The impact of predation by marine mammals on Patagonian toothfish longline fisheries

Predatory interaction of marine mammals with longline fisheries is observed globally, leading to partial or complete loss of the catch and in some parts of the world to considerable financial loss. Depredation can also create additional unrecorded fishing mortality of a stock and has the potential to introduce bias to stock assessments. Here we aim to characterise depredation in the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) fishery around South Georgia focusing on the spatio-temporal component of these interactions. Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), and orcas (Orcinus orca) frequently feed on fish hooked on longlines around South Georgia. A third of longlines encounter sperm whales, but loss of catch due to sperm whales is insignificant when compared to that due to orcas, which interact with only 5% of longlines but can take more than half of the catch in some cases. Orca depredation around South Georgia is spatially limited and focused in areas of putative migration routes, and the impact is compounded as a result of the fishery also concentrating in those areas at those times. Understanding the seasonal behaviour of orcas and the spatial and temporal distribution of “depredation hot spots” can reduce marine mammal interactions, will improve assessment and management of the stock and contribute to increased operational efficiency of the fishery. Such information is valuable in the effort to resolve the human-mammal conflict for resources

Wall roughness induces asymptotic ultimate turbulence

Turbulence is omnipresent in Nature and technology, governing the transport of heat, mass, and momentum on multiple scales. For real-world applications of wall-bounded turbulence, the underlying surfaces are virtually always rough; yet characterizing and understanding the effects of wall roughness for turbulence remains a challenge, especially for rotating and thermally driven turbulence. By combining extensive experiments and numerical simulations, here, taking as example the paradigmatic Taylor-Couette system (the closed flow between two independently rotating coaxial cylinders), we show how wall roughness greatly enhances the overall transport properties and the corresponding scaling exponents. If only one of the walls is rough, we reveal that the bulk velocity is slaved to the rough side, due to the much stronger coupling to that wall by the detaching flow structures. If both walls are rough, the viscosity dependence is thoroughly eliminated in the boundary layers and we thus achieve asymptotic ultimate turbulence, i.e. the upper limit of transport, whose existence had been predicted by Robert Kraichnan in 1962 (Phys. Fluids {\bf 5}, 1374 (1962)) and in which the scalings laws can be extrapolated to arbitrarily large Reynolds numbers

Diets containing sea cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus) meals are hypocholesterolemic in young rats

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Two different point mutations in ABL gene ATP-binding domain conferring Primary Imatinib resistance in a Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) patient: A case report

Imatinib (Gleevec) is the effective therapy for BCR-ABL positive CML patients. Point mutations have been detected in ATP-binding domain of ABL gene which disturbs the binding of Gleevec to this target leading to resistance. Detection of mutations is helpful in clinical management of imatinib resistance. We established a very sensitive (ASO) PCR to detect mutations in an imatinib-resistant CML patient. Mutations C944T and T1052C were detected which cause complete partial imatinib resistance, respectively. This is the first report of multiple point mutations conferring primary imatinib resistance in same patient at the same time. Understanding the biological reasons of primary imatinib resistance is one of the emerging issues of pharmacogenomics and will be helpful in understanding primary resistance of molecularly-targeted cancer therapies. It will also be of great utilization in clinical management of imatinib resistance. Moreover, this ASO-PCR assay is very effective in detecting mutations related to imatinib resistance

LTBP2 null mutations in an autosomal recessive ocular syndrome with megalocornea, spherophakia, and secondary glaucoma

The latent TGFβ-binding proteins (LTBPs) and fibrillins are a superfamily of large, multidomain proteins with structural and TGFβ-signalling roles in the extracellular matrix. Their importance is underscored by fibrillin-1 mutations responsible for Marfan syndrome, but their respective roles are still incompletely understood. We report here on two families where children from healthy, consanguineous parents, presented with megalocornea and impaired vision associated with small, round, dislocated lenses (microspherophakia and ectopia lentis) and myopia, as well as a high-arched palate, and, in older children, tall stature with an abnormally large arm span over body height ratio, that is, associated features of Marfan syndrome. Glaucoma was not present at birth, but was diagnosed in older children. Whole genome homozygosity mapping followed by candidate gene analysis identified homozygous truncating mutations of LTBP2 gene in patients from both families. Fibroblast mRNA analysis was consistent with nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, with no evidence of mutated exon skipping. We conclude that biallelic null LTBP2 mutations cause the ocular phenotype in both families and could lead to Marfan-like features in older children. We suggest that intraocular pressures should be followed-up in young children with an ocular phenotype consisting of megalocornea, spherophakia and/or lens dislocation, and recommend LTBP2 gene analysis in these patients

Production of phi mesons at mid-rapidity in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We present the first results of meson production in the K^+K^- decay channel from Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV as measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX detector at RHIC. Precision resonance centroid and width values are extracted as a function of collision centrality. No significant variation from the PDG accepted values is observed. The transverse mass spectra are fitted with a linear exponential function for which the derived inverse slope parameter is seen to be constant as a function of centrality. These data are also fitted by a hydrodynamic model with the result that the freeze-out temperature and the expansion velocity values are consistent with the values previously derived from fitting single hadron inclusive data. As a function of transverse momentum the collisions scaled peripheral.to.central yield ratio RCP for the is comparable to that of pions rather than that of protons. This result lends support to theoretical models which distinguish between baryons and mesons instead of particle mass for explaining the anomalous proton yield.Comment: 326 authors, 24 pages text, 23 figures, 6 tables, RevTeX 4. To be submitted to Physical Review C as a regular article. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Pinealectomy affects bone mineral density and structure - an experimental study in sheep

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteoporosis and associated fractures are a major public health burden and there is great need for a large animal model. Melatonin, the hormone of the pineal gland, has been shown to influence bone metabolism. This study aims to evaluate whether absence of melatonin due to pinealectomy affects the bone mass, structure and remodeling in an ovine animal model.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Female sheep were arranged into four groups: Control, surgically ovariectomized (Ovx), surgically pinealectomized (Px) and Ovx+Px. Before and 6 months after surgery, iliac crest biopsies were harvested and structural parameters were measured using μCT. Markers of bone formation and resorption were determined. To evaluate long term changes after pinealectomy, bone mineral density (BMD) was analyzed at the distal radius at 0, 3, 9, 18 and 30 months.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cancellous bone volume (BV/TV) declined after 6 months by -13.3% Px and -21.5% OvxPx. The bone loss was due to increased trabecular separation as well as decreased thickness. The histomorphometric quantification and determination of collagen degradation products showed increased bone resorption following pinealectomy. Ovariectomy alone results in a transient bone loss at the distal radius followed by continuous increase to baseline levels. The bone resorption activity after pinealectomy causes a bone loss which was not transient, since a continuous decrease in BMD was observed until 30 months.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The changes after pinealectomy in sheep are indicative of bone loss. Overall, these findings suggest that the pineal gland may influence bone metabolism and that pinealectomy can be used to induce bone loss in sheep.</p

The diagnosis of BCR/ABL-negative chronic myeloproliferative diseases (CMPD): a comprehensive approach based on morphology, cytogenetics, and molecular markers

Recent years showed significant progress in the molecular characterization of the chronic myeloproliferative disorders (CMPD) which are classified according to the WHO classification of 2001 as polycythemia vera (PV), chronic idiopathic myelofibrosis (CIMF), essential thrombocythemia (ET), CMPD/unclassifiable (CMPD-U), chronic neutrophilic leukemia, and chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL)/hypereosinophilic syndrome, all to be delineated from BCR/ABL-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). After 2001, the detection of the high frequency of the JAK2V617F mutation in PV, CIMF, and ET, and of the FIP1L1–PDGFRA fusion gene in CEL further added important information in the diagnosis of CMPD. These findings also enhanced the importance of tyrosine kinase mutations in CMPD and paved the way to a more detailed classification and to an improved definition of prognosis using also novel minimal residual disease (MRD) markers. Simultaneously, the broadening of therapeutic strategies in the CMPD, e.g., due to reduced intensity conditioning in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in CML, in CEL, and in other ABL and PDGRFB rearrangements, increased the demands to diagnostics. Therefore, today, a multimodal diagnostic approach combining cytomorphology, cytogenetics, and individual molecular methods is needed in BCR/ABL-negative CMPD. A stringent diagnostic algorithm for characterization, choice of treatment, and monitoring of MRD will be proposed in this review