Opportunities for Public Aquariums to Increase the Sustainability of the Aquatic Animal Trade

The global aquatic pet trade encompasses a wide diversity of freshwater and marine organisms. While relying on a continual supply of healthy, vibrant aquatic animals, few sustainability initiatives exist within this sector. Public aquariums overlap this industry by acquiring many of the same species through the same sources. End users are also similar, as many aquarium visitors are home aquarists. Here we posit that this overlap with the pet trade gives aquariums significant opportunity to increase the sustainability of the trade in aquarium fishes and invertebrates. Improving the sustainability ethos and practices of the aquatic pet trade can carry a conservation benefit in terms of less waste, and protection of intact functioning ecosystems, at the same time as maintaining its economic and educational benefits and impacts. The relationship would also move forward the goal of public aquariums to advance aquatic conservation in a broad sense. For example, many public aquariums in North America have been instrumental in working with the seafood industry to enact positive change toward increased sustainability. The actions include being good consumers themselves, providing technical knowledge, and providing educational and outreach opportunities. These same opportunities exist for public aquariums to partner with the ornamental fish trade, which will serve to improve business, create new, more ethical and more dependable sources of aquatic animals for public aquariums, and perhaps most important, possibly transform the home aquarium industry from a threat, into a positive force for aquatic conservation. Zoo Biol. 32:1-12, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

The effect of asymmetries on stock index return value-at-risk estimates

It is widely accepted that equity return volatility increases more following negative shocks rather than positive shocks. However, much of value-at-risk (VaR) analysis relies on the assumption that returns are normally distributed (a symmetric distribution). This article considers the effect of asymmetries on the evaluation and accuracy of VaR by comparing estimates based on various models

Angioplasty for Intracranial Symptomatic Vertebrobasilar Ischemia

Abstract OBJECTIVE Although anterior circulation disease has both medical and surgical treatment options, management of vertebrobasilar disease has predominantly had only medical options. Some patients remain symptomatic despite medical treatment, and angioplasty has been demonstrated to relieve critical stenoses. However, the relative safety and effectiveness of medical and surgical treatments is not clearly known. This report reviews the clinical characteristics, indications, and procedural risks of intracranial angioplasty in a series of patients with symptomatic posterior circulation ischemia. METHODS All patients undergoing angioplasty for critical intracranial vertebral or basilar artery stenosis at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center between June 1986 and July 1999 were included in a retrospective record review. Clinical features and procedural complications were recorded. RESULTS Angioplasty was performed on 25 vessel lesions in 25 patients in whom medical therapy had failed. The patients ranged in age from 50 to 87 years. Of the 25 stenoses, 10 were intracranial vertebral, 9 vertebrobasilar junction, and 6 basilar in location. Angioplasty was effective in reducing the degree of stenosis by more than 40% in all 25 vessels. The overall risk of stroke or death was 28%, and the risk of disabling stroke or death was 16%. CONCLUSION Intracranial posterior circulation angioplasty is effective in the reduction of stenosis and can be performed with relative safety. Angioplasty can be considered as a treatment option in patients with recurrent ischemic symptoms despite medical therapy

Concurrent presentation of brain arteriovenous malformation, peripheral arteriovenous malformation, and cerebellar astrocytoma: Case report.

BackgroundWe report a rare case of a 19-year-old female progressively affected by a peripheral arteriovenous malformation (pAVM), a midline cerebellar astrocytoma, and a brain arteriovenous malformation (bAVM).Case descriptionShe presented with a pulsatile mass on her left cheek, which was classified as a pAVM through angiography. Following treatment with embolization and surgical resection, she returned with enlargement of the mass and imaging incidentally identified a cerebellar astrocytoma. Suboccipital craniotomy, C1 laminectomy, and endoscopic third ventriculostomy were subsequently performed. She was later treated again for growth of her pAVM, and angiography revealed the presence of a left temporal bAVM, which was resected via a pterional craniotomy.ConclusionsPathological staining identified activation of mTOR and RAS/MAPK pathway in the patient's pAVM and bAVM tissue samples. Furthermore, genetic sequencing demonstrated an activating MAPK21 (K57N) mutation in the pAVM and a gain of distal chromosome 7q in the pilocytic astrocytoma. No germline mutation was identified to explain all pathologies. This case demonstrates the need for continued development and further integration of multi-disciplinary genetic, radiological, and neurological treatment teams to effectively care for such complex presentations

Concurrent presentation of brain arteriovenous malformation, peripheral arteriovenous malformation, and cerebellar astrocytoma: Case report.

We report a rare case of a 19-year-old female progressively affected by a peripheral arteriovenous malformation (pAVM), a midline cerebellar astrocytoma, and a brain arteriovenous malformation (bAVM). She presented with a pulsatile mass on her left cheek, which was classified as a pAVM through angiography. Following treatment with embolization and surgical resection, she returned with enlargement of the mass and imaging incidentally identified a cerebellar astrocytoma. Suboccipital craniotomy, C1 laminectomy, and endoscopic third ventriculostomy were subsequently performed. She was later treated again for growth of her pAVM, and angiography revealed the presence of a left temporal bAVM, which was resected via a pterional craniotomy. Pathological staining identified activation of mTOR and RAS/MAPK pathway in the patient's pAVM and bAVM tissue samples. Furthermore, genetic sequencing demonstrated an activating MAPK21 (K57N) mutation in the pAVM and a gain of distal chromosome 7q in the pilocytic astrocytoma. No germline mutation was identified to explain all pathologies. This case demonstrates the need for continued development and further integration of multi-disciplinary genetic, radiological, and neurological treatment teams to effectively care for such complex presentations