Jellyfish, Forage Fish, and the World\u27s Major Fisheries

A majority of the world’s largest net-based fisheries target planktivorous forage fish that serve as a critical trophic link between the plankton and upper-level consumers such as large predatory fishes, seabirds, and marine mammals. Because the plankton production that drives forage fish also drives jellyfish production, these taxa often overlap in space, time, and diet in coastal ecosystems. This overlap likely leads to predatory and competitive interactions, as jellyfish are effective predators of fish early life stages and zooplankton. The trophic interplay between these groups is made more complex by the harvest of forage fish, which presumably releases jellyfish from competition and is hypothesized to lead to an increase in their production. To understand the role forage fish and jellyfish play as alternate energy transfer pathways in coastal ecosystems, we explore how functional group productivity is altered in three oceanographically distinct ecosystems when jellyfish are abundant and when fish harvest rates are reduced using ecosystem modeling. We propose that ecosystem-based fishery management approaches to forage fish stocks include the use of jellyfish as an independent, empirical “ecosystem health” indicator

Jellyfish, Forage Fish, and the World\u27s Major Fisheries

A majority of the world’s largest net-based fisheries target planktivorous forage fish that serve as a critical trophic link between the plankton and upper-level consumers such as large predatory fishes, seabirds, and marine mammals. Because the plankton production that drives forage fish also drives jellyfish production, these taxa often overlap in space, time, and diet in coastal ecosystems. This overlap likely leads to predatory and competitive interactions, as jellyfish are effective predators of fish early life stages and zooplankton. The trophic interplay between these groups is made more complex by the harvest of forage fish, which presumably releases jellyfish from competition and is hypothesized to lead to an increase in their production. To understand the role forage fish and jellyfish play as alternate energy transfer pathways in coastal ecosystems, we explore how functional group productivity is altered in three oceanographically distinct ecosystems when jellyfish are abundant and when fish harvest rates are reduced using ecosystem modeling. We propose that ecosystem-based fishery management approaches to forage fish stocks include the use of jellyfish as an independent, empirical “ecosystem health” indicator

Prospective Evaluation over 15 Years of Six Breast Cancer Risk Models.

Prospective validation of risk models is needed to assess their clinical utility, particularly over the longer term. We evaluated the performance of six commonly used breast cancer risk models (IBIS, BOADICEA, BRCAPRO, BRCAPRO-BCRAT, BCRAT, and iCARE-lit). 15-year risk scores were estimated using lifestyle factors and family history measures from 7608 women in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study who were aged 50-65 years and unaffected at commencement of follow-up two (conducted in 2003-2007), of whom 351 subsequently developed breast cancer. Risk discrimination was assessed using the C-statistic and calibration using the expected/observed number of incident cases across the spectrum of risk by age group (50-54, 55-59, 60-65 years) and family history of breast cancer. C-statistics were higher for BOADICEA (0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.56-0.62) and IBIS (0.57, 95% CI 0.54-0.61) than the other models (p-difference ≤ 0.04). No model except BOADICEA calibrated well across the spectrum of 15-year risk (p-value < 0.03). The performance of BOADICEA and IBIS was similar across age groups and for women with or without a family history. For middle-aged Australian women, BOADICEA and IBIS had the highest discriminatory accuracy of the six risk models, but apart from BOADICEA, no model was well-calibrated across the risk spectrum.This work was primarily supported by grant 1129136 from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/). MCCS cohort recruitment was funded by Cancer Council Victoria (https://www.cancervic.org.au/) and VicHealth (https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/). The MCCS was further supported by Australian NHMRC grants 209057, 396414 and 1074383, and ongoing follow-up and data management has been funded by Cancer Council Victoria since 1995. Cases and their vital status were ascertained through the Victorian Cancer Registry and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, including the National Death Index and the Australian Cancer Database.TN-D is a recipient of a Career Development Fellowship from the National Breast Cancer Foundation (Australia). JLH and MCS are Senior Principal and Senior Research Fellows of the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), respectively. ACA and AJL are supported by grants from Cancer Research UK (C12292/A20861 and PPRPGM19 Nov20\100002)

Occupational Risks during a Monkeypox Outbreak, Wisconsin, 2003

Veterinary staff were at high risk; standard veterinary infection-control guidelines should be followed

Combined multidimensional single-cell protein and RNA profiling dissects the cellular and functional heterogeneity of thymic epithelial cells

The network of thymic stromal cells provides essential niches with unique molecular cues controlling T cell development and selection. Recent single-cell RNA sequencing studies have uncovered previously unappreciated transcriptional heterogeneity among thymic epithelial cells (TEC). However, there are only very few cell markers that allow a comparable phenotypic identification of TEC. Here, using massively parallel flow cytometry and machine learning, we deconvoluted known TEC phenotypes into novel subpopulations. Using CITEseq, these phenotypes were related to corresponding TEC subtypes defined by the cells’ RNA profiles. This approach allowed the phenotypic identification of perinatal cTEC and their physical localisation within the cortical stromal scaffold. In addition, we demonstrate the dynamic change in the frequency of perinatal cTEC in response to developing thymocytes and reveal their exceptional efficiency in positive selection. Collectively, our study identifies markers that allow for an unprecedented dissection of the thymus stromal complexity, as well as physical isolation of TEC populations and assignment of specific functions to individual TEC subtypes

Evaluating energy flows through jellyfish and gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) and the effects of fishing on the northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem

Fishery management production models tend to stress only the elements directly linked to fish (i.e. fish, fish food, and fish predators). Large coastal jellyfish are major consumers of plankton in heavily fished ecosystems; yet, they are frequently not included as model components. We explore the relationship between gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) and the large scyphozoan jellyfish (Aurelia spp. and Chrysaora sp.), and provide an examination of trophic energy transfer pathways to higher trophic levels in the northern Gulf of Mexico. A trophic network model developed within the ECOPATH framework was transformed to an end-to-end model to map foodweb energy flows. Relative changes in functional group productivity to varying gulf menhaden consumption rates, jellyfish consumption rates, and forage fish (i.e. gulf menhaden, anchovies, and herrings) harvest rates were evaluated within a suite of static, alternative energy-demand scenarios using ECOTRAN techniques. Scenario analyses revealed forage fish harvest enhanced jellyfish productivity, which, in turn, depressed menhaden productivity. Modelled increases in forage fish harvest caused pronounced changes in ecosystem structure, affecting jellyfish, marine birds, piscivorous fish, and apex predators. Menhaden were found to be a more efficient and important energy transfer pathway to higher trophic levels compared with jellyfish. A simulated increase in jellyfish abundance caused the relative production of all model groups to decline. These outcomes suggest that jellyfish blooms and forage fish harvest have demonstrable effects on the structure of the northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.Keywords: Gulf of Mexico, forage fish, ECOPATH, foodweb, ECOTRAN, jellyfish, Gulf menhaden, ecosystem-based fishery management, ecosystem modelKeywords: Gulf of Mexico, forage fish, ECOPATH, foodweb, ECOTRAN, jellyfish, Gulf menhaden, ecosystem-based fishery management, ecosystem mode

Questioning the rise of gelatinous zooplankton in the World's oceans

During the past several decades, high numbers of gelatinous zooplankton species have been reported in many estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Coupled with media-driven public perception, a paradigm has evolved in which the global ocean ecosystems are thought to be heading toward being dominated by “nuisance” jellyfish. We question this current paradigm by presenting a broad overview of gelatinous zooplankton in a historicalcontext to develop the hypothesis that population changes reflect the human-mediated alteration of global ocean ecosystems. To this end, we synthesize information related to the evolutionary context of contemporary gelatinous zooplankton blooms, the human frame of reference forchanges in gelatinous zooplankton populations, and whether sufficient data are available to have established the paradigm. We conclude that the current paradigm in which it is believed that there has been a global increase in gelatinous zooplankton is unsubstantiated, and we develop a strategy for addressing the critical questions about long-term, human-related changes in the sea as they relate to gelatinous zooplankton blooms