Environmental DNA Plumes: Linking Fish Farm eDNA to Microbial Communities and Novel Detection of Transgenic eDNA

Finfish aquaculture has been on a steady rise, and to match human consumption an increase of open water fish farming is inevitable; however, the impacts of rearing high densities of fish on the surrounding ecosystem remains unclear. Transgenic fish have begun to be implemented in aquaculture to improve traits such as growth rate and feeding efficiency. However, concerns about the potential ecological impact if escaped transgenic organisms are diverse and widespread. Here we characterize the eDNA “plume” from an open water Oncorhynchus tshawystcha farm, and from a transgenic Oncorhynchus kistuch rearing facility. We utilize eDNA as a biomarker of sloughed Chinook salmon DNA from the farm and test for farm effects on bacterial community changes. We found evidence of an overall seasonal effect on eDNA concentration and localized distance effects relative to the farm in the fall. Our BC analyses showed strong seasonal effects as well as evidence of a distance (from the farm) on BC diversity. Despite the well-mixed characteristics of the sampled bay our findings indicate a radial effect of the fish farm plume on the surrounding waters. We also designed a transgene-specific assay to detect transgenic Coho salmon without interference from the wild-type genome and establish the range of detection from an effluent pipe. Our transgene-specific assay detected the growth hormone construct from environmental samples to 10 m from the effluent pipe, as well as two samples 150 m away and 1300m away from the effluent pipe, detecting extremely low traces of transgene DNA copies. This spatial inconsistency in transgenic eDNA detection may be due to sloughed organic matter accumulating, rather then breaking down into a homogenous mixture in marine water. This work establishes how eDNA can be used as a valuable tool for marine surveillance, providing data on the distribution of finfish DNA from a point source and identifying ecological impacts on the surrounding aquatic environment

A Smooth Lattice construction of the Oppenheimer-Snyder spacetime

We present test results for the smooth lattice method using an Oppenheimer-Snyder spacetime. The results are in excellent agreement with theory and numerical results from other authors.Comment: 60 pages, 28 figure

Nutrition and lifestyle habits of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Baranja region

Dijabetes tipa 2 (diabetes melitus tip 2, DMT2) jedna je od najraširenijih endokrinoloških bolesti u svijetu, a zajedno sa svojim kroničnim komplikacijama spada među najvažnije uzročnike mortaliteta i morbiditeta u svijetu. U Hrvatskoj 6,1 % odrasle populacije živi s DMT2. Danas standardna medicinska skrb za osobu s DMT2 uz medikamentnu terapiju uključuje i edukaciju o prehrani i redovitoj tjelesnoj aktivnosti. Cilj rada bio je istražiti prehranu i životne navike, razinu kontrole i učestalost komplikacija među oboljelima od DMT2 na području Baranje, te u kojoj se mjeri pridržavaju preporuka o prehrani i utječe li i u kojoj mjeri dijagnoza DMT2 na kvalitetu njihovog života. Devedeset osoba s dijagnozom DMT2, prosječne starosti 67 ± 10,9 godina (34 do 87 godina, 44,5 % muškaraca, 55,5 % žena), koji žive u ruralnoj sredini (92,2 %) i umirovljeni su (74,4 %) ispunilo je anketu specifično kreiranu za potrebe ovog istraživanja. Ispitanici su imali lošu kontrolu glikemije (70,6 % prema kriteriju glukoze), 81,1 % ima povećani indeks tjelesne mase, akutne komplikacije su prisutne kod 63,3 % ispitanika, a kronične kod 53,3 %. Preporuke o prehrani se ne pridržava 62,2 % ispitanika, ali 74,4 % iskazuje interes za dodatnom edukcijom o prehrani. Osobe koje su bile educirane o prehrani imaju bolju prehranu (p<0,001), bolji društveni život (p<0,001) i bolje psihofizičko stanje (p=0,004), uz bolji subjektivni doživljaj ukupne kvalitete života. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju jasan pozitivan utjecaj edukacije dijabetičara, a ljekarne bi se trebale razmotriti kao potencijalna mjesta za edukaciju, posebice za osobe starije životne dobi, koji žive u ruralnim sredinama.Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DMT2) is one of the most common endocrinological diseases around the world, and together with its chronic complications represents the main cause of morbidity and mortality around the globe. In Croatia 6.1 % of adult population live with DMT2. Today, standard medical care for a person diagnosed with DMT2 together with medications includes education on diet and regular physical activity. The aim was to analyze diet and lifestyle habits, level of control and frequency of complications among DMT2 patients from Baranja region, and in what level do they adhere to recommended diet and if the DMT2 diagnosis affects their life quality. Ninety adults diagnosed with DMT2, average age 67 ± 10.9 years (44.5 % males, 55.5 % females), living in rural areas (92.2 %) and retired (74.4 %) filled in a study-specific questionnaire. Study participants had badly controlled glycaemia (70.6 % according to blood glucose criteria), 81.1 % have increased body mass index, acute complications are presented in 63.3 % of participants, and chronic in 53.3 %. Dietary recommendations are not followed by 62.2 % of participants, but 74.4 % said they are interested in additional education on diet. Participants who were educated on diet have diet of better quality (p<0.001), better social life (p<0.001) and better psychophysical state (p=0.004), with better subjective impress of total quality of life. The results show clear positive influence that the education of diabetic patients has, and pharmacies should be considered as potential places for education, especially for elderly, and people living in rural areas

Chiroptical Properties and Conformation of 4,5-Saturated Derivatives of 5-Aryl-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones

CD spectra of a series of 5-aryl-7-chloro-l,3,4,5-tetrahydro- 2H-l,4-benzodiazepin-2-one derivatives having different substituents at positions 1, 3, 4, and 5 were studied. The absolute configuration at C-5 of two homochiral analogues, 1 and 2, having enantiomorphous ring conformations was determined on the basis of chiroptical correlations and theoretical calculations. The latter have shown that the optical activity mainly originates from the one-electron mechanism and is determined by the helicity of the diazepine ring, i. e. by the inherent chirality of the partial chromophore 4-chloro-N,2-dimethyl-formanilide. Exciton inter action s between transitions of the two arornatic chromophores A and C also give a significant contribution to chiroptical properties. By applying simple chiroptical rules dedueed from experimental spectra and supported by calculations, the stereochemistry (absolute conformation and configuration), of 3,5-disubstituted cis and trans epimeric pairs (7-17) was revealed

Tropical climate variability: interactions across the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this recordComplex interactions manifest between modes of tropical climate variability across the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. For example, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) extends its influence on modes of variability in the tropical Indian and Atlantic Oceans, which in turn feed back onto ENSO. Interactions between pairs of modes can alter their strength, periodicity, seasonality, and ultimately their predictability, yet little is known about the role that a third mode plays. Here we examine the interactions and relative influences between pairs of climate modes using ensembles of 100-year partially coupled experiments in an otherwise fully coupled general circulation model. In these experiments, the air–sea interaction over each tropical ocean basin, as well as pairs of ocean basins, is suppressed in turn. We find that Indian Ocean variability has a net damping effect on ENSO and Atlantic Ocean variability, and conversely they each promote Indian Ocean variability. The connection between the Pacific and the Atlantic is most clearly revealed in the absence of Indian Ocean variability. Our model runs suggest a weak damping influence by Atlantic variability on ENSO, and an enhancing influence by ENSO on Atlantic variability.This study was supported by the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science. This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), which is supported by the Australian Government

On the choice of ensemble mean for estimating the forced signal in the presence of internal variability

This is the final version of the article. Available from American Meteorological Society via the DOI in this record.In this paper we examine various options for the calculation of the forced signal in climate model simulations, and the impact these choices have on the estimates of internal variability. We find that an ensemble mean of runs from a single climate model [a single model ensemble mean (SMEM)] provides a good estimate of the true forced signal even for models with very few ensemble members. In cases where only a single member is available for a given model, however, the SMEM from other models is in general out-performed by the scaled ensemble mean from all available climate model simulations [the multimodel ensemble mean (MMEM)]. The scaled MMEM may therefore be used as an estimate of the forced signal for observations. The MMEM method, however, leads to increasing errors further into the future, as the different rates of warming in the models causes their trajectories to diverge. We therefore apply the SMEM method to those models with a sufficient number of ensemble members to estimate the change in the amplitude of internal variability under a future forcing scenario. In line with previous results, we find that on average the surface air temperature variability decreases at higher latitudes, particularly over the ocean along the sea ice margins, while variability in precipitation increases on average, particularly at high latitudes. Variability in sea level pressure decreases on average in the Southern Hemisphere, while in the Northern Hemisphere there are regional differences.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through grants to L. M. F. (DE170100367) and to M. H. E. through the ARC Centre of Excellence in Climate System Science (CE110001028). J. B. K. is supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Grant NE/N005783/1). B. A. S. was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (EAR-1447048)

Global mean surface temperature response to large-scale patterns of variability in observations and CMIP5

Global mean surface temperature (GMST) fluctuates over decadal to multidecadal time-scales. Patterns of internal variability are partly responsible, but the relationships can be conflated by anthropogenically-forced signals. Here we adopt a physically-based method of separating internal variability from forced responses to examine how trends in large-scale patterns, specifically the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV), influence GMST. After removing the forced responses, observed variability of GMST is close to the central estimates of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) simulations, but models tend to underestimate IPO variability at time-scales >10 years, and AMV at time-scales >20 years. Correlations between GMST trends and these patterns are also underrepresented, most strongly at 10- and 35-year time-scales, for IPO and AMV respectively. Strikingly, models that simulate stronger variability of IPO and AMV also exhibit stronger relationships between these patterns and GMST, predominately at the 10- and 35-year time-scales, respectively