The yellow European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) may adopt a sedentary lifestyle in inland freshwaters

We analysed the movements of the growing yellow phase using a long-term mark–recapture programme on European eels in a small catchment (the Frémur, France). The results showed that of the yellow eels (>200 mm) recaptured, more than 90% were recaptured at the original marking site over a long period before the silvering metamorphosis and downstream migration. We conclude that yellow European eels >200 mm may adopt a sedentary lifestyle in freshwater area, especially in small catchment

A genome-wide gene-environment interaction study of breast cancer risk for women of European ancestry

Background Genome-wide studies of gene–environment interactions (G×E) may identify variants associated with disease risk in conjunction with lifestyle/environmental exposures. We conducted a genome-wide G×E analysis of ~ 7.6 million common variants and seven lifestyle/environmental risk factors for breast cancer risk overall and for estrogen receptor positive (ER +) breast cancer. Methods Analyses were conducted using 72,285 breast cancer cases and 80,354 controls of European ancestry from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Gene–environment interactions were evaluated using standard unconditional logistic regression models and likelihood ratio tests for breast cancer risk overall and for ER + breast cancer. Bayesian False Discovery Probability was employed to assess the noteworthiness of each SNP-risk factor pairs. Results Assuming a 1 × 10–5 prior probability of a true association for each SNP-risk factor pairs and a Bayesian False Discovery Probability < 15%, we identified two independent SNP-risk factor pairs: rs80018847(9p13)-LINGO2 and adult height in association with overall breast cancer risk (ORint = 0.94, 95% CI 0.92–0.96), and rs4770552(13q12)-SPATA13 and age at menarche for ER + breast cancer risk (ORint = 0.91, 95% CI 0.88–0.94). Conclusions Overall, the contribution of G×E interactions to the heritability of breast cancer is very small. At the population level, multiplicative G×E interactions do not make an important contribution to risk prediction in breast cancer

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Characterizing Sedimentary Outcrops with Laser Scanning: Applied to Cretaceous deep marine limestone-marl sequences in the Vocontian Basin, France

The traditional approach to studying and characterizing exposed, sedimentary, or layered, rock outcrops has depended on both the experience of the geologist involved and on the accessibility of the rock surfaces themselves. Morphological characterization of an outcrop, such as its layered rock orientation and thicknesses, are features that can be measured by hand or with 3D instrumentation such as a total station or GNSS. However, these methods can be time consuming when the scale of the outcrop is tens of meters large and the tall outcrops themselves block GNSS signal. The terrestrial laser scanner is a device thatmeasures line-of-sight distances to create a 3D point cloud representation of the target, an outcrop in this case. It can collectmillions of points in just minutes with millimeter accuracy. If the same characterization features are to be measured, quantifiable orientation and thicknesses values need to be estimated from this 3D point cloud. A semi-automatic work flow has been developed to extract these values and to represent them in a 3D virtual environment. The work flow contains various algorithm steps for extracting sedimentary layers from an outcrop. The algorithms were developed in Matlab on a 5 x 5 m sample section of the La Charce outcrop, a sedimentary outcrop in the study region with well-defined bedding layers. The local surface normals of the points in this section were calculated, grouped, and then filtered to extract points only belonging to the tops of bedding layers. Planes were fit to these grouped ’top’ points and estimated values for the dip and dip direction (layer orientation) and exposed layer thicknesses were calculated from the planes. Based on hand measurements taken in the field of these same parameters, the algorithms estimated values fall within one standard deviation of orientation field measurements, and may actually be more precise considering a more complete outcrop containing unreachable surfaces was used in the algorithm calculations. Thickness estimates from the field varied greatly (20¡300cm) and are dependent on the exact locations the measurements were taken (algorithm estimates fall within this range, regardless). Close-range three dimensional measurement data from terrestrial laser scanning has proved to provide adequate information for estimating morphological features of rock outcrops. This means that, in addition to traditional field measurements, laser scanning be used to both validate and gain possibly more precise insight to the true geometry of a sedimentary outcrop. It is a relatively fast and simple method that ’brings’ the outcrop back into the laboratory for a repeatable, more detailed analysis. This developed method, fully functional for the La Charce sample outcrop, demonstrates a viable road map for extracting morphological features from 3D point clouds of sedimentary rock outcrops.Civil Engineering and GeosciencesGeoscience and Remote Sensin

EXPERIMENTAL DRIFTS OF JUVENILE SALMONIDS THROUGH EFFLUENT DISCHARGES AT HANFORD. PART II. 1969 DRIFTS AND CONCLUSIONS.

South Side ParkKosciuszko Reds vs. Peters Union Giants Game. A Reds Team Member. / Harrison And S. 5th St.(Formerly Harrison And Grove, South Side Park).Grayscal