresponds to motion of the center of the expected crust of normal matter relative to the center of the strange quark core, without distortion of either. Radiation from currents generated in the crust at the mode frequency would be a SQM signature. We also consider effects of stellar rotation, estimate power emission and signal-to-noise ratio, and discuss briefly possible mechanisms for exciting the mode.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, one figur

A retrospective observational study of the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the risk of developing Colorectal cancer and survival

Background: There is variability in clinical outcome for patients with apparently the same stage colorectal cancer (CRC). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mapping to chromosomes 1q41, 3q26.2, 6p21, 8q23.3, 8q24.21, 10p14, 11q13, 11q23.1, 12q13.13, 14q22, 14q22.2, 15q13.3, 16q22.1, 18q21.1, 19q13.11, 20p12, 20p12.3, 20q13.33 and Xp22 have robustly been shown to be associated with the risk of developing CRC. Since germline variation can also influence patient outcome the relationship between these SNPs and patient survivorship from CRC was examined. Methods: All enrolled into the National Study of Colorectal Cancer Genetics (NSCCG) were genotyped for 1q41, 3q26.2, 6p21, 8q23.3, 8q24.21, 10p14, 11q13, 11q23.1, 12q13.13, 14q22, 14q22.2, 15q13.3, 16q22.1, 18q21.1, 19q13.11, 20p12, 20p12.3, 20q13.33 and xp22 SNPs. Linking this information to the National Cancer Data Repository allowed patient genotype to be related to survival. Results: The linked dataset consisted of 4,327 individuals. 14q22.22 genotype defined by the SNP rs4444235 showed a significant association with overall survival. Specifically, the C allele was associated with poorer observed survival (per allele hazard ratio 1.13, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.22, P = 0.0015). Conclusion: The CRC susceptibility SNP rs4444235 also appears to exert an influence in modulating patient survival and warrants further evaluation as a potential prognostic marker

Chromosome 15q25 (CHRNA3-CHRNA5) Variation Impacts Indirectly on Lung Cancer Risk

Genetic variants at the 15q25 CHRNA5-CHRNA3 locus have been shown to influence lung cancer risk however there is controversy as to whether variants have a direct carcinogenic effect on lung cancer risk or impact indirectly through smoking behavior. We have performed a detailed analysis of the 15q25 risk variants rs12914385 and rs8042374 with smoking behavior and lung cancer risk in 4,343 lung cancer cases and 1,479 controls from the Genetic Lung Cancer Predisposition Study (GELCAPS). A strong association between rs12914385 and rs8042374, and lung cancer risk was shown, odds ratios (OR) were 1.44, (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.29–1.62, P = 3.69×10−10) and 1.35 (95% CI: 1.18–1.55, P = 9.99×10−6) respectively. Each copy of risk alleles at rs12914385 and rs8042374 was associated with increased cigarette consumption of 1.0 and 0.9 cigarettes per day (CPD) (P = 5.18×10−5 and P = 5.65×10−3). These genetically determined modest differences in smoking behavior can be shown to be sufficient to account for the 15q25 association with lung cancer risk. To further verify the indirect effect of 15q25 on the risk, we restricted our analysis of lung cancer risk to never-smokers and conducted a meta-analysis of previously published studies of lung cancer risk in never-smokers. Never-smoker studies published in English were ascertained from PubMed stipulating - lung cancer, risk, genome-wide association, candidate genes. Our study and five previously published studies provided data on 2,405 never-smoker lung cancer cases and 7,622 controls. In the pooled analysis no association has been found between the 15q25 variation and lung cancer risk (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.94–1.28). This study affirms the 15q25 association with smoking and is consistent with an indirect link between genotype and lung cancer risk

An Insect Herbivore Microbiome with High Plant Biomass-Degrading Capacity

Herbivores can gain indirect access to recalcitrant carbon present in plant cell walls through symbiotic associations with lignocellulolytic microbes. A paradigmatic example is the leaf-cutter ant (Tribe: Attini), which uses fresh leaves to cultivate a fungus for food in specialized gardens. Using a combination of sugar composition analyses, metagenomics, and whole-genome sequencing, we reveal that the fungus garden microbiome of leaf-cutter ants is composed of a diverse community of bacteria with high plant biomass-degrading capacity. Comparison of this microbiome's predicted carbohydrate-degrading enzyme profile with other metagenomes shows closest similarity to the bovine rumen, indicating evolutionary convergence of plant biomass degrading potential between two important herbivorous animals. Genomic and physiological characterization of two dominant bacteria in the fungus garden microbiome provides evidence of their capacity to degrade cellulose. Given the recent interest in cellulosic biofuels, understanding how large-scale and rapid plant biomass degradation occurs in a highly evolved insect herbivore is of particular relevance for bioenergy

δ13C methane source signatures from tropical wetland and rice field emissions

The atmospheric methane (CH4) burden is rising sharply, but the causes are still not well understood. One factor of uncertainty is the importance of tropical CH4 emissions into the global mix. Isotopic signatures of major sources remain poorly constrained, despite their usefulness in constraining the global methane budget. Here, a collection of new δ13CCH4 signatures is presented for a range of tropical wetlands and rice fields determined from air samples collected during campaigns from 2016 to 2020. Long-term monitoring of δ13CCH4 in ambient air has been conducted at the Chacaltaya observatory, Bolivia and Southern Botswana. Both long-term records are dominated by biogenic CH4 sources, with isotopic signatures expected from wetland sources. From the longer-term Bolivian record, a seasonal isotopic shift is observed corresponding to wetland extent suggesting that there is input of relatively isotopically light CH4 to the atmosphere during periods of reduced wetland extent. This new data expands the geographical extent and range of measurements of tropical wetland and rice δ13CCH4 sources and hints at significant seasonal variation in tropical wetland δ13CCH4 signatures which may be important to capture in future global and regional models. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)’

Severe traumatic injury during long duration spaceflight: Light years beyond ATLS

Traumatic injury strikes unexpectedly among the healthiest members of the human population, and has been an inevitable companion of exploration throughout history. In space flight beyond the Earth's orbit, NASA considers trauma to be the highest level of concern regarding the probable incidence versus impact on mission and health. Because of limited resources, medical care will have to focus on the conditions most likely to occur, as well as those with the most significant impact on the crew and mission. Although the relative risk of disabling injuries is significantly higher than traumatic deaths on earth, either issue would have catastrophic implications during space flight. As a result this review focuses on serious life-threatening injuries during space flight as determined by a NASA consensus conference attended by experts in all aspects of injury and space flight

Recurrent Coding Sequence Variation Explains only A Small Fraction of the Genetic Architecture of Colorectal Cancer

Whilst common genetic variation in many non-coding genomic regulatory regions are known to impart risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), much of the heritability of CRC remains unexplained. To examine the role of recurrent coding sequence variation in CRC aetiology, we genotyped 12,638 CRCs cases and 29,045 controls from six European populations. Single-variant analysis identified a coding variant (rs3184504) in SH2B3 (12q24) associated with CRC risk (OR = 1.08, P = 3.9 × 10-7), and novel damaging coding variants in 3 genes previously tagged by GWAS efforts; rs16888728 (8q24) in UTP23 (OR = 1.15, P = 1.4 × 10-7); rs6580742 and rs12303082 (12q13) in FAM186A (OR = 1.11, P = 1.2 × 10-

A ring-like accretion structure in M87 connecting its black hole and jet

The nearby radio galaxy M87 is a prime target for studying black hole accretion and jet formation^{1,2}. Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 in 2017, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, revealed a ring-like structure, which was interpreted as gravitationally lensed emission around a central black hole^3. Here we report images of M87 obtained in 2018, at a wavelength of 3.5 mm, showing that the compact radio core is spatially resolved. High-resolution imaging shows a ring-like structure of 8.4_{-1.1}^{+0.5} Schwarzschild radii in diameter, approximately 50% larger than that seen at 1.3 mm. The outer edge at 3.5 mm is also larger than that at 1.3 mm. This larger and thicker ring indicates a substantial contribution from the accretion flow with absorption effects in addition to the gravitationally lensed ring-like emission. The images show that the edge-brightened jet connects to the accretion flow of the black hole. Close to the black hole, the emission profile of the jet-launching region is wider than the expected profile of a black-hole-driven jet, suggesting the possible presence of a wind associated with the accretion flow.Comment: 50 pages, 18 figures, 3 tables, author's version of the paper published in Natur