Is it Prostate Cancer ?

Given a set of PSA values, we answer the question: “Is its information content typical for the existence of a prostate cancer, or not?” Our findings support PSA screening

Remote Identification of Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat in Northern Alaska

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) give birth in dens of ice and snow to protect their altricial young. During the snow-free season, we visited 25 den sites located previously by radiotelemetry and characterized the den site physiognomy. Seven dens occurred in habitats with minimal relief. Eighteen dens (72%) were in coastal and river banks. These "banks" were identifiable on aerial photographs. We then searched high-resolution aerial photographs (n=3000) for habitats similar to those of the 18 dens. On aerial photos, we mapped 1782 km of bank habitats suitable for denning. Bank habitats comprised 0.18% of our study area between the Colville River and the Tamayariak River in northern Alaska. The final map, which correctly identified 88% of bank denning habitat in this region, will help minimize the potential for disruptions of maternal dens by winter petroleum exploration activities.Les ourses polaires (Ursus maritimus) donnent naissance dans des tanières de glace et de neige afin de protéger leurs petits qui sont nidicoles. Durant la saison libre de neige, on a visité 25 lieux de mise bas repérés précédemment par télémesure et on a caractérisé la structure physionomique de ces lieux. Sept tanières étaient localisées au sein d'habitats au relief très peu prononcé. Dix-huit tanières, soit 72 p. cent, se trouvaient sur des berges côtières ou fluviales. Ces «berges» étaient identifiables sur des clichés aériens. On a ensuite cherché sur des clichés aériens (n=3000) pris à haute résolution des habitats semblables à ceux des 18 tanières. Sur ces clichés, on a cartographié 1782 km d'habitats de berges appropriés à l'établissement de tanières. Les habitats de berges constituaient 0,18 p. cent de notre zone d'étude entre la rivière Colville et la Tamayariak dans l'Alaska septentrional. La carte finalisée, qui identifiait correctement 88 p. cent de l'habitat contenant des berges propres à l'établissement de tanières dans la région, aidera à minimiser le potentiel de perturbation des tanières d' ourses due aux activités de prospection pétrolière hivernales

Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) give birth during mid-winter in dens of ice and snow. Denning polar bears subjected to human disturbances may abandon dens before their altricial young can survive the rigors of the Arctic winter. Because the Arctic coastal plain of Alaska is an area of high petroleum potential and contains existing and planned oil field developments, the distribution of polar bear dens on the plain is of interest to land managers. Therefore, as part of a study of denning habitats along the entire Arctic coast of Alaska, we examined high-resolution aerial photographs (n = 1655) of the 7994 km2 coastal plain included in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and mapped 3621 km of bank habitat suitable for denning by polar bears. Such habitats were distributed uniformly and comprised 0.29% (23.2 km2) of the coastal plain between the Canning River and the Canadian border. Ground-truth sampling suggested that we had correctly identified 91.5% of bank denning habitats on the ANWR coastal plain. Knowledge of the distribution of these habitats will help facilitate informed management of human activities and minimize disruption of polar bears in maternal dens.Les ours polaires (Ursus maritimus) mettent bas au beau milieu de l’hiver dans des tanières de glace et de neige. Les ours polaires des tanières qui sont la cible de dérangements occasionnés par l’être humain peuvent abandonner leur tanière avant que leurs petits ne soient prêts à survivre les rigueurs de l’hiver de l’Arctique. Puisque la plaine côtière arctique de l’Alaska renferme de grandes possibilités sur le plan pétrolier et comprend des champs pétrolifères mis en valeur ou dont la mise en valeur est planifiée, la répartition des tanières d’ours polaires sur la plaine revêt de l’intérêt chez les gestionnaires des terres. Par conséquent, dans le cadre d’une étude portant sur les habitats des tanières tout le long de la côte arctique de l’Alaska, on a examiné des photographies aériennes de haute résolution (n = 1655) portant sur une superficie de 7994 km2 de la plaine côtière faisant partie de la Réserve faunique nationale de l’Arctique (la Réserve), puis on a cartographié 3621 km d’habitats de berges propices à l’établissement de tanières. Ces habitats étaient répartis de manière uniforme et représentaient 0,29 % (23,2 km2) de la plaine côtière entre la rivière Canning et la frontière canadienne. L’échantillonnage des données de terrain suggérait qu’on avait correctement repéré 91,5 % des habitats de tanières de berges sur la plaine côtière de la Réserve. Le fait de connaître la répartition de ces habitats favorisera une bonne gestion de l’activité humaine et permettra de déranger les ours polaires le moins possible dans leurs tanières maternelles

Simplified Multistep Outflow Method to Estimate Unsaturated Hydraulic Functions for Coarse-Textured Soils

Although the multistep outfl ow (MSO) method is well suited for the estimation of soil hydraulic properties by inverse solution techniques, this method has not been widely adopted because it requires advanced instrumentation and is time consuming. Th e objective of this study was to develop a modifi ed version of the multistep outfl ow technique that largely simplifi es laboratory procedures and reduces costs and time. Th e numerical inversion procedures require applying user-friendly HYDRUS soft ware to estimate fi tting parameters for soil water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curves. Whereas values of saturated water content and saturated hydraulic conductivity must be measured independently, the remaining functional parameters are estimated using an inverse solution of a transient drainage experiment using multiple suction steps and a hanging water column, with drainage outfl ows measured during drainage. A comparison test showed that the simplifi ed experiment without tensiometric measurements provided suffi cient information in the parameter identifi cation compared with a traditional pressure outfl ow experiment with tensiometric measurements for an Oso Flaco sand and a loamy sand fi eld soil in the suction range of 0 to 17 kPa

Distribution and Excretion of TEGDMA in Guinea Pigs and Mice

The monomer triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (TEGDMA) is used as a diluent in many resin-based dental materials. It was previously shown in vitro that TEGDMA was released into the adjacent biophase from such materials during the first days after placement. In this study, the uptake, distribution, and excretion of 14C-TEGDMA applied via gastric, intradermal, and intravenous administration at dose levels well above those encountered in dental care were examined in vivo in guinea pigs and mice as a test of the hypothesis that TEGDMA reaches cytotoxic levels in mammalian tissues. 14C-TEGDMA was taken up rapidly from the stomach and small intestine after gastric administration in both species and was widely distributed in the body following administration by each route. Most 14C was excreted within one day as 14 CO2. The peak equivalent TEGDMA levels in all mouse and guinea pig tissues examined were at least 1000-fold less than known toxic levels. The study therefore did not support the hypothesis

The Acute Physiological Response of Polar Bears to Helicopter Capture

Many wildlife species are live captured, sampled, and released; for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) capture often requires chemical immobilization via helicopter darting. Polar bears reduce their activity for approximately 4 days after capture, likely reflecting stress recovery. To better understand this stress, we quantified polar bear activity (via collar‐mounted accelerometers) and body temperature (via loggers in the body core [Tabd] and periphery [Tper]) during 2–6 months of natural behavior, and during helicopter recapture and immobilization. Recapture induced bouts of peak activity higher than those that occurred during natural behavior for 2 of 5 bears, greater peak Tper for 3 of 6 bears, and greater peak Tabd for 1 of 6 bears. High body temperature (\u3e39.0°C) occurred in Tper for 3 of 6 individuals during recapture and 6 of 6 individuals during natural behavior, and in Tabd for 2 of 6 individuals during recapture and 3 of 6 individuals during natural behavior. Measurements of Tabd and Tper correlated with rectal temperatures measured after immobilization, supporting the use of rectal temperatures for monitoring bear response to capture. Using a larger dataset (n = 66 captures), modeling of blood biochemistry revealed that maximum ambient temperature during recapture was associated with a stress leukogram (7–26% decline in percent lymphocytes, 12–21% increase in percent neutrophils) and maximum duration of helicopter operations had a similar but smaller effect. We conclude that polar bear activity and body temperature during helicopter capture are similar to that which occurs during the most intense events of natural behavior; high body temperature, especially in warm capture conditions, is a key concern; additional study of stress leukograms in polar bears is needed; and additional data collection regarding capture operations would be useful

AWAT3.0 - Präzise Bestimmung von Niederschlags- und Verdunstungsereignissen aus Lysimetermessungen mit Hilfe eines verbesserten Datenfilters

Eine genaue Quantifizierung von Evapotranspirations- (ET) und Niederschlagsraten (P) ist für viele Fragen hinsichtlich des Wasser-, Stoff- und Energiehaushalts im System Boden-Pflanze-Atmosphäre von großer Bedeutung. Moderne wägbare Lysimeter mit hoher zeitlicher Auflösung der Gewichtsmessung bieten die präziseste Information für ET und P. Dabei wird ein Ansteigen der Gesamtmasse als P und ein Abfallen als ET interpretiert. Eine Schwierigkeit bei dieser Interpretation ergibt sich daraus, dass die realen Signale durch Messrauschen (z.B. durch Wind) überlagert werden. Wirkliche Signale können in zwei Schritten von Rauschen getrennt werden: (i) Glättung der Daten (z.B. gleitender Mittelwert) mit einem bestimmten Mittelungsfenster und (ii) Einführung eines Schwellenwertes, als Maß für die Messungenauigkeit, der signifikante von nicht signifikanten Masseänderungen trennt. In den letzten Jahren wurden einige Probleme hinsichtlich dieser Vorgehensweise identifiziert und gelöst. Dazu gehören die adaptive Fensterbreite für die Mittelung und der adaptive Schwellenwert für die Trennung von signifikanten von nicht signifikanten Änderungen (Adaptive Window and Adaptive Threshold - AWAT) und eine Interpolation der so gewonnenen Daten, um stufenförmige Änderungen nach der Schwellenwertberechnung zu vermeiden. Ein bisher nicht gelöstes Problem war die systematische Unterschätzung der Flüsse bei jedem Wechsel in der Fließrichtung (von P zu ET oder ET zu P) als Folge der Schwellenwertberechnung. In diesem Beitrag analysieren wir diesen Fehler und schlagen eine heuristische Lösung, die sogenannte „Snap-Routine“, vor. Anhand von synthetischen Daten wird diese Routine kalibriert und getestet. Anschließend wird sie an realen Daten eines „TERENO-Lysimeters“ angewendet. Der systematische Fehler ist unabhängig von der Quantität eines Ereignisses und damit wird der relative Fehler umso größer je kleiner das Ereignis ist. Bei Tau- oder Reifereignissen kann der Fehler dieselbe Größenordnung wie der Fluss haben. Mit der „Snap-Routine“ wird dieser Fehler effektiv behoben, so dass eine Wiedergabe der Flüsse fast ohne systematischen Effekt möglich ist

Mouse nuclear myosin I knock-out shows interchangeability and redundancy of myosin isoforms in the cell nucleus.

Nuclear myosin I (NM1) is a nuclear isoform of the well-known "cytoplasmic" Myosin 1c protein (Myo1c). Located on the 11(th) chromosome in mice, NM1 results from an alternative start of transcription of the Myo1c gene adding an extra 16 amino acids at the N-terminus. Previous studies revealed its roles in RNA Polymerase I and RNA Polymerase II transcription, chromatin remodeling, and chromosomal movements. Its nuclear localization signal is localized in the middle of the molecule and therefore directs both Myosin 1c isoforms to the nucleus. In order to trace specific functions of the NM1 isoform, we generated mice lacking the NM1 start codon without affecting the cytoplasmic Myo1c protein. Mutant mice were analyzed in a comprehensive phenotypic screen in cooperation with the German Mouse Clinic. Strikingly, no obvious phenotype related to previously described functions has been observed. However, we found minor changes in bone mineral density and the number and size of red blood cells in knock-out mice, which are most probably not related to previously described functions of NM1 in the nucleus. In Myo1c/NM1 depleted U2OS cells, the level of Pol I transcription was restored by overexpression of shRNA-resistant mouse Myo1c. Moreover, we found Myo1c interacting with Pol II. The ratio between Myo1c and NM1 proteins were similar in the nucleus and deletion of NM1 did not cause any compensatory overexpression of Myo1c protein. We observed that Myo1c can replace NM1 in its nuclear functions. Amount of both proteins is nearly equal and NM1 knock-out does not cause any compensatory overexpression of Myo1c. We therefore suggest that both isoforms can substitute each other in nuclear processes