The impact of predation by marine mammals on Patagonian toothfish longline fisheries

Predatory interaction of marine mammals with longline fisheries is observed globally, leading to partial or complete loss of the catch and in some parts of the world to considerable financial loss. Depredation can also create additional unrecorded fishing mortality of a stock and has the potential to introduce bias to stock assessments. Here we aim to characterise depredation in the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) fishery around South Georgia focusing on the spatio-temporal component of these interactions. Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), and orcas (Orcinus orca) frequently feed on fish hooked on longlines around South Georgia. A third of longlines encounter sperm whales, but loss of catch due to sperm whales is insignificant when compared to that due to orcas, which interact with only 5% of longlines but can take more than half of the catch in some cases. Orca depredation around South Georgia is spatially limited and focused in areas of putative migration routes, and the impact is compounded as a result of the fishery also concentrating in those areas at those times. Understanding the seasonal behaviour of orcas and the spatial and temporal distribution of “depredation hot spots” can reduce marine mammal interactions, will improve assessment and management of the stock and contribute to increased operational efficiency of the fishery. Such information is valuable in the effort to resolve the human-mammal conflict for resources

Out of the Pacific and Back Again: Insights into the Matrilineal History of Pacific Killer Whale Ecotypes

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are the most widely distributed marine mammals and have radiated to occupy a range of ecological niches. Disparate sympatric types are found in the North Atlantic, Antarctic and North Pacific oceans, however, little is known about the underlying mechanisms driving divergence. Previous phylogeographic analysis using complete mitogenomes yielded a bifurcating tree of clades corresponding to described ecotypes. However, there was low support at two nodes at which two Pacific and two Atlantic clades diverged. Here we apply further phylogenetic and coalescent analyses to partitioned mitochondrial genome sequences to better resolve the pattern of past radiations in this species. Our phylogenetic reconstructions indicate that in the North Pacific, sympatry between the maternal lineages that make up each ecotype arises from secondary contact. Both the phylogenetic reconstructions and a clinal decrease in diversity suggest a North Pacific to North Atlantic founding event, and the later return of killer whales to the North Pacific. Therefore, ecological divergence could have occurred during the allopatric phase through drift or selection and/or may have either commenced or have been consolidated upon secondary contact due to resource competition. The estimated timing of bidirectional migration between the North Pacific and North Atlantic coincided with the previous inter-glacial when the leakage of fauna from the Indo-Pacific into the Atlantic via the Agulhas current was particularly vigorous

Geographic range did not confer resilience to extinction in terrestrial vertebrates at the end-Triassic crisis

Rates of extinction vary greatly through geological time, with losses particularly concentrated in mass extinctions. Species duration at other times varies greatly, but the reasons for this are unclear. Geographical range correlates with lineage duration amongst marine invertebrates, but it is less clear how far this generality extends to other groups in other habitats. It is also unclear whether a wide geographical distribution makes groups more likely to survive mass extinctions. Here we test for extinction selectivity amongst terrestrial vertebrates across the end-Triassic event. We demonstrate that terrestrial vertebrate clades with larger geographical ranges were more resilient to extinction than those with smaller ranges throughout the Triassic and Jurassic. However, this relationship weakened with increasing proximity to the end-Triassic mass extinction, breaking down altogether across the event itself. We demonstrate that these findings are not a function of sampling biases; a perennial issue in studies of this kind

A Schwarz lemma for K\"ahler affine metrics and the canonical potential of a proper convex cone

This is an account of some aspects of the geometry of K\"ahler affine metrics based on considering them as smooth metric measure spaces and applying the comparison geometry of Bakry-Emery Ricci tensors. Such techniques yield a version for K\"ahler affine metrics of Yau's Schwarz lemma for volume forms. By a theorem of Cheng and Yau there is a canonical K\"ahler affine Einstein metric on a proper convex domain, and the Schwarz lemma gives a direct proof of its uniqueness up to homothety. The potential for this metric is a function canonically associated to the cone, characterized by the property that its level sets are hyperbolic affine spheres foliating the cone. It is shown that for an $n$-dimensional cone a rescaling of the canonical potential is an $n$-normal barrier function in the sense of interior point methods for conic programming. It is explained also how to construct from the canonical potential Monge-Amp\`ere metrics of both Riemannian and Lorentzian signatures, and a mean curvature zero conical Lagrangian submanifold of the flat para-K\"ahler space.Comment: Minor corrections. References adde

Predatory capacity of a shorefly, Ochthera chalybescens, on malaria vectors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since <it>Ochthera chalybescens </it>had been reported to prey on African malaria vectors, the predatory capacity of adults of this species on <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>sensu stricto was explored.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Predatory capacity of this fly on <it>A. gambiae </it>s.s. was tested at all developmental stages, including the adult stage in the laboratory setting. Effects of water depth on its predatory capacity were also examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This study revealed that <it>O. chalybescens </it>preyed on mosquitoes at all life stages except eggs. It was able to prey on an average of 9.8 to 18.8 mosquito larvae in 24 hrs. Mosquito larva size and water depth did not affect predatory capacity. However, the predacious fly preyed on significantly more 2^nd-instar larvae than on pupae when larvae and pupae were both available.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>Ochthera chalybescens </it>is, by all indications, an important predator of African malaria vectors.</p

Epidemic infectious gastrointestinal illness aboard U.S. Navy ships deployed to the Middle East during peacetime operations – 2000–2001

BACKGROUND: Infectious gastrointestinal illness (IGI) outbreaks have been reported in U.S. Navy ships and could potentially have an adverse mission impact. Studies to date have been anecdotal. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of weekly reported disease and non-battle injury health data collected in 2000 – 2001 from 44 U.S. Navy ships while sailing in the 5(th )Fleet (Persian Gulf and nearby seas). RESULTS: During this period, 11 possible IGI outbreaks were identified. Overall, we found 3.3 outbreaks per 100 ship-weeks, a mean outbreak duration of 4.4 weeks, and a mean cumulative ship population attack rate of 3.6%. Morbidity, represented by days lost due to personnel being placed on sick-in-quarters status, was higher during outbreak weeks compared to non-outbreak weeks (p = 0.002). No clear seasonal distribution was identified. CONCLUSION: Explosive outbreaks due to viruses and bacteria with the potential of incapacitating large proportions of the crew raise serious concerns of mission impact and military readiness

Use of dietary supplements by cardiologists, dermatologists and orthopedists: report of a survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dietary supplements are regularly used by a majority of the American population, and usage by health professionals is also common. There is considerable interest in usage patterns within the population and in the reasons for using dietary supplements. The "Life...supplemented" Healthcare Professionals 2008 Impact Study (HCP Impact Study) surveyed usage of dietary supplements by physicians in three specialties: cardiology, dermatology, and orthopedics.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The HCP Impact Study was conducted online by Ipsos Public Affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a trade association of the dietary supplement industry. Respondents were 900 physicians, including 300 each from three specialties - cardiology, dermatology, and orthopedics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifty-seven percent of cardiologists said they use dietary supplements at least occasionally, as did 75% of dermatologists and 73% of orthopedists. The product most commonly reported to be used was a multivitamin, but over 25% in each specialty said they used omega-3 fatty acids and over 20% said they used some botanical supplements. Regular dietary supplement use was reported by 37% of cardiologists, 59% of dermatologists, and 50% of orthopedists. Seventy-two percent of cardiologists, 66% of dermatologists, and 91% of orthopedists reported recommending dietary supplements to their patients. The primary reason given for recommending dietary supplements to patients was for heart health or lowering cholesterol for the cardiologists; benefits for skin, hair and nails for the dermatologists; and bone and joint health for the orthopedists.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Reported dietary supplement use was relatively common in this sample of physicians, and when they recommended dietary supplements to patients, they tended to do so for reasons related to their specialty.</p

Vocalisations of Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) in the Bremer Canyon, Western Australia

To date, there has been no dedicated study in Australian waters on the acoustics of killer whales. Hence no information has been published on the sounds produced by killer whales from this region. Here we present the first acoustical analysis of recordings collected off the Western Australian coast. Underwater sounds produced by Australian killer whales were recorded during the months of February and March 2014 and 2015 in the Bremer Canyon in Western Australia. Vocalisations recorded included echolocation clicks, burst-pulse sounds and whistles. A total of 28 hours and 29 minutes were recorded and analysed, with 2376 killer whale calls (whistles and burst-pulse sounds) detected. Recordings of poor quality or signal-to-noise ratio were excluded from analysis, resulting in 142 whistles and burst-pulse vocalisations suitable for analysis and categorisation. These were grouped based on their spectrographic features into nine Bremer Canyon (BC) "call types". The frequency of the fundamental contours of all call types ranged from 600 Hz to 29 kHz. Calls ranged from 0.05 to 11.3 seconds in duration. Biosonar clicks were also recorded, but not studied further. Surface behaviours noted during acoustic recordings were categorised as either travelling or social behaviour. A detailed description of the acoustic characteristics is necessary for species acoustic identification and for the development of passive acoustic tools for population monitoring, including assessments of population status, habitat usage, migration patterns, behaviour and acoustic ecology. This study provides the first quantitative assessment and report on the acoustic features of killer whales vocalisations in Australian waters, and presents an opportunity to further investigate this little-known population

Invasive lobular carcinoma with extracellular mucin production and HER-2 overexpression: a case report and further case studies

Invasive lobular carcinomas (ILC) of breast typically demonstrate intracytoplasmic mucin. We present a unique case of classical type ILC with abundant extracellular mucin and strong ERBB2 (HER2/neu) expression confirmed by immunohistochemistry and fluorescent in situ hybridization. Dual E-cadherin/p120 immunohistochemical stain demonstrated complete loss of membranous E-cadherin and the presence of diffuse cytoplasmic p120 staining, confirming the lobular phenotype. The tumor cells showed ductal-like cytoplasmic MUC1 staining, but were negative for MUC2 and other mucin gene markers. In addition, studies of tissue microarrays of 80 breast carcinomas with mucinous differentiation revealed 4 pure mucinous carcinomas showing significantly reduced E-cadherin staining without redistribution of p120 into cytoplasm. The findings suggest that the presence of extracellular mucin does not exclude a diagnosis of lobular carcinoma, and the morphologic and molecular characteristics of lobular and ductal carcinomas are more complex than previously appreciated