Patterns of coral-reef finfish species disappearances inferred from fishers' knowledge in global epicentre of marine shorefish diversity

In the Philippines, very high fishing pressure coincides with the globally greatest number of shorefish species, yet no long-term fisheries data are available to explore species-level changes that may have occurred widely in the most species rich and vulnerable marine ecosystem, namely coral reefs. Through 2655 face-to-face interviews conducted between August 2012 and July 2014, we used fishers' recall of past catch rates of reef-associated finfish to infer species disappearances from catches in five marine key biodiversity areas (Lanuza Bay, Danajon Bank, Verde Island Passage, Polillo Islands and Honda Bay). We modeled temporal trends in perceived catch per unit effort (CPUE) based on fishers' reports of typical good days' catches using Generalized Linear Mixed Modelling. Fifty-nine different finfish disappeared from catches between the 1950s and 2014; 42 fish were identified to species level, two to genus, seven to family and eight to local name only. Five species occurring at all sites with the greatest number of fishers reporting zero catches were the green bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum), humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), African pompano (Alectis ciliaris), giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) and mangrove red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus). Between the 1950s and 2014, the mean perceived CPUE of bumphead parrotfish declined by 88%, that of humphead wrasse by 82%, African pompano by 66%, giant grouper by 74% and mangrove red snapper by 64%. These declines were mainly associated with excess and uncontrolled fishing, fish life-history traits like maximum body size and socio-economic factors like access to market infrastructure and services, and overpopulation. The fishers' knowledge is indicative of extirpations where evidence for these losses was otherwise lacking. Our models provide information as basis for area-based conservation and regional resource management particularly for the more vulnerable, once common, large, yet wide-ranging reef finfish species

Aqueous Tear Deficiency Increases Conjunctival Interferon-c (IFN-c) Expression and Goblet Cell Loss

PURPOSE. To investigate the hypothesis that increased interferon-c (IFN-c) expression is associated with conjunctival goblet cell loss in subjects with tear dysfunction. METHODS. Goblet cell density (GCD) was measured in impression cytology from the temporal bulbar conjunctiva, and gene expression was measured in cytology samples from the nasal bulbar conjunctiva obtained from 68 subjects, including normal control, meibomian gland disease (MGD), non-Sjögren syndrome (non-SSATD)-, and Sjögren syndrome (SSATD)-associated aqueous tear deficiency. Gene expression was evaluated by real-time PCR. Tear meniscus height (TMH) was measured by optical coherence tomography. Fluorescein and lissamine green dye staining evaluated corneal and conjunctival disease, respectively. Between-group mean differences and correlation coefficients were calculated. RESULTS. Compared to control, IFN-c expression was significantly higher in both ATD groups, and its receptor was higher in SSATD. Expression of IL-13 and its receptor was similar in all groups. Goblet cell density was lower in the SSATD group; expression of MUC5AC mucin was lower and cornified envelope precursor small proline-rich region (SPRR)-2G higher in both ATD groups. Interferon-c transcript number was inversely correlated with GCD (r ¼ À0.37, P < 0.04) and TMH (r ¼ À0.37, P ¼ 0.02), and directly correlated with lissamine green staining (r ¼ 0.51, P < 0.001) and SPRR-2G expression (r ¼ 0.32, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS. Interferon-c expression in the conjunctiva was higher in aqueous deficiency and correlated with goblet cell loss and severity of conjunctival disease. These results support findings of animal and culture studies showing that IFN-c reduces conjunctival goblet cell number and mucin production

Optimizing viable leukocyte sampling from the female genital tract for clinical trials: an international multi-site study

BACKGROUND: Functional analysis of mononuclear leukocytes in the female genital mucosa is essential for understanding the immunologic effects of HIV vaccines and microbicides at the site of HIV exposure. However, the best female genital tract sampling technique is unclear. Methods and FINDINGS: We enrolled women from four sites in Africa and the US to compare three genital leukocyte sampling methods: cervicovaginal lavages (CVL), endocervical cytobrushes, and ectocervical biopsies. Absolute yields of mononuclear leukocyte subpopulations were determined by flow cytometric bead-based cell counting. Of the non-invasive sampling types, two combined sequential cytobrushes yielded significantly more viable mononuclear leukocytes than a CVL (p<0.0001). In a subsequent comparison, two cytobrushes yielded as many leukocytes (∼10,000) as one biopsy, with macrophages/monocytes being more prominent in cytobrushes and T lymphocytes in biopsies. Sample yields were consistent between sites. In a subgroup analysis, we observed significant reproducibility between replicate same-day biopsies (r = 0.89, p = 0.0123). Visible red blood cells in cytobrushes increased leukocyte yields more than three-fold (p = 0.0078), but did not change their subpopulation profile, indicating that these leukocytes were still largely derived from the mucosa and not peripheral blood. We also confirmed that many CD4 + T cells in the female genital tract express the α4β7 integrin, an HIV envelope-binding mucosal homing receptor. CONCLUSIONS: CVL sampling recovered the lowest number of viable mononuclear leukocytes. Two cervical cytobrushes yielded comparable total numbers of viable leukocytes to one biopsy, but cytobrushes and biopsies were biased toward macrophages and T lymphocytes, respectively. Our study also established the feasibility of obtaining consistent flow cytometric analyses of isolated genital cells from four study sites in the US and Africa. These data represent an important step towards implementing mucosal cell sampling in international clinical trials of HIV prevention

INTEGRAL/IBIS Extragalactic survey: 20-100 keV selected AGN

Analysis of INTEGRAL Core Program and public Open Time observations performed up to April 2005 provides a sample of 62 active galactic nuclei in the 20-100 keV band above a flux limit of ~1.5x10^-11 erg/cm2/s. Most(42) of the sources in the sample are Seyfert galaxies, almost equally divided between type 1 and 2 objects, 6 are blazars and 14 are still unclassified. Excluding the blazars, the average redshift of our sample is 0.021 while the mean luminosity is Log(L) = 43.45. We find that absorption is present in 65% of the objects with 14% of the total sample due to Compton thick active galaxies. In agreement with both Swift/BAT team results and 2-10 keV studies, the fraction of absorbed objects decreases with the 20-100 keV luminosity. All Seyfert 2s in our sample are absorbed as are 33% of Seyfert 1s. The present data highlight the capability of INTEGRAL to probe the extragalactic gamma-ray sky and to find new and/or absorbed active galaxies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. To be published in ApJ Letter

Improving and Assessing Planet Sensitivity of the GPI Exoplanet Survey with a Forward Model Matched Filter

We present a new matched filter algorithm for direct detection of point sources in the immediate vicinity of bright stars. The stellar Point Spread Function (PSF) is first subtracted using a Karhunen-Lo\'eve Image Processing (KLIP) algorithm with Angular and Spectral Differential Imaging (ADI and SDI). The KLIP-induced distortion of the astrophysical signal is included in the matched filter template by computing a forward model of the PSF at every position in the image. To optimize the performance of the algorithm, we conduct extensive planet injection and recovery tests and tune the exoplanet spectra template and KLIP reduction aggressiveness to maximize the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of the recovered planets. We show that only two spectral templates are necessary to recover any young Jovian exoplanets with minimal SNR loss. We also developed a complete pipeline for the automated detection of point source candidates, the calculation of Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC), false positives based contrast curves, and completeness contours. We process in a uniform manner more than 330 datasets from the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES) and assess GPI typical sensitivity as a function of the star and the hypothetical companion spectral type. This work allows for the first time a comparison of different detection algorithms at a survey scale accounting for both planet completeness and false positive rate. We show that the new forward model matched filter allows the detection of $50\%$ fainter objects than a conventional cross-correlation technique with a Gaussian PSF template for the same false positive rate.Comment: ApJ accepte

SN 2012ec: Mass of the progenitor from PESSTO follow-up of the photospheric phase

We present the results of a photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaign of SN 2012ec, which exploded in the spiral galaxy NGC 1084, during the photospheric phase. The photometric light curve exhibits a plateau with luminosity L = 0.9 × 1042 erg s−1 and duration ∼90 d, which is somewhat shorter than standard Type II-P supernovae (SNe). We estimate the nickel mass M(56Ni) = 0.040 ± 0.015 M from the luminosity at the beginning of the radioactive tail of the light curve. The explosion parameters of SN 2012ec were estimated from the comparison of the bolometric light curve and the observed temperature and velocity evolution of the ejecta with predictions from hydrodynamical models. We derived an envelope mass of 12.6 M, an initial progenitor radius of 1.6 × 1013 cm and an explosion energy of 1.2 foe. These estimates agree with an independent study of the progenitor star identified in pre-explosion images, for which an initial mass of M = 14−22 M was determined. We have applied the same analysis to two other Type II-P SNe (SNe 2012aw and 2012A), and carried out a comparison with the properties of SN 2012ec derived in this paper. We find a reasonable agreement between the masses of the progenitors obtained from pre-explosion images and masses derived from hydrodynamical models. We estimate the distance to SN 2012ec with the standardized candle method (SCM) and compare it with other estimates based on other primary and secondary indicators. SNe 2012A, 2012aw and 2012ec all follow the standard relations for the SCM for the use of Type II-P SNe as distance indicators

GPI spectra of HR 8799 c, d, and e from 1.5 to 2.4μ\mum with KLIP Forward Modeling

We explore KLIP forward modeling spectral extraction on Gemini Planet Imager coronagraphic data of HR 8799, using PyKLIP and show algorithm stability with varying KLIP parameters. We report new and re-reduced spectrophotometry of HR 8799 c, d, and e in H & K bands. We discuss a strategy for choosing optimal KLIP PSF subtraction parameters by injecting simulated sources and recovering them over a range of parameters. The K1/K2 spectra for HR 8799 c and d are similar to previously published results from the same dataset. We also present a K band spectrum of HR 8799 e for the first time and show that our H-band spectra agree well with previously published spectra from the VLT/SPHERE instrument. We show that HR 8799 c and d show significant differences in their H & K spectra, but do not find any conclusive differences between d and e or c and e, likely due to large error bars in the recovered spectrum of e. Compared to M, L, and T-type field brown dwarfs, all three planets are most consistent with mid and late L spectral types. All objects are consistent with low gravity but a lack of standard spectra for low gravity limit the ability to fit the best spectral type. We discuss how dedicated modeling efforts can better fit HR 8799 planets' near-IR flux and discuss how differences between the properties of these planets can be further explored.Comment: Accepted to AJ, 25 pages, 16 Figure