Effects of experimental harvest on red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) in northern Washington

Commercial harvest of red sea urchins began in Washington state in 1971. Harvests peaked in the late 1980s and have since declined substantially in Washington and other areas of the U.S. west coast. We studied effects of experimental harvest on red sea urchins in San Juan Channel (SJC), a marine reserve in northern Washing-ton. We recorded changes in density and size distribution of sea urchin populations resulting from three levels of experimental harvest: 1) annual size-selective harvest (simulating cur-rent commercial urchin harvest regulations), 2) monthly complete (non–size selective) harvest, and 3) no harvest (control) sites. We also examined re-colonization rates of harvested sites. The red sea urchin population in SJC is composed of an accumulation of large, old individuals. Juvenile urchins represent less than 1% of the population. Lower and upper size limits for commercial harvest protect 5% and 45% of the population, respectively. Complete harvest reduced sea urchin densities by 95%. Annual size-selective harvest significantly decreased sea urchin densities by 67% in the first year and by 47% in the second year. Two years of size-selective harvest significantly altered the size distribution of urchins, decreasing the density of legal-size urchins. Recolonization of harvested sites varied seasonally and occurred primarily through immigration of adults. Selective harvest sites were recolonized to 51% and 38% of original densities, respectively, six months after the first and second annual harvests. Yields declined substantially in the second year of size-selective harvest because of the fishing down of the population and because of low recolonization rates of harvested sites. We recommend that managers consider the potential efficacy of marine harvest refuges and reevaluate the existing upper and lower size limits for commercial harvest to improve long-term management of the sea urchin fishery in Washington

Integrating Informational Text and STEM: An Innovative and Necessary Curricular Approach

Recent standards-based reforms call for the use of a variety of informational texts at the elementary level. Informational texts are essential for implementing integrated problem-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning in elementary classrooms. Additionally, integrated STEM projects support the use of informational texts as students conduct research, design solutions, and communicate their results, thereby providing real-world applications of informational text. Elementary teachers need encouragement and support in order to increase the use of informational texts that assist in implementing effective STEM lessons. The authors provide strategies for melding informational texts with problem- and project-based learning in STEM

Transcriptomic stratification of late-onset Alzheimer\u27s cases reveals novel genetic modifiers of disease pathology.

Late-Onset Alzheimer\u27s disease (LOAD) is a common, complex genetic disorder well-known for its heterogeneous pathology. The genetic heterogeneity underlying common, complex diseases poses a major challenge for targeted therapies and the identification of novel disease-associated variants. Case-control approaches are often limited to examining a specific outcome in a group of heterogenous patients with different clinical characteristics. Here, we developed a novel approach to define relevant transcriptomic endophenotypes and stratify decedents based on molecular profiles in three independent human LOAD cohorts. By integrating post-mortem brain gene co-expression data from 2114 human samples with LOAD, we developed a novel quantitative, composite phenotype that can better account for the heterogeneity in genetic architecture underlying the disease. We used iterative weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to reduce data dimensionality and to isolate gene sets that are highly co-expressed within disease subtypes and represent specific molecular pathways. We then performed single variant association testing using whole genome-sequencing data for the novel composite phenotype in order to identify genetic loci that contribute to disease heterogeneity. Distinct LOAD subtypes were identified for all three study cohorts (two in ROSMAP, three in Mayo Clinic, and two in Mount Sinai Brain Bank). Single variant association analysis identified a genome-wide significant variant in TMEM106B (p-value \u3c 5×10-8, rs1990620G) in the ROSMAP cohort that confers protection from the inflammatory LOAD subtype. Taken together, our novel approach can be used to stratify LOAD into distinct molecular subtypes based on affected disease pathways

Bivalve facilitation mediates seagrass recovery from physical disturbance in a temperate estuary

Rapid global degradation of coastal habitats can be attributed to anthropogenic activities associated with coastal development, aquaculture, and recreational surface water use. Restoration of degraded habitats has proven challenging and costly, and there is a clear need to develop novel approaches that promote resilience to human-caused disturbances. Positive interactions between species can mitigate environmental stress and recent work suggests that incorporating positive interactions into restoration efforts may improve restoration outcomes. We hypothesized that the addition of a potential facultative mutualist, the native hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), could enhance seagrass bed recovery from disturbance. We conducted two experiments to examine the independent and interacting effects of hard clam addition and physical disturbance mimicking propeller scarring on mixed community Zostera marina and Halodule wrightii seagrass beds in North Carolina. Adding clams to seagrass beds exposed to experimental disturbance generally enhanced seagrass summer growth rates and autumn shoot densities. In contrast, clam addition to non-disturbed seagrass beds did not result in any increase in seagrass growth rates or shoot densities. Clam enhancement of autumn percent cover relative to areas without clam addition was most prominent after Hurricane Dorian, suggesting that clams may also enhance seagrass resilience to repeated disturbances. By June of the next growing season, disturbed areas with clam additions had greater percent cover of seagrass than disturbed areas without clam additions. Beds that were disturbed in April had higher percent cover than areas disturbed in June of the previous growing season. Our results suggest that the timing and occurrence of physical disturbances may modify the ability of clams to facilitate seagrass resiliency and productivity. Understanding when and how to utilize positive, interspecific interactions in coastal restoration is key for improving restoration success rates.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun

Deficiency of the zinc finger protein ZFP106 causes motor and sensory neurodegeneration

Acknowledgements We are indebted to Jim Humphries, JennyCorrigan, LizDarley, Elizabeth Joynson, Natalie Walters, Sara Wells and the whole necropsy, histology, genotyping and MLC ward 6 teams at MRC Harwell for excellent technical assistance. We thank the staff of the WTSI Illumina Bespoke Team for the RNA-seq data, the Sanger Mouse Genetics Project for the initial mouse characterization and Dr David Adams for critical reading of the manuscript. We also thank KOMP for the mouse embryonic stem cells carrying the knockout first promoter-less allele (tm1a(KOMP)Wtsi) within Zfp016. Conflict of Interest statement. None declared. Funding This work was funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) to A.A.-A. and a Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) project grant to A.A.-A. and EMCF. D.L.H.B. is a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Scientist Fellow and P.F. is a MRC/MNDA Lady Edith Wolfson Clinician Scientist Fellow. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the MRC grant number: MC_UP_A390_1106.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Biological Variation of Plasma and Urinary Markers of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

BACKGROUND: Identification of acute kidney injury (AKI) is predominantly based on changes in plasma creatinine concentration, an insensitive marker. Alternative biomarkers have been proposed. The reference change value (RCV), the point at which biomarker change can be inferred to have occurred with statistical certainty, provides an objective assessment of change in serial tests results in an individual. METHODS: In 80 patients with chronic kidney disease, weekly measurements of blood and urinary biomarker concentrations were undertaken over 6 weeks. Variability was determined and compared before and after adjustment for urinary creatinine and across subgroups stratified by level of kidney function, proteinuria, and presence or absence of diabetes. RESULTS: RCVs were determined for whole blood, plasma, and urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (111%, 59%, and 693%, respectively), plasma cystatin C (14%), creatinine (17%), and urinary kidney injury molecule 1 (497%), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 (454%), N-acetyl-?-d-glucosaminidase (361%), interleukin-18 (819%), albumin (430%), and ?1-microglobulin (216%). Blood biomarkers exhibited lower variability than urinary biomarkers. Generally, adjusting urinary biomarker concentrations for creatinine reduced (P < 0.05) within-individual biological variability (CVI). For some markers, variation differed (P < 0.05) between subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: These data can form a basis for application of these tests in clinical practice and research studies and are applicable across different levels of kidney function and proteinuria and in the presence or absence of diabetes. Most of the studied biomarkers have relatively high CVI (noise) but also have reported large concentration changes in response to renal insult (signal); thus progressive change should be detectable (high signal-to-noise ratio) when baseline data are available

Prospects for progress on health inequalities in England in the post-primary care trust era : professional views on challenges, risks and opportunities

Background - Addressing health inequalities remains a prominent policy objective of the current UK government, but current NHS reforms involve a significant shift in roles and responsibilities. Clinicians are now placed at the heart of healthcare commissioning through which significant inequalities in access, uptake and impact of healthcare services must be addressed. Questions arise as to whether these new arrangements will help or hinder progress on health inequalities. This paper explores the perspectives of experienced healthcare professionals working within the commissioning arena; many of whom are likely to remain key actors in this unfolding scenario. Methods - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 professionals involved with health and social care commissioning at national and local levels. These included representatives from the Department of Health, Primary Care Trusts, Strategic Health Authorities, Local Authorities, and third sector organisations. Results - In general, respondents lamented the lack of progress on health inequalities during the PCT commissioning era, where strong policy had not resulted in measurable improvements. However, there was concern that GP-led commissioning will fare little better, particularly in a time of reduced spending. Specific concerns centred on: reduced commitment to a health inequalities agenda; inadequate skills and loss of expertise; and weakened partnership working and engagement. There were more mixed opinions as to whether GP commissioners would be better able than their predecessors to challenge large provider trusts and shift spend towards prevention and early intervention, and whether GPs’ clinical experience would support commissioning action on inequalities. Though largely pessimistic, respondents highlighted some opportunities, including the potential for greater accountability of healthcare commissioners to the public and more influential needs assessments via emergent Health & Wellbeing Boards. Conclusions - There is doubt about the ability of GP commissioners to take clearer action on health inequalities than PCTs have historically achieved. Key actors expect the contribution from commissioning to address health inequalities to become even more piecemeal in the new arrangements, as it will be dependent upon the interest and agency of particular individuals within the new commissioning groups to engage and influence a wider range of stakeholders.</p

Open science in archaeology

No abstract available

Co-circulation of Multidrug-resistant Shigella Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Australia.

BACKGROUND: In urban Australia, the burden of shigellosis is either in returning travelers from shigellosis-endemic regions or in men who have sex with men (MSM). Here, we combine genomic data with comprehensive epidemiological data on sexual exposure and travel to describe the spread of multidrug-resistant Shigella lineages. METHODS: A population-level study of all cultured Shigella isolates in the state of Victoria, Australia, was undertaken from 1 January 2016 through 31 March 2018. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, whole-genome sequencing, and bioinformatic analyses of 545 Shigella isolates were performed at the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory. Risk factor data on travel and sexual exposure were collected through enhanced surveillance forms or by interviews. RESULTS: Rates of antimicrobial resistance were high, with 17.6% (95/541) and 50.6% (274/541) resistance to ciprofloxacin and azithromycin, respectively. There were strong associations between antimicrobial resistance, phylogeny, and epidemiology. Specifically, 2 major MSM-associated lineages were identified: a Shigellasonnei lineage (n = 159) and a Shigella flexneri 2a lineage (n = 105). Of concern, 147/159 (92.4%) of isolates within the S. sonnei MSM-associated lineage harbored mutations associated with reduced susceptibility to recommended oral antimicrobials: namely, azithromycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and ciprofloxacin. Long-read sequencing demonstrated global dissemination of multidrug-resistant plasmids across Shigella species and lineages, but predominantly associated with MSM isolates. CONCLUSIONS: Our contemporary data highlight the ongoing public health threat posed by resistant Shigella, both in Australia and globally. Urgent multidisciplinary public health measures are required to interrupt transmission and prevent infection

AGEMAP: A Gene Expression Database for Aging in Mice

We present the AGEMAP (Atlas of Gene Expression in Mouse Aging Project) gene expression database, which is a resource that catalogs changes in gene expression as a function of age in mice. The AGEMAP database includes expression changes for 8,932 genes in 16 tissues as a function of age. We found great heterogeneity in the amount of transcriptional changes with age in different tissues. Some tissues displayed large transcriptional differences in old mice, suggesting that these tissues may contribute strongly to organismal decline. Other tissues showed few or no changes in expression with age, indicating strong levels of homeostasis throughout life. Based on the pattern of age-related transcriptional changes, we found that tissues could be classified into one of three aging processes: (1) a pattern common to neural tissues, (2) a pattern for vascular tissues, and (3) a pattern for steroid-responsive tissues. We observed that different tissues age in a coordinated fashion in individual mice, such that certain mice exhibit rapid aging, whereas others exhibit slow aging for multiple tissues. Finally, we compared the transcriptional profiles for aging in mice to those from humans, flies, and worms. We found that genes involved in the electron transport chain show common age regulation in all four species, indicating that these genes may be exceptionally good markers of aging. However, we saw no overall correlation of age regulation between mice and humans, suggesting that aging processes in mice and humans may be fundamentally different