REPRODUCTIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF WALLEYE (Sander vitreus) AND LAKE WHITEFISH (Coregonus clupeaformis) IN TATHLINA LAKE, NT

Tathlina Lake, NT is an ecologically and culturally important lake to the Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation and supports a small commercial fishery for walleye (Sander vitreus) and a subsistence fishery for lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). The community is concerned about existing fluctuations in the fish populations. They are also concerned with environmental pressures, including potential future oil and gas development in the near-by Cameron Hills and climate change, and desires to institute long-range biomonitoring in the lake. Male and female adult walleye and lake whitefish, in pre- and post-spawning conditions, were collected biannually in March and August between 2012 and 2016. General health assessment measures included: liversomatic index (LSI), gonadosomatic index (GSI), condition factor and fecundity. Additionally, gonadal and plasma hormone levels were measured to assess reproductive status and determine if seasonal steroid variations can be detected in both plasma and gonadal tissue. In March, pre-spawning female and male walleye exhibited greater LSI, GSI, fecundity and reproductive hormone levels [17β-estradiol (E2) in females and 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) in males], and unchanged condition factors relative to post-spawning in August. In August, pre-spawning male and female lake whitefish exhibited lower LSI, greater GSI, fecundity and E2 and 11-KT levels, and unchanged condition factors relative to post-spawning in March. Among years, morphometric endpoints were relatively stable within months and reproductive stage and exhibited less variability than hormone levels. Critical effects sizes (CES), which represent natural variability in endpoints, were calculated in order to indicate current ranges of measured variables; fluctuations below or above CES could indicate the presence of environmental pressures on the system and can now be used by the community as the foundation of their long-term biomonitoring protocols. It is recommended that the community focus its long-term biomonitoring on measuring fish condition factor, LSI and GSI biennially (every-other-year) during both pre- and post-spawning seasons using a CES-based approach and that it expand the number of lakes sampled in the region to better represent natural variability and, therefore, enhance the ability to detect change in the region

Draft Genome Sequences of Two Strains of Xanthomonas arboricola pv. celebensis Isolated from Banana Plants.

Published onlineWe report here the annotated draft genome sequences of strains Xanthomonas arboricola pv. celebensis NCPPB 1832 and NCPPB 1630 (NCPPB, National Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria), both isolated from Musa species in New Zealand. This will allow the comparison of genomes between phylogenetically distant xanthomonads that have independently converged with the ability to colonize banana plants.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) provided funding to James Harrison. James Harrison was supported by a Ph.D. studentship from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication

Long-distance dispersal via ocean currents connects Omani clownfish populations throughout entire species range.

notes: PMCID: PMC4167857types: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tOpen-access articleDispersal is a crucial ecological process, driving population dynamics and defining the structure and persistence of populations. Measuring demographic connectivity between discreet populations remains a long-standing challenge for most marine organisms because it involves tracking the movement of pelagic larvae. Recent studies demonstrate local connectivity of reef fish populations via the dispersal of planktonic larvae, while biogeography indicates some larvae must disperse 100-1000 s kilometres. To date, empirical measures of long-distance dispersal are lacking and the full scale of dispersal is unknown. Here we provide the first measure of long-distance dispersal in a coral reef fish, the Omani clownfish Amphiprion omanensis, throughout its entire species range. Using genetic assignment tests we demonstrate bidirectional exchange of first generation migrants, with subsequent social and reproductive integration, between two populations separated by over 400 km. Immigration was 5.4% and 0.7% in each region, suggesting a biased southward exchange, and matched predictions from a physically-coupled dispersal model. This rare opportunity to measure long-distance dispersal demonstrates connectivity of isolated marine populations over distances of 100 s of kilometres and provides a unique insight into the processes of biogeography, speciation and adaptation.NERCRoyal Society ExchangeEPHE Fellowshi

Draft Genome Sequence of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae ALF3 Isolated from Alfalfa.

Published onlineWe report here the annotated draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae strain ALF3, isolated in Wyoming. A comparison of this genome sequence with those of closely related strains of P. syringae adapted to other hosts will facilitate research into interactions between this pathogen and alfalfa.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) provided funding to James Harrison. Funding was also provided by USDA-ARS CRIS project 5062-12210- 002-00D

Radium-223 chloride: a potential new treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer patients with metastatic bone disease

Michael R Harrison, Terence Z Wong, Andrew J Armstrong, Daniel J GeorgeDuke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC, USABackground: Radium-223 chloride (223Ra; Alpharadin) is an alpha-emitting radioisotope that targets areas of osteoblastic metastasis and is excreted by the small intestine. When compared with beta-emitters (eg, strontium-89, samarium-153), 223Ra delivers a high quantity of energy per track length with short tissue penetration.Objective: This review describes the mechanism, radiobiology, and preclinical development of 223Ra and discusses the clinical data currently available regarding its safety and efficacy profile.Methods: Data from clinical trials including abstracts were collected and reviewed using the PubMed Database, as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology abstract database.Conclusion: Current bone-targeted therapies fall into two main categories: antiresorptive agents (eg, zoledronic acid, denosumab), which have been shown to delay skeletal-related events, and radiopharmaceuticals (eg, samarium-153), which may have a role in pain palliation. Historically, neither antiresorptive agents nor radiopharmaceuticals have shown definitive evidence of improved overall survival or other antitumor effects in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Radiopharmaceuticals are limited by myelosuppresion, thrombocytopenia, and renal excretion. In a recently reported randomized Phase III trial in men with symptomatic bone-metastatic CRPC who had received or were ineligible for docetaxel chemotherapy, 223Ra treatment resulted in improved overall survival and delayed skeletal-related events. Toxicity consisted of minor gastrointestinal side effects and mild neutropenia and thrombocytopenia that were rarely severe. Pending regulatory approval, 223Ra may represent a unique and distinct option for an important subgroup of patients with mCRPC; future trials should address its use in combination or in sequence with existing and novel agents.Keywords: Alpharadin, 223Ra, radium-223, radionuclide therapy, metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer, bone metastase

a supplementary tool for improving bed nets universal coverage campaign in Mozambique

BACKGROUND: WhatsApp (WA) is the most recent and attractive applicative among Smartphone users. The use of WA in healthcare environment has been shown of multiple benefices. Mozambique team involved in 2017 bed nets universal coverage campaign (UCC) implemented a distant mentoring strategy using WA. This study aims to perform a descriptive analysis of the use of WA as a supplementary tool for mentoring provincial and district health teams during bed nets universal coverage campaign in Mozambique. METHODS: Using WA, a qualitative study was carried out between March and July 2017. Seven WA groups were created. One group for central-level team, and six groups corresponding to each implementation province. The WA content was analyzed, grouped into separate themes, and subject to information triangulation among researchers and group participants. Saturation guided the quantity and quality of information. RESULTS: A total of 511 members were included in all WA groups. Of these, 96% were provincial WA groups. A total of 24,897 messages (text and images) were exchanged in all WA groups. The main communication form was text (22,660-91%), followed by images (2237-9%). Five themes emerged from content analyses: 1) administrative/financial, 2) logistic, 3) planning and implementation, 4) monitoring and evaluation, and 5) best practice. CONCLUSIONS: The use of WA during universal coverage bed nets campaign implementation in Mozambique fostered central-level coordination, providing implementation support to district and provincial teams, and promoting wider and timely information sharing among group members.publishersversionpublishe

Socioeconomic deprivation, urban-rural location and alcohol-related mortality in England and Wales

Background: Many causes of death are directly attributable to the toxic effects of alcohol and deaths from these causes are increasing in the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to investigate variation in alcohol-related mortality in relation to socioeconomic deprivation, urban-rural location and age within a national context. Methods: An ecological study design was used with data from 8797 standard table wards in England and Wales. The methodology included using the Carstairs Index as a measure of socioeconomic deprivation at the small-area level and the national harmonised classification system for urban and rural areas in England and Wales. Alcohol-related mortality was defined using the National Statistics definition, devised for tracking national trends in alcohol-related deaths. Deaths from liver cirrhosis accounted for 85% of all deaths included in this definition. Deaths from 1999-2003 were examined and 2001 census ward population estimates were used as the denominators. Results: The analysis was based on 28,839 deaths. Alcohol-related mortality rates were higher in men and increased with increasing age, generally reaching peak levels in middle-aged adults. The 45-64 year age group contained a quarter of the total population but accounted for half of all alcohol-related deaths. There was a clear association between alcohol-related mortality and socioeconomic deprivation, with progressively higher rates in more deprived areas. The strength of the association varied with age. Greatest relative inequalities were seen amongst people aged 25-44 years, with relative risks of 4.73 (95% CI 4.00 to 5.59) and 4.24 (95% CI 3.50 to 5.13) for men and women respectively in the most relative to the least deprived quintiles. People living in urban areas experienced higher alcohol-related mortality relative to those living in rural areas, with differences remaining after adjustment for socioeconomic deprivation. Adjusted relative risks for urban relative to rural areas were 1.35 (95% CI 1.20 to 1.52) and 1.13 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.25) for men and women respectively. Conclusions: Large inequalities in alcohol-related mortality exist between sub-groups of the population in England and Wales. These should be considered when designing public health policies to reduce alcohol-related harm

Mapping the disease-specific LupusQoL to the SF-6D

Purpose To derive a mapping algorithm to predict SF-6D utility scores from the non-preference-based LupusQoL and test the performance of the developed algorithm on a separate independent validation data set. Method LupusQoL and SF-6D data were collected from 320 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) attending routine rheumatology outpatient appointments at seven centres in the UK. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to estimate models of increasing complexity in order to predict individuals’ SF-6D utility scores from their responses to the LupusQoL questionnaire. Model performance was judged on predictive ability through the size and pattern of prediction errors generated. The performance of the selected model was externally validated on an independent data set containing 113 female SLE patients who had again completed both the LupusQoL and SF-36 questionnaires. Results Four of the eight LupusQoL domains (physical health, pain, emotional health, and fatigue) were selected as dependent variables in the final model. Overall model fit was good, with R2 0.7219, MAE 0.0557, and RMSE 0.0706 when applied to the estimation data set, and R2 0.7431, MAE 0.0528, and RMSE 0.0663 when applied to the validation sample. Conclusion This study provides a method by which health state utility values can be estimated from patient responses to the non-preference-based LupusQoL, generalisable beyond the data set upon which it was estimated. Despite concerns over the use of OLS to develop mapping algorithms, we find this method to be suitable in this case due to the normality of the SF-6D data

Visual attention, EEG alpha power and T7-Fz connectivity are implicated in prosthetic hand control and can be optimized through gaze training

Background Prosthetic hands impose a high cognitive burden on the user that often results in fatigue, frustration and prosthesis rejection. However, efforts to directly measure this burden are sparse and little is known about the mechanisms behind it. There is also a lack of evidence-based training interventions designed to improve prosthesis hand control and reduce the mental effort required to use them. In two experiments, we provide the first direct evaluation of this cognitive burden using measurements of EEG and eye-tracking (Experiment 1), and then explore how a novel visuomotor intervention (gaze training; GT) might alleviate it (Experiment 2). Methods In Experiment 1, able-bodied participants (n = 20) lifted and moved a jar, first using their anatomical hand and then using a myoelectric prosthetic hand simulator. In experiment 2, a GT group (n = 12) and a movement training (MT) group (n = 12) trained with the prosthetic hand simulator over three one hour sessions in a picking up coins task, before returning for retention, delayed retention and transfer tests. The GT group received instruction regarding how to use their eyes effectively, while the MT group received movement-related instruction typical in rehabilitation. Results Experiment 1 revealed that when using the prosthetic hand, participants performed worse, exhibited spatial and temporal disruptions to visual attention, and exhibited a global decrease in EEG alpha power (8-12 Hz), suggesting increased cognitive effort. Experiment 2 showed that GT was the more effective method for expediting prosthesis learning, optimising visual attention, and lowering conscious control – as indexed by reduced T7-Fz connectivity. Whilst the MT group improved performance, they did not reduce hand-focused visual attention and showed increased conscious movement control. The superior benefits of GT transferred to a more complex tea-making task. Conclusions These experiments quantify the visual and cortical mechanisms relating to the cognitive burden experienced during prosthetic hand control. They also evidence the efficacy of a GT intervention that alleviated this burden and promoted better learning and transfer, compared to typical rehabilitation instructions. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for prosthesis rehabilitation, the development of emerging prosthesis technologies and for the general understanding of human-tool interactions