Genetic diversity and phenotypic variation within hatchery-produced oyster cohorts predict size and success in the field

The rapid growth of the aquaculture industry to meet global seafood demand offers both risks and opportunities for resource management and conservation. In particular, hatcheries hold promise for stock enhancement and restoration, yet cultivation practices may lead to enhanced variation between populations at the expense of variation within populations, with uncertain implications for performance and resilience. To date, few studies have assessed how production techniques impact genetic diversity and population structure, as well as resultant trait variation in and performance of cultivated offspring. We collaborated with a commercial hatchery to produce multiple cohorts of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) from field-collected broodstock using standard practices. We recorded key characteristics of the broodstock (male : female ratio, effective population size), quantified the genetic diversity of the resulting cohorts, and tested their trait variation and performance across multiple field sites and experimental conditions. Oyster cohorts produced under the same conditions in a single hatchery varied almost twofold in genetic diversity. In addition, cohort genetic diversity was a significant positive predictor of oyster performance traits, including initial size and survival in the field. Oyster cohorts produced in the hatchery had lower within-cohort genetic variation and higher among-cohort genetic structure than adults surveyed from the same source sites. These findings are consistent with “sweepstakes reproduction” in oysters, even when manually spawned. A readily measured characteristic of broodstock, the ratio of males to females, was positively correlated with within-cohort genetic diversity of the resulting offspring. Thus, this metric may offer a tractable way both to meet short-term production goals for seafood demand and to ensure the capacity of hatchery-produced stock to achieve conservation objectives, such as the recovery of self-sustaining wild populations

The Tobacco Dependence Clinic (TDC): Providing Smoking Cessation for a Drug Treatment Population

BACKGROUND: Drug treatment populations are disproportionately affected by tobacco use morbidity and mortality. However, with adequate intervention, individuals in drug treatment settings can succeed in their efforts towards smoking cessation. The Tobacco Dependence Clinic (TDC) is a program that provides smoking cessation counseling and pharmacotherapy for clients through the Addiction Services program of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, British Columbia, Canada. OBJECTIVES: To a) describe smoking cessation services and programs provided by the TDC, and b) evaluate 26 week smoking cessation outcomes of drug treatment clients in the TDC. METHODS: Participants of the TDC program receive a structured 8 week group therapy program, as well as pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. Outcome measures include seven day point prevalence abstinence (validated by expired carbon monoxide), Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) scores, number of cigarettes smoked per day (for non-abstinent participants), patient satisfaction, and relapse to other drug use. RESULTS: At 26 weeks there will be an expected 40% smoking abstinence rate. Non-abstinent smokers will reduce their total cigarettes smoked per day (relative to baseline) and have lower FTND scores. We expect 70% or higher satisfaction with the program. Smoking cessation will not be associated with relapse to drug use. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking cessation among drug treatment patients is an important factor in reducing the harms associated with tobacco use in this population. Drug treatment clients can successfully quit smoking at rates similar to the general population, with no negative impact on their drug use behavior, if given access to intensive treatment program

The Tobacco Dependence Clinic (TDC): Providing smoking cessation for a drug treatment population

BACKGROUND: Drug treatment populations are disproportionately affected by tobacco use morbidity and mortality. However, with adequate intervention, individuals in drug treatment settings can succeed in their efforts towards smoking cessation. The Tobacco Dependence Clinic (TDC) is a program that provides smoking cessation counseling and pharmacotherapy for clients through the Addiction Services program of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, British Columbia, Canada. OBJECTIVES: To a) describe smoking cessation services and programs provided by the TDC, and b) evaluate 26 week smoking cessation outcomes of drug treatment clients in the TDC. METHODS: Participants of the TDC program receive a structured 8 week group therapy program, as well as pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. Outcome measures include seven day point prevalence abstinence (validated by expired carbon monoxide), Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) scores, number of cigarettes smoked per day (for non-abstinent participants), patient satisfaction, and relapse to other drug use. RESULTS: At 26 weeks there will be an expected 40% smoking abstinence rate. Non-abstinent smokers will reduce their total cigarettes smoked per day (relative to baseline) and have lower FTND scores. We expect 70% or higher satisfaction with the program. Smoking cessation will not be associated with relapse to drug use. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking cessation among drug treatment patients is an important factor in reducing the harms associated with tobacco use in this population. Drug treatment clients can successfully quit smoking at rates similar to the general population, with no negative impact on their drug use behavior, if given access to intensive treatment program

The solubility of platinum and gold in NaCl brines at 1.5 kbar, 600 to 800°C: A laser ablation ICP-MS pilot study of synthetic fluid inclusions

The concentration and distribution of Pt and Au in a fluid-melt system has been investigated by reacting the metals with S-free, single-phase aqueous brines (20, 50, 70 wt% eq. NaCl) ± peraluminous melt at a confining pressure of 1.5 kbar and temperatures of 600 to 800 °C, trapping the fluid in synthetic fluid inclusions (quartz-hosted) and vesicles (silicate melt-hosted), and quantifying the metal content of the trapped fluid and glass by laser ablation ICP-MS. HCl concentration was buffered using the assemblage albite-andalusite-quartz and fO2 was buffered using the assemblage Ni-NiO. Over the range of experimental conditions, measured concentrations of Pt and Au in the brines (CPt fluid, CAu fluid) are on on the order of 1-103 ppm. Concentrations of Pt and Au in the melt (CPt melt, CAu melt) are ∼35-100 ppb and ∼400-1200 ppb, respectively. Nernst partition coefficients (DPt fluid/melt, DAu fluid/melt) are on the order of 102-103 and vary as a function of Cmetal fluid (non-Henry's Law behavior). Trapped fluids show a significant range of metal concentrations within populations of inclusions from single experiments (∼ 1 log unit variability for Au; ∼2-3 log unit variability for Pt). Variability in metal concentration within single inclusion groups is attributed to premature brine entrapment (prior to metal-fluid-melt equilibrium being reached); this allows us to make only minimum estimates of metal solubility using metal concentrations from primary inclusions. The data show two trends: (i) maximum and average values of CAu fluid and CPt fluid in inclusions decrease ∼2 orders of magnitude as fluid salinity (m∑Cl fluid) increases from ∼4 to 40 molal (20 to 70 wt % eq. NaCl) at a constant temperature; (ii) maximum and average values of CAu fluid increase approximately 1 order of magnitude for every 100°C increase temperature at a fixed m∑Cl fluid. The observed behavior may be described by the general expression: log (mmetal fluid,T,1.5kbar) = x · log (m∑Cl fluid) - y where x (slope of the solubility curve) is similar for both Au and Pt (-2), and y increases wi

Supplementary Material for: Intraventricular Extension of Supratentorial Intracerebral Hemorrhage: The Modified Graeb Scale Improves Outcome Prediction in Lund Stroke Register

<b><i>Background/Aims:</i></b> The modified Graeb Scale (mGS) is a semi-quantitative method to assess the extension of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The mGS has been shown to prognosticate outcome after ICH in cohorts derived from convenience samples. We evaluated the external validity of mGS in supratentorial ICH-patients from an unselected cohort. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> ICH-patients were included prospectively and consecutively in Lund Stroke Register. Follow-up survival status was obtained from the National Census Office; functional outcome was obtained from the Swedish Stroke Register or medical records. Using multivariate analyses, we examined if mGS was related to 30-day survival or poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale ≥4) at 90 days. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Of 198 supratentorial ICH-patients, 86 (43%) had IVH (median mGS 12, range 1-28). In multivariate regression analyses, the mGS independently predicted 30-day mortality (per point; OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.06-1.27; p = 0.002) and poor functional outcome (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.02-1.20; p = 0.011) after ICH. In receiver-operator characteristic analysis, the addition of mGS tended to be associated with a higher prognostic accuracy for survival (area under curve 0.886 vs. not including mGS 0.812; p = 0.053). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The mGS improves outcome prediction after supratentorial ICH beyond other previously established factors in an unselected population

BOTTOM-UP AND TOP-DOWN INTERACTIONS IN COASTAL INTERFACE SYSTEMS

The land–sea margin encompasses a variety of hard and soft-bottom habitats where organisms are exposed to a dynamic range of aquatic and atmospheric conditions dependent on a rhythm set by the tides. In this chapter, we focus on rocky intertidal and salt marsh ecosystems, which have been extensively studied on many continents. Both rocky shore and salt marsh communities exhibit strong and consistent patterns of intertidal zonation over relatively compressed spatial scales, making them excellent systems for understanding the context-dependency of species interactions. Hard-bottomed rocky intertidal communities are dominated by marine macroalgae and sessile marine invertebrates extending their reach to the furthest edge of the influence of sea spray, while soft-bottomed salt marsh communities are anchored by terrestrial plants with adaptations or tolerance to inundation by salty and brackish waters. Rocky shore communities may be battered by the full force of large ocean waves or gently lapped with seawater on more protected shorelines. In contrast, salt marshes are restricted to quiet waters where sediment accretion by plants is the main mechanism for habitat creation. Both communities may experience very large tidal excursions or only minimal ones, depending on the local dynamics of the tides, with corresponding consequences for the spatial extent of these communities across the shoreline. The steep environmental gradients and distinctive biological zonation patterns that characterize both rocky shore and salt marsh ecosystems (Fig. 7.1) have provided ecologists with accessible and highly tractable ecosystems for investigating the role of bottom-up and top-down factors along environmental gradients

The modified graeb score: an enhanced tool for intraventricular hemorrhage measurement and prediction of functional outcome

&lt;p&gt;Background and Purpose—Simple and rapid measures of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) volume are lacking. We developed and validated a modification of the original Graeb scale to facilitate rapid assessment of IVH over time.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Methods—We explored the relationship between the modified Graeb scale (mGS), original Graeb scale, measured IVH volume, and outcome using data from the Clot Lysis: Evaluating Accelerated Resolution of Hemorrhage with rtPA B (CLEAR B) study. We also explored its reliability. We then evaluated the relationship between mGS and outcome in a large sample of participants with IVH using data contained within the Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive (VISTA). We defined outcome using the modified Rankin scale (&#62;3 signifying poor outcome).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Results—The CLEAR B study included 360 scans from 36 subjects. The mGS score and IVH volume were highly correlated (R = 0.80, P&#60;0.0001, R2 0.65). Baseline mGS was predictive of poor outcome (area under receiving operating characteristic curve 0.74, 95% confidence interval, 0.57–0.91), whereas the original Graeb scale was not. The VISTA study included 399 participants. Each unit increase in the mGS led to a 12% increase in the odds of a poor outcome (odds ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.05–1.19). Measures of reliability (intra- and inter- reader) were good in both studies.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conclusions—The mGS, a semiquantitative scale for IVH volume measurement, is a reliable measure with prognostic validity suitable for rapid use in clinical practice and in research.&lt;/p&gt

Genetic and epigenetic differentiation across intertidal gradients in the foundation plant Spartina alterniflora

This record contains supplementary information for the article "Genetic and epigenetic differentiation across intertidal gradients in the foundation plant Spartina alterniflora". It contains the barcodes (barcodes.txt), the reference contigs (contigs.fasta.gz), the annotation of the reference contigs (mergedAnnot.csv.gz), the SNPs (snps.vcf.gz), the methylation data (methylation.txt.gz), and the experimental design (design.txt). All data are unfiltered. All reads are available on SRA (PRJNA798549). Note that the barcode sequences and the control nucleotide were already removed from the demultiplexed files (hence, for each sample, reads are also split into "watson" and "crick" based on the control nucleotide)