\u3ci\u3eCTENOSAURA SIMILIS\u3c/i\u3e (Black Spiny-tailed Iguana) PREDATION

The Exotic Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. Krieger Publishing Co., Malabar, Florida. 155 pp.). In particular, they were released on Gasparilla Island (Charlotte and Lee Counties) 3&35 years ago, where they are now abundant (Krysko et al. 2003. Florida Sci. 66:141-146). This species may pose a threat to a number of endemic threatened and endangered species on Gasparilla Island such as eggs of nesting shore birds, beach mice, hatchling sea turtles and gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) (Krysko et al., op. cit.), but to date, local predators on C. similis are unreported (Meshaka et al., op. cit.). Indigenous predators might exert one controlling influence on exotic Florida herpetofauna (Butterfield et al. 1997. In Simberloff et al. [eds.], Strangers in Paradise, pp. 123-138. Island Press, Washington, DC). Hence, we report evidence of Bobcat (Felis rufus) predation on C. similis on Gasparilla Island

Per Schei (1875-1905)

Per Schei, Norwegian geologist and explorer, died a young man. From 1898 to 1902, as a member of Captain Otto Sverdrup's second expedition in the Fram, Schei made his mark on the geological understanding of a vast region of the eastern Canadian High Arctic. Schei died before he could write a detailed report for publication, but by the time of his death, his status as a talented scientist and outstanding expedition man was established. ... In collaboration with Nansen, Sverdrup had decided to explore northernmost Greenland, and possibly to circumnavigate the subcontinent. Using the so-called Smith Sound route, Sverdrup was to direct Fram up the narrow channels separating Greenland and Ellesmere Island and winter in Greenland as far north as possible. These channels, now known as Nares Strait, had been explored by British and American expeditions since the 1850s. Sledge parties from Fram were to delimit the northern part of Greenland and to reach as far south down the east coast as possible. ... However, the Norwegian thrust north in the summer of 1898 was stopped by unfavourable ice conditions in Kane Basin. ... Another attempt the following summer to negotiate Kane Basin was thwarted by ice, and following this Sverdrup sailed Fram southward and westward into Jones Sound to spend the next three winters in southern Ellesmere Island. This was a fortunate decision: it led to the discovery and charting of "New Land" west of Ellesmere Island. Up north, it was left to Peary to prove the insularity of Greenland, in 1900. ... Schei took to expedition life quickly but not without mishap. After an episode of frostbite during early sledging on Bache Peninsula, which necessitated amputation of several toes on each foot, Schei developed into one of the most skillful dogsledge handlers and hunters on the expedition. His courage and dedication could not be overwhelmed by such small disabilities as a stiff leg, lost toes, and short-sightedness. ... Sverdrup's well-organized and coordinated team work produced results unsurpassed in arctic exploration; the group of islands now named the Sverdrup Islands - Axel Heiberg, Ellef and Amund Ringes, King Christian, and smaller islands - were discovered and mapped, and the entire western coast of Ellesmere Island and much of northern Devon Island were charted. Schei participated in some of the longest and most arduous sledge journeys, for example a trip with Sverdrup, during the final sledging campaign of 1902, northward up Nansen Sound to reach the Arctic Ocean and the northwestern tip of Ellesmere Island. ... The geographic and scientific advances achieved by Sverdrup's expedition rank it as one of the most successful in the history of arctic exploration, and Schei returned with a rich geological and paleontological collection from a hitherto unknown region. ... Schei's preliminary accounts appeared in 1903 in several languages, and these papers, although only a few pages each, were regarded by his contemporaries as forming some of the most important contributions ever made to arctic geology. Aware of the mammoth task of dealing with the extensive collection, Schei induced a number of specialists in Europe to identify and systematically describe the fossil assemblages. Only one treatise appeared in Schei's lifetime, but by 1917 ten geological reports had been completed, and Professor Olav Holtedahl concluded the four-volume work with a summary report based on Schei's diaries. One can only wonder how much greater Schei's contribution to arctic geology would have been had he lived. Professor W.C. Brogger noted Schei's decline in health early in 1905. ... Schei died of dropsy, a result of kidney malfunction that was thought at the time to be related to the four strenuous years in the far North. ... Schei can be credited with making the most impressive contribution by a single person to the geological understanding of the Arctic Islands prior to the advent of aircraft

Glycine transport inhibitors for the treatment of pain.

Opioids, local anesthetics, anticonvulsant drugs, antidepressants, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used to provide pain relief but they do not provide adequate pain relief in a large proportion of chronic pain patients and are often associated with unacceptable side effects. Inhibitory glycinergic neurotransmission is impaired in chronic pain states, and this provides a novel target for drug development. Inhibitors of the glycine transporter 2 (GlyT2) enhance inhibitory neurotransmission and show particular promise for the treatment of neuropathic pain. N-arachidonyl-glycine (NAGly) is an endogenous lipid that inhibits glycine transport by GlyT2 and also shows potential as an analgesic, which may be further exploited in drug development. In this review we discuss the role of glycine neurotransmission in chronic pain and future prospects for the use of glycine transport inhibitors in the treatment of pain.NHMRC Grant: 104596

Rhenium-Catalyzed 1,3-Isomerization of Allylic Alcohols: Scope and Chirality Transfer

The scope of the triphenylsilyl perrhennate (O_3ReOSiPh_3, 1) catalyzed 1,3-isomerization of allylic alcohols has been thoroughly explored. It was found to be effective for a wide variety of secondary and tertiary allylic alcohol substrates bearing aryl, alkyl, and cyano substituents. Two general reaction types were found which gave high levels of product selectivity:  those driven by formation of an extended conjugated system and those driven by selective silylation of a particular isomer. The efficiency of chirality transfer with various substrates was investigated, and conditions were found in which secondary and tertiary allylic alcohols could be formed with high levels of enantioselectivity. Consideration of selectivity trends with respect to the nature of the substituents around the allylic system revealed that this is a reliable and predictable method for allylic alcohol synthesis

Prognostic Biomarkers for Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease Risk after Cyclophosphamide–Fludarabine Nonmyeloablative Allotransplantation

AbstractFive candidate plasma biomarkers (suppression of tumorogenesis 2 [ST2], regenerating islet-derived-3α [REG3α], elafin, tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 [TNFR1], and soluble IL-2 receptor-alpha [sIL2Rα]) were measured at specific time points after cyclophosphamide/fludarabine-based nonmyeloablative allotransplantation (NMAT) in patients who did or did not develop acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). Plasma samples from 34 patients were analyzed at days +7, +14, +21, and +30. At a median follow-up of 358 days, 17 patients had experienced aGVHD with a median time to onset at day +36. Risk of aGVHD was associated with elevated plasma ST2 concentrations at day +7 (c-statistic = .72, P = .03), day +14 (c-statistic = .74, P = .02), and day +21 (c-statistic = .75, P = .02); elevated plasma REG3α concentrations at day +14 (c-statistic = .73, P = .03), day +21 (c-statistic = .76, P = .01), and day +30 (c-statistic = .73, P = .03); and elevated elafin at day +14 (c-statistic = .71, P = .04). Plasma concentrations of TNFR1 and sIL2Rα were not associated with aGVHD risk at any of the time points studied. This study identified ST2, REG3α, and elafin as prognostic biomarkers to evaluate risk of aGVHD after cyclophosphamide/fludarabine-based NMAT. These results need to be confirmed in an independent validation cohort

Personalized Depression Prevention: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Optimize Effects Through Risk-Informed Personalization

Objective: To evaluate whether evidence-based depression prevention programs can be optimized by matching youths to interventions that address their psychosocial vulnerabilities. Method: This randomized controlled trial included 204 adolescents (mean [SD] age ¼ 14.26 [1.65] years; 56.4% female). Youths were categorized as high or low on cognitive and interpersonal risks for depression and randomly assigned to Coping With Stress (CWS), a cognitive-behavioral program, or Interpersonal Psychotherapy–Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST), an interpersonal program. Some participants received a match between risk and prevention (eg, high cognitive–low interpersonal risk teen in CWS, low cognitive–high interpersonal risk teen in IPT-AST), others received a mismatch (eg, low cognitive-high interpersonal risk teen in CWS). Outcomes were depression diagnoses and symptoms through 18 months postintervention (21 months total). Results: Matched adolescents showed significantly greater decreases in depressive symptoms than mismatched adolescents from postintervention through 18-month follow-up and across the entire 21-month study period (effect size [d] ¼ 0.44, 95% CI ¼ 0.02, 0.86). There was no significant difference in rates of depressive disorders among matched adolescents compared with mismatched adolescents (12.0% versus 18.3%, t193 ¼ .78, p ¼ .44). Conclusion: This study illustrates one approach to personalizing depression prevention as a form of precision mental health. Findings suggest that risk-informed personalization may enhance effects beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Clinical trial registration information: Bending Adolescent Depression Trajectories Through Personalized Prevention; https://www.clinicaltrials. gov/; NCT01948167

The drivers and extent of poison use by Namibia's communal farmers : Implications for averting the African vulture crisis

The use of poison by farmers to control livestock predators is a major threat to vulture populations across Eurasia and Africa. While there is now some understanding of poison use on freehold farmland regions in southern Africa, the prevalence and drivers of this practice are still unknown in communal farmlands. We surveyed 353 communal farmers in Namibia to assess the prevalence of reported poison use and intended poison use and the factors associated with both. We used the Randomised Response Technique, a method deemed to yield more robust estimates of the prevalence of sensitive behaviours compared to direct questioning. We found 1.7% of communal farmers admitted to using poison in the last year. Furthermore, across the study region, predicted poison use was the highest (up to 7%) in areas of the upper north-west. The identified hotspots' of poison use will assist conservation practitioners to focus their poison-mitigation efforts centred in the areas of the highest need.Peer reviewe

REDUCE-IT USA: Results From the 3146 Patients Randomized in the United States.

BackgroundSome trials have found that patients from the United States derive less benefit than patients enrolled outside the United States. This prespecified REDUCE-IT (Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with Icosapent Ethyl - Intervention Trial) subgroup analysis was conducted to determine the degree of benefit of icosapent ethyl in the United States.MethodsREDUCE-IT randomized 8179 statin-treated patients with qualifying triglycerides ≥135 and <500 mg/dL and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol >40 and ≤100 mg/dL and a history of atherosclerosis or diabetes mellitus to icosapent ethyl 4 g/d or placebo. The primary composite end point was cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, coronary revascularization, or hospitalization for unstable angina. The key secondary composite end point was cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. A hierarchy was prespecified for examination of individual and composite end points.ResultsA total of 3146 US patients (38.5% of the trial) were randomized and followed for a median of 4.9 years; 32.3% were women and 9.7% were Hispanic. The primary composite end point occurred in 24.7% of placebo-treated patients versus 18.2% of icosapent ethyl-treated patients (hazard ratio [HR], 0.69 [95% CI, 0.59-0.80]; P=0.000001); the key secondary composite end point occurred in 16.6% versus 12.1% (HR, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.57-0.83]; P=0.00008). All prespecified hierarchical end points were meaningfully and significantly reduced, including cardiovascular death (6.7% to 4.7%; HR, 0.66 [95% CI, 0.49-0.90]; P=0.007), myocardial infarction (8.8% to 6.7%; HR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.56-0.93]; P=0.01), stroke (4.1% to 2.6%; HR, 0.63 [95% CI, 0.43-0.93]; P=0.02), and all-cause mortality (9.8% to 7.2%; HR, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.55-0.90]; P=0.004); for all-cause mortality in the US versus non-US patients, Pinteraction=0.02. Safety and tolerability findings were consistent with the full study cohort.ConclusionsWhereas the non-US subgroup showed significant reductions in the primary and key secondary end points, the US subgroup demonstrated particularly robust risk reductions across a variety of individual and composite end points, including all-cause mortality.Clinical trial registrationURL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01492361

Plasma sTNFR1 and IL8 for prognostic enrichment in sepsis trials: a prospective cohort study.

BackgroundEnrichment strategies improve therapeutic targeting and trial efficiency, but enrichment factors for sepsis trials are lacking. We determined whether concentrations of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (sTNFR1), interleukin-8 (IL8), and angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) could identify sepsis patients at higher mortality risk and serve as prognostic enrichment factors.MethodsIn a multicenter prospective cohort study of 400 critically ill septic patients, we derived and validated thresholds for each marker and expressed prognostic enrichment using risk differences (RD) of 30-day mortality as predictive values. We then used decision curve analysis to simulate the prognostic enrichment of each marker and compare different prognostic enrichment strategies.Measurements and main resultsAn admission sTNFR1 concentration > 8861 pg/ml identified patients with increased mortality in both the derivation (RD 21.6%) and validation (RD 17.8%) populations. Among immunocompetent patients, an IL8 concentration > 94 pg/ml identified patients with increased mortality in both the derivation (RD 17.7%) and validation (RD 27.0%) populations. An Ang2 level > 9761 pg/ml identified patients at 21.3% and 12.3% increased risk of mortality in the derivation and validation populations, respectively. Using sTNFR1 or IL8 to select high-risk patients improved clinical trial power and efficiency compared to selecting patients with septic shock. Ang2 did not outperform septic shock as an enrichment factor.ConclusionsThresholds for sTNFR1 and IL8 consistently identified sepsis patients with higher mortality risk and may have utility for prognostic enrichment in sepsis trials