The effects of light and temperature on grazing patterns of Douglas Lake snails.

General EcologyThe purpose of this study was to determine if varying light or temperature conditions influence the grazing rates of Elimia livescens. We expected to see increased grazing rates with greater temperatures and with greater light exposure. E. livescens were collected from the littoral zone in South Fishtail Bay of Douglas Lake near Pellston, Michigan, and individually placed into pint sized jars with lake water and one algae-covered rock. We used environmental chambers to simulate six 24-hour light and temperature treatments. Statistical tests between the mean area grazed in light treatments, as well as temperature treatments, showed significant results. Additional tests also yielded significant results, showing that E. livescens were more likely to be found grazing at the end of the 24-hour period in longer light periodicities and higher temperatures. From these results, we were able to conclude that E. livescens grazed the most in settings with longer light exposure and higher temperatures. We were also able to determine that in darker and colder conditions E. livescens are less likely to graze.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95918/1/Fate_Fey_Hoffman_Sudheendra_2012.pd

New algal diversity records for the Lake of the Clouds, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Michigan.

PhycologyThe Lake of the Clouds, located within the Porcupine Mountains and two miles away from Lake Superior, is a famous vista site of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Michigan. Even though several fishery surveys have been released by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on the lake in the 1940s, no known algal studies have been conducted. The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park has a relatively small level of anthropogenic disturbances compared to other regions around the Great Lakes, which makes the site appealing for algal studies. This paper reports the exploratory research done by the professors and students at the University of Michigan Biological Station on the algal diversity of the Lake of the Clouds. In this study, 7 algal divisions were observed. The inventory showed that, based on number of genera recorded, the green algae (Chlorophyta) is much more diverse than the other algal divisions in Lake of the Clouds. A significant number of diatom (Bacillariophyta) species were also observed, though omitted from this paper for future analysis and identification. A total of 88 genera (excluding Bacillariophyta genera) and 34 species were identified. This rich list of algal taxa is only the first step in exploring the algal diversity, microhabitats, and ecosystem of the Lake of the Clouds. The diversity of algae found in this study suggest that further algal research needs to be conducted on the Lake of the Clouds.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95920/1/Anderson_Fate_Hsieh_Kim_Lazarus_2012.pd

Integrated assessment of oyster reef ecosystem services: Fish and crustacean utilization and trophic linkages

Using a regression design that encompassed the continuum of oyster reef biomass density in Harris Creek, MD, from unrestored reefs to those restored reefs with the greatest oyster biomass, we examined finfish and crustacean utilization of these habitats. Of the eight sites studied, three had not been subject to any restoration activities and five had been planted in 2012 with juvenile oysters set on oyster shell. All sites were sampled in April, June, August, and October 2015. During each sampling period, we assessed abundance, total length and biomass of finfish and examined gut contents to assess the diets of selected finfish species. Of the species collected that were likely to use reefs as habitat or a foraging ground, only striped bass and white perch were sufficiently abundant to support robust statistical analyses. Regression analyses found no clear relationship between oyster biomass density and catch per unit effort, total length or biomass for striped bass or white perch. Analyses of the effects of sampling period and restoration status (restored versus non-restored sites) on fish utilization frequently found an effect of sampling period but rarely found an effect of restoration status. In all cases where differences were detected, they suggested greater utilization of non-restored sites. Overall, data were sparse and the power of statistical analyses was low. Analyses of striped bass and white perch diets suggest that they are using oyster reefs as a foraging ground. Although comparisons of the proportion of striped bass and white perch that contained prey in their stomachs found no difference between those caught on restored sites versus non-restored sites, gut contents of both species contained prey taxa that are likely more abundant on restored oyster reefs than nonrestored sites. As a percentage of total prey wet weight, polychaete worms were the most important component of striped bass diets in both April (50%) and August (47%). Of the polychaete worms identifiable to species, 100% were Alitta succinea, a species found in much greater abundance and biomass on restored oyster reefs than on comparable non-restored sites (Kellogg et al. 2013, Rodney and Paynter 2006). White perch diets were dominated by the ascidian Molgula manhattensis (52%), a species generally found in greater abundance on hard substrates including oyster reefs. Of the identifiable species of fish found in the stomachs of striped bass, 93% by weight were naked gobies (Gobiosoma bosc) or striped blennies (Chasmodes bosquianus), two species found in greater abundance and biomass on restored oyster reefs than nonrestored sites in Chesapeake Bay (Kellogg et al. 2013, Rodney and Paynter 2006). For white perch, naked gobies accounted for 95% of the identifiable fish species by weight. Direct comparisons of white perch and striped bass diets to the prey fields at each sampling site will be conducted as part of a companion project also funded by NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (Award #: NA13NMF4570209: Integrated assessment of oyster reef ecosystem services: Macrofaunal utilization, secondary production and nutrient sequestration). This companion project will also provide data on abundance, biomass and distribution of small, reef-associated species including naked gobies, striped blennies, and oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau)

Fitness Determinants of Influenza A Viruses

Influenza A (IAV) is a major human respiratory pathogen that causes illness, hospitalizations, and mortality annually worldwide. IAV is also a zoonotic pathogen with a multitude of hosts, allowing for interspecies transmission, reassortment events, and the emergence of novel pandemics, as was seen in 2009 with the emergence of a swine-origin H1N1 (pdmH1N1) virus into humans, causing the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century. While the 2009 pandemic was considered to have high morbidity and low mortality, studies have linked the pdmH1N1 virus and its gene segments to increased disease in humans and animal models. Genetic components of the pdmH1N1 virus currently circulate in the swine population, reassorting with endemic swine viruses that co-circulate and occasionally spillover into humans. This is evidenced by the regular detection of variant swine IAVs in humans associated with state fairs and other intersections of humans and swine. Defining genetic changes that support species adaptation, virulence, and cross-species transmission, as well as mutations that enhance or attenuate these features, will improve our understanding of influenza biology. It aids in surveillance and virus risk assessment and guides the establishment of counter measures for emerging viruses. Here, we review the current understanding of the determinants of specific IAV phenotypes, focusing on the fitness, transmission, and virulence determinants that have been identified in swine IAVs and/or in relation to the 2009 pdmH1N1 virus

In and out of the well: flux and reflux of scepticism and nature

The article tries to capture the style of Hume's scepticism and to offer hints on its nature as a process. Hume wrote that "If truth be at all within the reach of human capacity, 'tis certain it must lie very deep and abstruse", and that "Philosophy would render us entirely Pyrrhonian, were not nature too strong for it". The article considers these expressions of scepticism, their sources and their double-edged structure throughout Hume's works, and shows that philosophical scepticism, insofar as it is an abstruse philosophy, can only be intermittent

SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids

This work was supported by grants of the German Research Foundation (DFG: KR 4073/11-1; SFBTRR219, 322900939; and CRU344, 428857858, and CRU5011 InteraKD 445703531), a grant of the European Research Council (ERC-StG 677448), the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF NUM-COVID19, Organo-Strat 01KX2021), the Dutch Kidney Foundation (DKF) TASK FORCE consortium (CP1805), the Else Kroener Fresenius Foundation (2017_A144), and the ERA-CVD MENDAGE consortium (BMBF 01KL1907) all to R.K.; DFG (CRU 344, Z to I.G.C and CRU344 P2 to R.K.S.); and the BMBF eMed Consortium Fibromap (to V.G.P, R.K., R.K.S., and I.G.C.). R.K.S received support from the KWF Kankerbestrijding (11031/2017–1, Bas Mulder Award) and a grant by the ERC (deFiber; ERC-StG 757339). J.J. is supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO Veni grant no: 091 501 61 81 01 36) and the DKF (grant no. 19OK005). B.S. is supported by the DKF (grant: 14A3D104) and the NWO (VIDI grant: 016.156.363). R.P.V.R. and G.J.O. are supported by the NWO VICI (grant: 16.VICI.170.090). P.B. is supported by the BMBF (DEFEAT PANDEMIcs, 01KX2021), the Federal Ministry of Health (German Registry for COVID-19 Autopsies-DeRegCOVID, www.DeRegCOVID.ukaachen.de; ZMVI1-2520COR201), and the German Research Foundation (DFG; SFB/TRR219 Project-IDs 322900939 and 454024652). S.D. received DFG support (DJ100/1-1) as well as support from VGP and TBH (SFB1192). M.d.B,R.R., N.S., and A.A. are supported by an ERC Advanced Investigator grant (H2020-ERC-2017-ADV-788982-COLMIN) to N.S. A.A. is supported by the NWO (VI.Veni.192.094). We thank Saskia de Wildt, Jeanne Pertijs (Radboudumc, Department of Pharmacology), and Robert M. Verdijk (Erasmus Medical Center, Department of Pathology) for providing tissue controls (Erasmus MC Tissue Bank) and Christian Drosten (Charite´ Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Institute of € Virology) and Bart Haagmans (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam) for providing the SARS-CoV-2 isolate. We thank Kioa L. Wijnsma (Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Amalia Children’s Hospital, Radboud University Medical Center) for support with statistical analysis regarding the COVID-19 patient cohort.Peer reviewedPublisher PD