Sessile and mobile components of a benthic ecosystem display mixed trends within a temperate marine reserve

Despite recent efforts to increase the global coverage of marine protected areas (MPAs), studies investigating the effectiveness of marine protected areas within temperate waters remain scarce. Furthermore, out of the few studies published on MPAs in temperate waters, the majority focus on specific ecological or fishery components rather than investigating the ecosystem as a whole. This study therefore investigated both the dynamics of benthic communities as well as fish populations within a recently established, fully protected marine reserve in Lamlash Bay, Isle of Arran, United Kingdom, over a four year period. A combination of photo and diver surveys revealed live maerl (Phymatolithon calcareum), macroalgae, sponges, hydroids, feather stars and eyelash worms (Myxicola infundibulum) to be significantly more abundant within the marine reserve than on surrounding fishing grounds. Likewise, the overall composition of epifaunal communities in and outside the reserve was significantly different. Both results are consistent with the hypothesis that protecting areas from fishing can encourage seafloor habitats to recover. In addition, the greater abundance of complex habitats within the reserve appeared to providing nursery habitat for juvenile cod (Gadus morhua) and scallops (Pecten maximus and Aequipecten opercularis). In contrast, there was little difference in the abundance of mobile benthic fauna, such as crabs and starfish, between the reserve and outside. Similarly, the use of baited underwater video cameras revealed no difference in the abundance and size of fish between the reserve and outside. Limited recovery of these ecosystem components may be due to the relatively small size (2.67 km2) and young age of the reserve (< 5 years), both of which might have limited the extent of any benefits afforded to mobile fauna and fish communities. Overall, this study provides evidence that fully protected marine reserves can encourage seafloor habitats to recover, which in turn, can create a number of benefits that flow back to other species, including those of commercial importance

Trade-offs in marine protection : Multi-species interactions within a community-led temperate marine reserve

This study investigated the effects of a community-led temperate marine reserve in Lamlash Bay, Firth of Clyde, Scotland, on commercially important populations of European lobster (Homarus gammarus), brown crab (Cancer pagurus), and velvet swimming crabs (Necora puber). Potting surveys conducted over 4 years revealed significantly higher catch per unit effort (cpue 109% greater), weight per unit effort (wpue 189% greater), and carapace length (10-15 mm greater) in lobsters within the reserve compared with control sites. However, likely due to low levels of recruitment and increased fishing effort outside the reserve, lobster catches decreased in all areas during the final 2 years. Nevertheless, catch rates remained higher within the reserve across all years, suggesting the reserve buffered these wider declines. Additionally, lobster cpue and wpue declined with increasing distance from the boundaries of the marine reserve, a trend which tag-recapture data suggested were due to spillover. Catches of berried lobster were also twice as high within the reserve than outside, and the mean potential reproductive output per female was 22.1% greater. It was originally thought that higher densities of lobster within the reserve might lead to greater levels of aggression and physical damage. However, damage levels were solely related to body size, as large lobsters >110 mm had sustained over 218% more damage than smaller individuals. Interestingly, catches of adult lobsters were inversely correlated with those of juvenile lobsters, brown crabs, and velvet crabs, which may be evidence of competitive displacement and/or predation. Our findings provide evidence that temperate marine reserves can deliver fisheries and conservation benefits, and highlight the importance of investigating multispecies interactions, as the recovery of some species can have knock-on effects on others

Sleep disorders among Aboriginal Australians with Machado-Joseph Disease: Quantitative results from a multiple methods study to assess the experience of people living with the disease and their caregivers

Objective: To investigate frequency and characteristics of sleep disorders and their association with health-related quality of life and psychosocial wellbeing for Aboriginal Australians living with MJD. Methods: A convenience sample of MJD participants n = 24 participated in a semi-attended, ambulatory diagnostic sleep study to capture polysomnography, actigraphy and sleep diary data. Self-report measures collected were the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), STOP-BANG Questionnaire for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group rating scale (IRLS), Kessler-5 (K5) and EuroQoL-5 Dimension (EQ5D). Caregivers (n = 22) reported EQ-5D, K5 and bed partners’ sleep behaviour (Mayo Sleep Questionnaire-Informant). Environmental factors were measured. Results: We observed Nocturia, Sleep Related Leg Cramps, OSA, REM Behaviour Disorder, and RLS, respectively in 100%, 71%, 47%, 43%, and 33% of participants with a significant positive correlation between Body mass index (BMI) and Apnoea hypopnea index (AHI). The majority of sleep was spent in non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM)-N2 stage (77.8% (67.7, 81.6)). Overcrowding (92%) and overnight care needs (42%) interrupted sleep. MJD participants and caregivers reported high psychological distress (K5 median 12.5 IQR 7, 16.5 & 8 IQR 6, 12 respectively). Conclusion: Poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances are prevalent among this cohort. Disease manifestations and environmental factors are driving factors. Larger sample sizes are required to predict risk factors and confirm observed associations

Marine Conservation Begins at Home : How a Local Community and Protection of a Small Bay Sent Waves of Change Around the UK and Beyond

The Firth of Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland, was once one of the most productive fishing grounds in Europe. However, successive decades of poor management and overfishing led to a dramatic loss of biodiversity and the collapse of finfish fisheries. In response, concerned local residents on the Isle of Arran, which lies in the middle of the Clyde, formed the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) in 1995. After 13 years of campaigning, a small (2.67 km2) area in Lamlash Bay became Scotland’s first no-take zone (NTZ) in 2008, and only the second in the UK. Since protection, biodiversity has increased substantially, along with the size, age and density of commercially important species such as the king scallop, Pecten maximus, and the European lobster, Homarus gammarus. Arguably more important, however, is the influence the Lamlash Bay NTZ and COAST have had on UK marine protection in general. Most notably, detailed research has created a case study that clearly demonstrates the benefits of protection in an area where little such evidence is available. This case has been used repeatedly to support efforts for increased protection of UK waters to help rebuild marine ecosystems and enhance their resilience in an uncertain future. In Scotland specifically, lobbying by COAST led to the designation of a much larger marine protected area (MPA, >250 km2) around the south of Arran, one of 30 new MPAs in the country. Evidence from Lamlash Bay has supported development of strong protection for these MPAs, seeing off lobbyist efforts to weaken management. Arran’s conservation success has been recognized internationally and is inspiring greater involvement of local communities around the UK, and further afield, to take the destiny of their coastal waters into their own hands. Successful marine conservation begins at home

Assessing the impact of nitrogen supplementation in oats across multiple growth locations and years with targeted phenotyping and high-resolution metabolite profiling approaches

Oats (Avena sativa L.) are a healthy food, being high in dietary fibre (e.g. β-glucans), antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. Understanding the effect of variety and crop management on nutritional quality is important. The response of four oat varieties to increased nitrogen levels was investigated across multiple locations and years with respect to yield, grain quality and metabolites (assessed via GC- and LC- MS). A novel high-resolution UHPLC-PDA-MS/MS method was developed, providing improved metabolite enrichment, resolution, and identification. The combined phenotyping approach revealed that, amino acid levels were increased by nitrogen supplementation, as were total protein and nitrogen containing lipid levels, whereas health-beneficial avenanthramides were decreased. Although nitrogen addition significantly increased grain yield and β-glucan content, supporting increasing the total nitrogen levels recommended within agricultural guidelines, oat varietal choice as well as negative impacts upon health beneficial secondary metabolites and the environmental burdens associated with nitrogen fertilisation, require further consideration

Fine-mapping of the HNF1B multicancer locus identifies candidate variants that mediate endometrial cancer risk.

Common variants in the hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 homeobox B (HNF1B) gene are associated with the risk of Type II diabetes and multiple cancers. Evidence to date indicates that cancer risk may be mediated via genetic or epigenetic effects on HNF1B gene expression. We previously found single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the HNF1B locus to be associated with endometrial cancer, and now report extensive fine-mapping and in silico and laboratory analyses of this locus. Analysis of 1184 genotyped and imputed SNPs in 6608 Caucasian cases and 37 925 controls, and 895 Asian cases and 1968 controls, revealed the best signal of association for SNP rs11263763 (P = 8.4 × 10(-14), odds ratio = 0.86, 95% confidence interval = 0.82-0.89), located within HNF1B intron 1. Haplotype analysis and conditional analyses provide no evidence of further independent endometrial cancer risk variants at this locus. SNP rs11263763 genotype was associated with HNF1B mRNA expression but not with HNF1B methylation in endometrial tumor samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Genetic analyses prioritized rs11263763 and four other SNPs in high-to-moderate linkage disequilibrium as the most likely causal SNPs. Three of these SNPs map to the extended HNF1B promoter based on chromatin marks extending from the minimal promoter region. Reporter assays demonstrated that this extended region reduces activity in combination with the minimal HNF1B promoter, and that the minor alleles of rs11263763 or rs8064454 are associated with decreased HNF1B promoter activity. Our findings provide evidence for a single signal associated with endometrial cancer risk at the HNF1B locus, and that risk is likely mediated via altered HNF1B gene expression

PHD2 inactivation in Type I cells drives HIF‐2α‐dependent multilineage hyperplasia and the formation of paraganglioma‐like carotid bodies

The carotid body is a peripheral chemoreceptor that plays a central role in mammalian oxygen homeostasis. In response to sustained hypoxia, it manifests a rapid cellular proliferation and an associated increase in responsiveness to hypoxia. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these processes is of interest both to specialized chemoreceptive functions of that organ and, potentially, to the general physiology and pathophysiology of cellular hypoxia. We have combined cell lineage tracing technology and conditionally inactivated alleles in recombinant mice to examine the role of components of the HIF hydroxylase pathway in specific cell types within the carotid body. We show that exposure to sustained hypoxia (10% oxygen) drives rapid expansion of the Type I, tyrosine hydroxylase expressing cell lineage, with little transdifferentiation to (or from) that lineage. Inactivation of a specific HIF isoform, HIF‐2α, in the Type I cells was associated with a greatly reduced proliferation of Type I cells and hypoxic ventilatory responses, with ultrastructural evidence of an abnormality in the action of hypoxia on dense core secretory vesicles. We also show that inactivation of the principal HIF prolyl hydroxylase PHD2 within the Type I cell lineage is sufficient to cause multilineage expansion of the carotid body, with characteristics resembling paragangliomas. These morphological changes were dependent on the integrity of HIF‐2α. These findings implicate specific components of the HIF hydroxylase pathway (PHD2 and HIF‐2α) within Type I cells of the carotid body with respect to the oxygen sensing and adaptive functions of that organLudwig Institute for Cancer Research Wellcome Trust. Grant Numbers: 106241/Z/14/Z, FC001501 Cancer Research UK. Grant Number: FC001501 UK Medical Research Council. Grant Number: FC00150

Clinical and transcriptomic features of persistent exacerbation-prone severe asthma in U-BIOPRED cohort

Background: Exacerbation-prone asthma is a feature of severe disease. Yet, the basis for its persistency remains unclear. Objectives: To determine the clinical and transcriptomic features of the frequent-exacerbator (FE) and of persistent FEs (PFE) in U-BIOPRED cohort. Methods: We compared features of FE (≥2 exacerbations in past year) to infrequent exacerbators (IE, <2 exacerbations) and of PFE with repeat ≥2 exacerbations during the following year to persistent IE (PIE). Transcriptomic data in blood, bronchial and nasal epithelial brushings, bronchial biopsies and sputum cells were analysed by gene set variation analysis for 103 gene signatures. Results: Of 317 patients, 62.4 % were FE of whom 63.6% were PFE, while 37.6% were IE of whom 61.3% were PIE. Using multivariate analysis, FE was associated with short-acting beta-agonist use, sinusitis and daily oral corticosteroid use, while PFE with eczema, short-acting beta-agonist use and asthma control index. CEA Cell Adhesion Molecule 5 (CEACAM5) was the only differentially-expressed transcript in bronchial biopsies between PE and IE. There were no differentially-expressed genes in the other 4 compartments. There were higher expression scores for Type 2 , T-helper type-17 and Type 1 pathway signatures together with those associated with viral infections in bronchial biopsies from FE compared to IE, while higher expression scores of Type 2, Type 1 and steroid insensitivity pathway signatures in bronchial biopsies of PFE compared to PIE. Conclusion: FE group and its PFE subgroup are associated with poor asthma control while expressing higher Type 1 and Type 2 activation pathways compared to IE and PIE, respectively