The 27–year decline of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef and its causes

This study investigates the spatial and temporal dynamics of coral cover, identifies the main drivers of coral mortality, and quantifies the rates of potential recovery of the Great Barrier Reef.The world’s coral reefs are being degraded, and the need to reduce local pressures to offset the effects of increasing global pressures is now widely recognized. This study investigates the spatial and temporal dynamics of coral cover, identifies the main drivers of coral mortality, and quantifies the rates of potential recovery of the Great Barrier Reef. Based on the world’s most extensive time series data on reef condition (2,258 surveys of 214 reefs over 1985–2012), we show amajor decline in coral cover from 28.0%to 13.8% (0.53%y−1), a loss of 50.7% of initial coral cover. Tropical cyclones, coral predation by crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), and coral bleaching accounted for 48%, 42%,and 10%of the respective estimated losses,amounting to 3.38% y−1 mortality rate. Importantly, the relatively pristine northern region showed no overall decline. The estimated rate of increase in coral cover in the absence of cyclones, COTS, and bleaching was 2.85%y−1, demonstrating substantial capacity for recovery of reefs. In the absence of COTS, coral cover would increase at 0.89% y−1, despite ongoing losses due to cyclones and bleaching. Thus, reducing COTS populations, by improvingwater quality and developing alternative control measures, could prevent further coral decline and improve the outlook for the Great Barrier Reef. Such strategies can, however, only be successful if climatic conditions are stabilized, as losses due to bleaching and cyclones will otherwise increase. Image: Wibble_Roisin / flick

Reef state and performance as indicators of cumulative impacts on coral reefs

Coral bleaching, cyclones, outbreaks of crown-of-thorns seastar, and reduced water quality (WQ) threaten the health and resilience of coral reefs. The cumulative impacts from multiple acute and chronic stressors on “reef State” (i.e., total coral cover) and “reef Performance” (i.e., the deviation from expected rate of total coral cover increase) have rarely been assessed simultaneously, despite their management relevance. We evaluated the dynamics of coral cover (total and per morphological groups) in the Central and Southern Great Barrier Reef over 25 years, and identified and compared the main environmental drivers of State and Performance at the reef level (i.e. based on total coral cover) and per coral group. Using a combination of 25 environmental metrics that consider both the frequency and magnitude of impacts and their lagged effects, we find that the stressors that correlate with State differed from those correlating with Performance. Importantly, we demonstrate that WQ metrics better predict Performance than State. Further, inter-annual dynamics in WQ (here available for a subset of the data) improved the explanatory power of WQ metrics on Performance over long-term WQ averages. The lagged effects of cumulative acute stressors, and to a lesser extent poor water quality, correlated negatively with the Performance of some but not all coral groups. Tabular Acropora and branching non-Acropora were the most affected by water quality demonstrating that group-specific approaches aid in the interpretation of monitoring data and can be crucial for the detection of the impact of chronic pressures. We highlight the complexity of coral reef dynamics and the need of evaluating Performance metrics in order to prioritise local management interventions

Genetic, Maternal and Placental Factors in the Association between Birth Weight and Physical Fitness: A Longitudinal Twin Study

Background Adult cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength are related to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Both are possibly related to birth weight, but it is unclear what the importance is of genetic, maternal and placental factors in these associations. Design Peak oxygen uptake and measures of strength, flexibility and balance were obtained yearly during adolescence (10–18 years) in 114 twin pairs in the Leuven Longitudinal Twin Study. Their birth weights had been collected prospectively within the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey. Results We identified linear associations between birth weight and adolescent vertical jump (b = 1.96 cm per kg birth weight, P = 0.02), arm pull (b = 1.85 kg per kg birth weight P = 0.03) and flamingo balance (b = −1.82 attempts to stand one minute per kg birth weight, P = 0.03). Maximum oxygen uptake appeared to have a U-shaped association with birth weight (the smallest and largest children had the lowest uptake, P = 0.01), but this association was no longer significant after adjustment for parental BMI. Using the individual twin’s deviation from his own twin pair’s average birth weight, we found positive associations between birth weight and adolescent vertical jump (b = 3.49, P = 0.0007) and arm pull (b = 3.44, P = 0.02). Δ scores were calculated within the twin pairs as first born twin minus second born twin. Δ birth weight was associated with Δ vertical jump within MZ twin pairs only (b = 2.63, P = 0.009), which indicates importance of placental factors. Conclusions We found evidence for an association between adolescent physical performance (strength, balance and possibly peak oxygen uptake) and birth weight. The associations with vertical jump and arm pull were likely based on individual, more specifically placental (in the case of vertical jump) factors. Our results should be viewed as hypothesis-generating and need confirmation, but potentially support preventive strategies to optimize birth weight, for example via placental function, to target later fitness and health

Lavoro totale

Le componenti culturali, creative e relazionali investono in modo crescente gli ambiti dell’innovazione sociale e dell’auto-imprenditorialità e come tali vengono ampiamente studiate, ma è solo spostando l’attenzione dalle varietà del lavoro cognitivo alle forze che lo determinano che possiamo tentare di cogliere e interpretare la dinamica del cambiamento in atto. Apprendimento continuo, autonomia, responsabilità, flessibilità, individualizzazione, svalorizzazione e cooperazione diventano così traiettorie di sviluppo del lavoro e non contingenze di alcuni settori o fenomeni. Analizzare le strutture che fondano l’attuale condizione del lavoro cognitivo nei campi dell’innovazione sociale e dell’auto-imprenditorialità può allora aiutarci a comprendere le forze sottostanti ai processi di riorganizzazione del lavoro in atto. L’urgenza e l’originalità di questo libro di Maurizio Busacca consistono nell’analisi di queste strutture, cercando di rintracciare ed evidenziare contraddizioni e distorsioni prima di accettare acriticamente e astoricamente le retoriche più diffuse e dirompenti, e indagando la struttura di fondo del lavoro cognitivo, nella sua dinamica storica e esistenziale, attraverso il concetto di Lavorototale-Improduttivitàmalata. Il lavoro totale si profila come una delle forme di vita economica e sociale, ma anche di patologia individuale, che già contraddistingue nel presente il lavoro cognitivo e minaccia di estendersi a settori sempre più ampi nell’immediato futuro. L’improduttività malata è il suo risvolto, o il fratello gemello. Questo libro di Maurizio Busacca ne indaga i meccanismi, anche alla luce del magistero di Franco Basaglia, e mentre ne denuncia i pericoli cerca di individuare possibili alternative o vie d’uscita

Defective Lamin A-Rb Signaling in Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome and Reversal by Farnesyltransferase Inhibition

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is a rare premature aging disorder caused by a de novo heterozygous point mutation G608G (GGC>GGT) within exon 11 of LMNA gene encoding A-type nuclear lamins. This mutation elicits an internal deletion of 50 amino acids in the carboxyl-terminus of prelamin A. The truncated protein, progerin, retains a farnesylated cysteine at its carboxyl terminus, a modification involved in HGPS pathogenesis. Inhibition of protein farnesylation has been shown to improve abnormal nuclear morphology and phenotype in cellular and animal models of HGPS. We analyzed global gene expression changes in fibroblasts from human subjects with HGPS and found that a lamin A-Rb signaling network is a major defective regulatory axis. Treatment of fibroblasts with a protein farnesyltransferase inhibitor reversed the gene expression defects. Our study identifies Rb as a key factor in HGPS pathogenesis and suggests that its modulation could ameliorate premature aging and possibly complications of physiological aging

Expertise in surgical neuro-oncology. Results of a survey by the EANS neuro-oncology section

Introduction: Technical advances and the increasing role of interdisciplinary decision-making may warrant formal definitions of expertise in surgical neuro-oncology. Research question: The EANS Neuro-oncology Section felt that a survey detailing the European neurosurgical perspective on the concept of expertise in surgical neuro-oncology might be helpful. Material and methods: The EANS Neuro-oncology Section panel developed an online survey asking questions regarding criteria for expertise in neuro-oncological surgery and sent it to all individual EANS members. Results: Our questionnaire was completed by 251 respondents (consultants: 80.1%) from 42 countries. 67.7% would accept a lifetime caseload of >200 cases and 86.7% an annual caseload of >50 as evidence of neuro-oncological surgical expertise. A majority felt that surgeons who do not treat children (56.2%), do not have experience with spinal fusion (78.1%) or peripheral nerve tumors (71.7%) may still be considered experts. Majorities believed that expertise requires the use of skull-base approaches (85.8%), intraoperative monitoring (83.4%), awake craniotomies (77.3%), and neuro-endoscopy (75.5%) as well as continuing education of at least 1/year (100.0%), a research background (80.0%) and teaching activities (78.7%), and formal interdisciplinary collaborations (e.g., tumor board: 93.0%). Academic vs. non-academic affiliation, career position, years of neurosurgical experience, country of practice, and primary clinical interest had a minor influence on the respondents’ opinions. Discussion and conclusion: Opinions among neurosurgeons regarding the characteristics and features of expertise in neuro-oncology vary surprisingly little. Large majorities favoring certain thresholds and qualitative criteria suggest a consensus definition might be possible

Genome-wide analysis of dental caries and periodontitis combining clinical and self-reported data

Dental caries and periodontitis account for a vast burden of morbidity and healthcare spending, yet their genetic basis remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we identify self-reported dental disease proxies which have similar underlying genetic contributions to clinical disease measures and then combine these in a genome-wide association study meta-analysis, identifying 47 novel and conditionally-independent risk loci for dental caries. We show that the heritability of dental caries is enriched for conserved genomic regions and partially overlapping with a range of complex traits including smoking, education, personality traits and metabolic measures. Using cardio-metabolic traits as an example in Mendelian randomization analysis, we estimate causal relationships and provide evidence suggesting that the processes contributing to dental caries may have undesirable downstream effects on health