Variants within the MMP3 gene are associated with achilles tendinopathy: possible interaction with the COL5A1 gene

Objectives: Sequence variation within the COL5A1 and TNC genes are known to associate with Achilles tendinopathy. The primary aim of this case-control genetic association study was to investigate whether variants within the matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) gene also contributed to both Achilles tendinopathy and Achilles tendon rupture in a Caucasian population. A secondary aim was to establish whether variants within the MMP3 gene interacted with the COL5A1 rs12722 variant to raise risk of these pathologies. Methods: 114 subjects with symptoms of Achilles tendon pathology and 98 healthy controls were genotyped for MMP3 variants rs679620, rs591058 and rs650108. Results: As single markers, significant associations were found between the GG genotype of rs679620 (OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.90, p = 0.010), the CC genotype of rs591058 (OR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.1 to 4.50, p = 0.023) and the AA genotype of rs650108 (OR = 4.9, 95% CI 1.0 to 24.1, p = 0.043) and risk of Achilles tendinopathy. The ATG haplotype (rs679620, rs591058, and rs650108) was under-represented in the tendinopathy group when compared to the control group (41% vs 53%, p = 0.038). Finally, the G allele of rs679620 and the T allele of COL5A1 rs12722 significantly interacted to raise risk of AT (p = 0.006). No associations were found between any of the MMP3 markers and Achilles tendon rupture. Conclusion: Variants within the MMP3 gene are associated with Achilles tendinopathy. Furthermore, the MMP3 gene variant rs679620 and the COL5A1 marker rs12722 interact to modify the risk of tendinopathy. These data further support a genetic contribution to a common sports related injur

Survey of the Labor Market for New Ph.D. Hires in Economics 2005-2006

This year, the survey questionnaire was sent to 372 organizations. Questionnaires were returned by 150 (40.3 percent) for a response rate that was lower than the 2004-05-survey response rate of 49.1 percent. Of this year’s responses, 102 (68.0 percent) were from those who responded to last year’s survey; 48 (32.0 percent) came from new respondents. Among the academic institutions responding, the distribution of highest degrees offered was as follows: Ph.D.—32.0 percent; Master—14.7 percent; Bachelor—39.3 percent. The remaining 14.0 percent did not indicate their highest degree offered. One of the respondents was a non-academic organization. The responses are reported for all respondents (including the non-academic institution and schools that did not report “highest degree offered”), and separately for Ph.D. degree-granting institutions and for schools whose highest degree offered is the Bachelor or Master degree. Data for institutions in the National Research Council’s Research Doctorate Report, 1995, are reported as a subset of Ph.D. degree-granting schools. They are referred to as the Top 30

The role of nocturnal fishes on coral reefs: A quantitative functional evaluation

The ecological functions of nocturnal coral reef fishes are poorly known. Yet, nocturnal resources for coral reef consumers are theoretically as abundant and productive, if not more so, than their diurnal counterparts. In this study, we quantify and contrast the energetic dynamics of nocturnal and diurnal fishes in a model coral reef ecosystem, evaluating whether they attain similar levels of biomass production. We integrated a detailed dataset of coral reef fish counts, comprising diurnal and nocturnal species, in sites sheltered and exposed to wave action. We combined somatic growth and mortality models to estimate rates of consumer biomass production, a key ecosystem function. We found that diurnal fish assemblages have a higher biomass than nocturnal fishes: 104% more in sheltered sites and 271% more in exposed sites. Differences in productivity were even more pronounced, with diurnal fishes contributing 163% more productivity in sheltered locations, and 558% more in exposed locations. Apogonidae dominated biomass production within the nocturnal fish assemblage, comprising 54% of total nocturnal fish productivity, which is proportionally more than any diurnal fish family. The substantially lower contributions of nocturnal fishes to biomass and biomass production likely indicate constraints on resource accessibility. Taxa that overcome these constraints may thrive, as evidenced by apogonids. This study highlights the importance of nocturnal fishes in underpinning the flow of energy and nutrients from nocturnal resources to reef communities; a process driven mainly by small, cryptic fishes

Survey of the Labor Market for New Ph.D. Hires in Economics 2006-2007

This year, the survey questionnaire was sent to 385 organizations. Questionnaires were returned by 160 (41.6 percent) for a response rate that was higher than the 2005-06-survey response rate of 40.3 percent. Of this year’s responses, 92 (57.9 percent) were from those who responded to last year’s survey; 68 (42.1 percent) came from new respondents. Among the academic institutions responding, the distribution of highest degrees offered was as follows: Ph.D.—41.3 percent; Master—20.0 percent; Bachelor—38.8 percent. The responses are reported for all respondents, and separately for Ph.D. degree-granting institutions and for schools whose highest degree offered is the Bachelor or Master degree. Data for institutions in the National Research Council’s Research Doctorate Report, 1995, are reported as a subset of Ph.D. degree-granting schools. They are referred to as the Top 30

Small coral reef fishes with large ecological footprints

Seascape connectivity can facilitate key ecosystem functions in complex ecosystems like coral reefs. Many reef fishes move across the seascape, bridging different ecosystems. However, their role in shaping important functions, such as biomass production and nutrient cycling, is still poorly understood. This study, therefore, assesses the extent of natural movements of cardinalfishes (Apogonidae), one of the major contributors to nocturnal fish biomass production with the potential for a major role in transferring energy and nutrients between sandy ecosystems and adjacent coral reefs. Consistent with previous work, showing their ability to move distances of 100 s to 1000 s of metres when displaced, we reveal that these small fishes undergo major voluntary nocturnal foraging forays extending up to at least 145 m from reef structures. Their estimated daily movement distances are at least 430 times greater than expected based solely on body size-home range expectations. Given their large travel distances and strong homing abilities, apogonids may provide a major conduit for material transfer between lagoonal soft sediment habitats and adjacent coral reefs. These results highlight the potential importance of apogonids in the cross-system or cross-habitat transport of energy and nutrients on coral reefs

Survey of the Labor Market for New Ph.D. Hires in Economics 2004-2005

This year, the survey questionnaire was sent to 371 organizations. Questionnaires were returned by 182 (49.1 percent) for a response rate that was higher than the 2003-04-survey response rate of 48.4 percent. Of this year’s responses, 120 (65.9 percent) were from among those who responded to last year’s survey; 62 (34.1 percent) came from new respondents. Among the academic institutions responding, the distribution of highest degrees offered was as follows: Ph.D.—44.5 percent; Master—13.2 percent; Bachelor—33.0 percent. The remaining 9.3 percent did not indicate their highest degree offered. Two of the respondents were non-academic organizations. The responses are reported for all respondents (including the non-academic institutions and schools that did not report “highest degree offered”), and separately for Ph.D. degree-granting institutions and for schools whose highest degree offered is the Bachelor or Master degree. Data for institutions in the National Research Council’s Research Doctorate Report, 1995, are reported as a subset of Ph.D. degree-granting schools. They are referred to as the Top 30

Survey of the Labor Market for New Ph.D. Hires in Economics 2005-2006

This year, the survey questionnaire was sent to 372 organizations. Questionnaires were returned by 150 (40.3 percent) for a response rate that was lower than the 2004-05-survey response rate of 49.1 percent. Of this year’s responses, 102 (68.0 percent) were from those who responded to last year’s survey; 48 (32.0 percent) came from new respondents. Among the academic institutions responding, the distribution of highest degrees offered was as follows: Ph.D.—32.0 percent; Master—14.7 percent; Bachelor—39.3 percent. The remaining 14.0 percent did not indicate their highest degree offered. One of the respondents was a non-academic organization. The responses are reported for all respondents (including the non-academic institution and schools that did not report “highest degree offered”), and separately for Ph.D. degree-granting institutions and for schools whose highest degree offered is the Bachelor or Master degree. Data for institutions in the National Research Council’s Research Doctorate Report, 1995, are reported as a subset of Ph.D. degree-granting schools. They are referred to as the Top 30

Metrics for linking emissions of gases and aerosols to global precipitation changes

Recent advances in understanding have made it possible to relate global precipitation changes directly to emissions of particular gases and aerosols that influence climate. Using these advances, new indices are developed here called the Global Precipitation-change Potential for pulse (GPP_P) and sustained (GPP_S) emissions, which measure the precipitation change per unit mass of emissions. The GPP can be used as a metric to compare the effects of different emissions. This is akin to the global warming potential (GWP) and the global temperature-change potential (GTP) which are used to place emissions on a common scale. Hence the GPP provides an additional perspective of the relative or absolute effects of emissions. It is however recognised that precipitation changes are predicted to be highly variable in size and sign between different regions and this limits the usefulness of a purely global metric. The GPP_P and GPP_S formulation consists of two terms, one dependent on the surface temperature change and the other dependent on the atmospheric component of the radiative forcing. For some forcing agents, and notably for CO2, these two terms oppose each other – as the forcing and temperature perturbations have different timescales, even the sign of the absolute GPP_P and GPP_S varies with time, and the opposing terms can make values sensitive to uncertainties in input parameters. This makes the choice of CO2 as a reference gas problematic, especially for the GPP_S at time horizons less than about 60 years. In addition, few studies have presented results for the surface/atmosphere partitioning of different forcings, leading to more uncertainty in quantifying the GPP than the GWP or GTP. Values of the GPP_P and GPP_S for five long- and short-lived forcing agents (CO2, CH4, N2O, sulphate and black carbon – BC) are presented, using illustrative values of required parameters. The resulting precipitation changes are given as the change at a specific time horizon (and hence they are end-point metrics) but it is noted that the GPPS can also be interpreted as the time-integrated effect of a pulse emission. Using CO2 as a references gas, the GPP_P and GPP_S for the non-CO2 species are larger than the corresponding GTP values. For BC emissions, the atmospheric forcing is sufficiently strong that the GPP_S is opposite in sign to the GTP_S. The sensitivity of these values to a number of input parameters is explored. The GPP can also be used to evaluate the contribution of different emissions to precipitation change during or after a period of emissions. As an illustration, the precipitation changes resulting from emissions in 2008 (using the GPP_P) and emissions sustained at 2008 levels (using the GPP_S) are presented. These indicate that for periods of 20 years (after the 2008 emissions) and 50 years (for sustained emissions at 2008 levels) methane is the dominant driver of positive precipitation changes due to those emissions. For sustained emissions, the sum of the effect of the five species included here does not become positive until after 50 years, by which time the global surface temperature increase exceeds 1 K

Effect of conjugated bile salts on antibiotic susceptibility of bile salt-tolerant Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium isolates.

Virtually every antibiotic may cause in vivo alterations in the number, level, and composition of the indigenous microbiotae. The degree to which the microbiotae are disturbed depends on many factors. Although bile may augment antibiotic activity, studies on the effect of bile on the antibiotic susceptibility of indigenous and exogenous probiotic microorganisms are lacking. It was against this background that the antibiotic susceptibility of 37 bile salt-tolerant Lactobacillus and 11 Bifidobacterium isolates from human and other sources was determined in the presence of 0.5% wt/wt oxgall (conjugated bile salts). Oxgall did not affect the intrinsic resistance of lactobacilli to metronidazole (5 microg), vancomycin (30 microg), and cotrimoxazole (25 microg), whereas it resulted in a complete loss of resistance to polymyxin B (300 microg) and the aminoglycosides gentamicin (10 microg), kanamycin (30 microg), and streptomycin (10 microg) for most strains studied (P < 0.001). Oxgall did not affect the intrinsic resistance of bifidobacteria to metronidazole and vancomycin, whereas polymyxin B and co-trimoxazole resistance was diminished (P < 0.05) and aminoglycoside resistance was lost (P < 0.001). Seven lactobacilli, but no bifidobacteria strain, showed unaltered intrinsic antibiotic resistance profiles in the presence of oxgall. Oxgall affected the extrinsic susceptibility of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria to penicillin G (10 microg), ampicillin (10 microg), tetracycline (30 microg), chloramphenicol (30 microg), erythromycin (15 microg), and rifampicin (5 microg) in a source- and strain-dependent manner. Human strain-drug combinations of lactobacilli (P < 0.05) and bifidobacteria (P < 0.01) were more likely to show no change or decreased susceptibility compared with other strain-drug combinations. The antimicrobial activity spectra of polymyxin B and the aminoglycosides should not be considered limited to gram-negative bacteria but extended to include gram-positive genera of the indigenous and transiting microbiotae in the presence of conjugated bile salts. Those lactobacilli (7 of 37) that show unaltered intrinsic and diminished extrinsic antibiotic susceptibility in the presence of oxgall may possess greater upper gastrointestinal tract transit tolerance in the presence of antibiotics