Development of a Kemp\u27s Ridley Sea Turtle Stock Assessment Model

We developed a Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) stock assessment model to evaluate the relative contributions of conservation efforts and other factors toward this critically endangered species’ recovery. The Kemp’s ridley demographic model developed by the Turtle Expert Working Group (TEWG) in 1998 and 2000 and updated for the binational recovery plan in 2011 was modified for use as our base model. The TEWG model uses indices of the annual reproductive population (number of nests) and hatchling recruitment to predict future annual numbers of nests on the basis of a series of assumptions regarding age and maturity, remigration interval, sex ratios, nests per female, juvenile mortality, and a putative ‘‘turtle excluder device effect’’ multiplier starting in 1990. This multiplier was necessary to fit the number of nests observed in 1990 and later. We added the effects of shrimping effort directly, modified by habitat weightings, as a proxy for all sources of anthropogenic mortality. Additional data included in our model were incremental growth of Kemp’s ridleys marked and recaptured in the Gulf of Mexico, and the length frequency of stranded Kemp’s ridleys. We also added a 2010 mortality factor that was necessary to fit the number of nests for 2010 and later (2011 and 2012). Last, we used an empirical basis for estimating natural mortality, on the basis of a Lorenzen mortality curve and growth estimates. Although our model generated reasonable estimates of annual total turtle deaths attributable to shrimp trawling, as well as additional deaths due to undetermined anthropogenic causes in 2010, we were unable to provide a clear explanation for the observed increase in the number of stranded Kemp’s ridleys in recent years, and subsequent disruption of the species’ exponential growth since the 2009 nesting season. Our consensus is that expanded data collection at the nesting beaches is needed and of high priority, and that 2015 be targeted for the next stock assessment to evaluate the 2010 event using more recent nesting and in-water data

Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study of Topical 5% Acyclovir-1% Hydrocortisone Cream (ME-609) for Treatment of UV Radiation-Induced Herpes Labialis

Immunopathology is recognized as an important component of infectious disease manifestations, and corticosteroids have been used as an adjunct to antimicrobial therapy for a variety of conditions. Antiviral therapy of herpes labialis has been shown to result in only a small reduction in the time to healing and the duration of pain. To determine if topical application of a combination product containing 5% acyclovir and 1% hydrocortisone (ME-609) could provide benefit to herpes labialis patients, 380 immunocompetent adults with a history of herpes labialis were exposed to experimental UV radiation (UVR) to induce a recurrence. On day 2, just before the appearance of the majority of lesions (“delayed” lesions), subjects were randomized to receive active medication or vehicle control six times per day for 5 days. Overall, 120 of 380 patients developed delayed classical lesions, of whom 50 of 190 (26%) had been treated with ME-609 and 70 of 190 (37%) had received placebo (a reduction of 29% [P = 0.02]). Healing time, measured as the time to normal skin, was reduced by treatment with ME-609 (9.0 days for treated patients versus 10.1 days for the controls [P = 0.04]). There was a trend toward a reduction in the maximum lesion size in the ME-609 recipients compared to that in the controls (43 versus 60 mm(2), respectively [P = 0.07]). The treatment had no effect on lesion pain, but ME-609 treatment reduced the number of patients with moderate or severe tenderness. Compared to treatment with a placebo, treatment with the combination antiviral-immunomodulatory cream provided benefit to patients with experimental UVR-induced herpes labialis, reducing classical lesion incidence, healing time, lesion size, and lesion tenderness. ME-609 is a novel product that merits further evaluation as a treatment for cold sores