Overfishing Drives Over One-Third of All Sharks and Rays Toward a Global Extinction Crisis

The scale and drivers of marine biodiversity loss are being revealed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment process. We present the first global reassessment of 1,199 species in Class Chondrichthyes-sharks, rays, and chimeras. The first global assessment (in 2014) concluded that one-quarter (24%) of species were threatened. Now, 391 (32.6%) species are threatened with extinction. When this percentage of threat is applied to Data Deficient species, more than one-third (37.5%) of chondrichthyans are estimated to be threatened, with much of this change resulting from new information. Three species are Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), representing possibly the first global marine fish extinctions due to overfishing. Consequently, the chondrichthyan extinction rate is potentially 25 extinctions per million species years, comparable to that of terrestrial vertebrates. Overfishing is the universal threat affecting all 391 threatened species and is the sole threat for 67.3% of species and interacts with three other threats for the remaining third: loss and degradation of habitat (31.2% of threatened species), climate change (10.2%), and pollution (6.9%). Species are disproportionately threatened in tropical and subtropical coastal waters. Science-based limits on fishing, effective marine protected areas, and approaches that reduce or eliminate fishing mortality are urgently needed to minimize mortality of threatened species and ensure sustainable catch and trade of others. Immediate action is essential to prevent further extinctions and protect the potential for food security and ecosystem functions provided by this iconic lineage of predators

'Ain't it a Ripping Night': Alcoholism and the Legacies of Empire in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children.

In the era of decolonisation that followed the Second World War, various authors sought to engage with India and the Empire’s past anew throughout their novels, identifying medicine and illness as key parts of Imperial authority and colonial experience. Salman Rushdie’s approach to the Raj in Midnight’s Children (1981) focused on the broad sweep of colonial life, juxtaposing the political and the personal. This article argues that Rushdie explores the history of colonial India by employing alcohol and alcoholism as lenses through which to explore the cultural, political and medical legacies of Empire. Through analysis of Midnight’s Children as well as a range of medical sources related to alcohol and inebriation, it will illustrate how drinking is central to Rushdie’s approach to secular and religious identities in newly independent India, as well as a means of satirising and undermining the supposed benefit that Empire presented to India and Indians

Leptin Does Not Directly Affect CNS Serotonin Neurons to Influence Appetite

Serotonin (5-HT) and leptin play important roles in the modulation of energy balance. Here we investigated mechanisms by which leptin might interact with CNS 5-HT pathways to influence appetite. Although some leptin receptor (LepRb) neurons lie close to 5-HT neurons in the dorsal raphe (DR), 5-HT neurons do not express LepRb. Indeed, while leptin hyperpolarizes some non-5-HT DR neurons, leptin does not alter the activity of DR 5-HT neurons. Furthermore, 5-HT depletion does not impair the anorectic effects of leptin. The serotonin transporter-cre allele (Sert(cre)) is expressed in 5-HT (and developmentally in some non-5-HT) neurons. While Sert(cre) promotes LepRb excision in a few LepRb neurons in the hypothalamus, it is not active in DR LepRb neurons, and neuron-specific Sert(cre)-mediated LepRb inactivation in mice does not alter body weight or adiposity. Thus, leptin does not directly influence 5-HT neurons and does not meaningfully modulate important appetite-related determinants via 5-HT neuron function

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Radiopaque, Iodine Functionalized, Phenylalanine-Based Poly(ester urea)s

The synthesis and characterization of iodine-functionalized phenylalanine-based poly­(ester urea)­s (PEUs) are reported. 4-Iodo-l-phenylalanine and l-phenylalanine were separately reacted with 1,6-hexanediol to produce two monomers, bis-4-I-l-phenylalanine-1,6-hexanediol-diester (1-IPHE-6 monomer) and bis-l-phenylalanine-1,6-hexanediol-diester (1-PHE-6 monomer). By varying the feed ratio of the 1-IPHE-6 and 1-PHE-6 monomers, the copolymer composition was modulated resulting in a wide variation in thermal, mechanical and radiopacity properties. Microcomputed tomography (μ-CT) projections demonstrate that increasing iodine content results in greater X-ray contrast. Compression tests of dry and wet porous scaffolds indicate that the poly­(1-IPHE-6)_0.24-<i>co</i>-poly­(1-PHE-6)_0.76 material results in the highest compression modulus. MC3T3 cell viability and spreading studies show PEUs are nontoxic to cells. As most medical device procedures require placement verification via fluoroscopic imaging, materials that possess inherent X-ray contrast are valuable for a number of applications

Radiopaque, Iodine Functionalized, Phenylalanine-Based Poly(ester urea)s

The synthesis and characterization of iodine-functionalized phenylalanine-based poly­(ester urea)­s (PEUs) are reported. 4-Iodo-l-phenylalanine and l-phenylalanine were separately reacted with 1,6-hexanediol to produce two monomers, bis-4-I-l-phenylalanine-1,6-hexanediol-diester (1-IPHE-6 monomer) and bis-l-phenylalanine-1,6-hexanediol-diester (1-PHE-6 monomer). By varying the feed ratio of the 1-IPHE-6 and 1-PHE-6 monomers, the copolymer composition was modulated resulting in a wide variation in thermal, mechanical and radiopacity properties. Microcomputed tomography (μ-CT) projections demonstrate that increasing iodine content results in greater X-ray contrast. Compression tests of dry and wet porous scaffolds indicate that the poly­(1-IPHE-6)_0.24-<i>co</i>-poly­(1-PHE-6)_0.76 material results in the highest compression modulus. MC3T3 cell viability and spreading studies show PEUs are nontoxic to cells. As most medical device procedures require placement verification via fluoroscopic imaging, materials that possess inherent X-ray contrast are valuable for a number of applications

Radiopaque, Iodine Functionalized, Phenylalanine-Based Poly(ester urea)s

The synthesis and characterization of iodine-functionalized phenylalanine-based poly­(ester urea)­s (PEUs) are reported. 4-Iodo-l-phenylalanine and l-phenylalanine were separately reacted with 1,6-hexanediol to produce two monomers, bis-4-I-l-phenylalanine-1,6-hexanediol-diester (1-IPHE-6 monomer) and bis-l-phenylalanine-1,6-hexanediol-diester (1-PHE-6 monomer). By varying the feed ratio of the 1-IPHE-6 and 1-PHE-6 monomers, the copolymer composition was modulated resulting in a wide variation in thermal, mechanical and radiopacity properties. Microcomputed tomography (μ-CT) projections demonstrate that increasing iodine content results in greater X-ray contrast. Compression tests of dry and wet porous scaffolds indicate that the poly­(1-IPHE-6)_0.24-<i>co</i>-poly­(1-PHE-6)_0.76 material results in the highest compression modulus. MC3T3 cell viability and spreading studies show PEUs are nontoxic to cells. As most medical device procedures require placement verification via fluoroscopic imaging, materials that possess inherent X-ray contrast are valuable for a number of applications

Hepatic Oleate Regulates Insulin-like Growth Factor-Binding Protein 1 Partially through the mTORC1-FGF21 Axis during High-Carbohydrate Feeding

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1) catalyzes the rate-liming step of monounsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis and is a key regulator of systemic glucose metabolism. Mice harboring either a global (GKO) or liver-specific deletion (LKO) of Scd1 display enhanced insulin signaling and whole-body glucose uptake. Additionally, GKO and LKO mice are protected from high-carbohydrate diet-induced obesity. Given that high-carbohydrate diets can lead to chronic metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hepatic steatosis, it is critical to understand how Scd1 deficiency confers metabolically beneficial phenotypes. Here we show that insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 (IGFBP1), a hepatokine that has been reported to enhance insulin signaling, is significantly elevated in the liver and plasma of GKO and LKO mice fed a low-fat high-carbohydrate diet. We also observed that the expression of hepatic Igfbp1 is regulated by oleic acid (18:1n9), a product of SCD1, through the mTORC1-FGF21 axis both in vivo and in vitro

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Report 22

Report on the status of Hawaiian insular false killer whales in relation to the Endangered Species Act and its status evaluation