Timing and Potential Drivers of Symbiont Selection in the Early Life Stages of the Massive Starlet Coral Siderastrea siderea

The ability of corals to build reefs can be attributed to their relationship with single-celled algae of the familySymbiodiniaceae.Through the process of photosynthesis, these algae can provide their coral hosts with over 90% of their daily energy requirements. Most coral species acquire multiple species of symbionts from the surrounding water during their larval stage or immediately after settling. However, over time, the coral will select a dominant symbiont speciesthat can depend on the local environment. Until this study, the size or age of the coral at which this transition from multiple Symbiodiniaceaespecies to one dominant species occurs has remained uncertain. Likewise, it was unclear whether the selection of Symbiodiniaceaespeciesis influenced by the environment. The environmental conditions and symbiont composition of one hundred and eighteen juvenile Siderastrea siderea were assessed across four sites in Broward County, Florida. Presuming newly settled corals acquire multiple symbionts and then select just one dominant species, it was determined that the transition from multiple symbiont speciesto one dominant species in Siderastrea sidereaoccurs in the single polyp stage, between the time of settlement and approximately 4 to 6 months of age. The results also suggest that the selection of these dominant symbiont speciesis influenced by the environment, and that juveniles commonly select the same species as adults inhabiting similar environmental conditions. The selection of symbionts homologous to adult corals combined with environmental influences may be an early indicator of acclimatization in Siderastrea siderea

Forty-seven Years of Research on the Devon Island Ice Cap, Arctic Canada

The Devon Island ice cap has been the subject of scientific study for almost half a century, beginning with the first mass balance measurements in 1961. Research on the ice cap was the first to investigate (1) the role of meltwater in seasonal ice-velocity variations on a polythermal Arctic ice cap, (2) the use of air temperature rather than net radiation as a proxy for the energy driving surface melt, and (3) the influence of the changing frequency of specific synoptic weather configurations on glacier melt and mass balance. Other research has included investigations of ice cap geometry, flow dynamics, and mass balance; ice core analyses for records of past climate and contaminant deposition; and studies of changes in ice cap area and volume and their relationship to surface mass balance and ice dynamics. Current research includes ground studies connected to efforts to calibrate and validate the radar altimeter that will be carried by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) CryoSat2 satellite, and a major collaborative Canadian International Polar Year (IPY) project focused on the Belcher Glacier, on the northeast side of the ice cap, that examines hydrodynamics of large tidewater glaciers. This paper summarizes our current knowledge of the Devon Island ice cap and identifies some of the outstanding questions that continue to limit our understanding of climate-ice cap interactions in Arctic regions.La calotte glaciaire de l’île Devon fait l’objet d’une étude scientifique depuis près d’un demi-siècle, les premières mesures du bilan massique remontant à 1961. C’est la première fois que des travaux de recherche sur la calotte glaciaire permettent de faire enquête sur 1) le rôle de l’eau de fonte dans les variations caractérisant la vélocité de la glace d’une calotte glaciaire polytherme de l’Arctique; 2) l’utilisation de la température de l’air au lieu du bilan radiatif en surface en guise d’approximation pour la fonte superficielle conductrice d’énergie, et 3) l’influence exercée par la fréquence changeante de configurations climatiques synoptiques spécifiques sur la fonte du glacier et le bilan massique. Parmi les autres travaux de recherche, notons des enquêtes sur la géométrie de la calotte glaciaire, la dynamique des débits d’écoulement et le bilan massique; l’analyse des enregistrements relatifs aux carottes glaciaires en ce qui a trait à d’anciens dépôts climatiques et dépôts de contaminants; et l’étude des changements caractérisant l’aire et le volume de la calotte glaciaire de même que leur relation par rapport au bilan massique en surface et à la dynamique des glaces. Par ailleurs, les travaux de recherche actuels prennent la forme d’études sur le terrain se rapportant aux efforts visant à calibrer et à valider l’altimètre radar, études qui seront effectuées par le satellite CryoSat2 de l’Agence spatiale européenne (ASE), et un projet d’envergure en collaboration avec l’Année polaire internationale (API) au Canada portant sur le glacier Belcher, du côté nord-est de la carotte glaciaire, projet qui examine l’hydrodynamique des gros glaciers de marée. La présente communication résume nos connaissances actuelles de la calotte glaciaire de l’île Devon de même que certaines des questions en suspens qui continuent de restreindre la façon dont nous comprenons les interactions entre le climat et la calotte glaciaire dans les régions arctiques

Open for business: Pathways to strengthen CGIARs responsible private sector engagement

CGIAR has considerable experience with private sector engagement in the context of its mission to create sustainable and resilient food, land and water systems, and there is continuing interest and dialogue on this theme within CGIAR and the international development community more generally. The on-going CGIAR reform provides an opportunity to capture those experiences and harmonize strategies under the new structure, as has been acknowledged in the new 'CGIAR 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy'. Commissioned by the NL-CGIAR Strategic Partnership, this report aims to identify, discuss and evaluate pathways for strengthening collaboration between CGIAR and the private sector to stimulate innovation and the scaling of these innovations in food, land and water systems. The objective is to advance private sector engagement in the CGIAR, based on transparent CGIAR system-wide mechanisms and processes

Age- and Sex-Related Percentiles of Skinfold Thickness, Waist and Hip Circumference, Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Waist-to-Height Ratio: Results from a Population-Based Pediatric Cohort in Germany (LIFE Child)

Background: Skinfold thickness (ST), waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) measurements are simple methods for assessing fat tissue at defined body parts. We examined these parameters in a cohort of healthy children and adolescents in Leipzig. Our study provides current percentile curves for biceps, triceps, subscapular and iliac crest ST, plus WC, HC, waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio. Methods: 6,344 visits were recorded involving 2,363 individuals from 3 to 16 years in age. Continuous age- and gender-related percentiles (3rd, 10th, median, 90th, 97th percentiles) were estimated using Cole’s LMS method. Results: For biceps and triceps ST, boys show a peak at the beginning of adolescence with a subsequent decrease, while percentile values among girls rise across the age range. Subscapular and iliac crest percentiles also show increasing curves with disproportionately high values for P90 and P97. Boys show higher values of WC, girls have higher levels of HC. WC and HC median percentiles constantly increase in both sexes with a plateau at the age of 16 for girls. Conclusion: Trends for all parameters of body fat are in line with other national and international studies. Unlike the KiGGS study, our study provides circumference data across the whole of our age range, i.e. from 3 to 16 years

Does the Relationship between Age and Brain Structure Differ in Youth with Conduct Disorder?

Conduct disorder (CD) is characterised by persistent antisocial and aggressive behaviour and typically emerges in childhood or adolescence. Although several authors have proposed that CD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, very little evidence is available about brain development in this condition. Structural brain alterations have been observed in CD, and some indirect evidence for delayed brain maturation has been reported. However, no detailed analysis of age-related changes in brain structure in youth with CD has been conducted. Using cross-sectional MRI data, this study aimed to explore differences in brain maturation in youth with CD versus healthy controls to provide further understanding of the neurodevelopmental processes underlying CD. 291 CD cases (153 males) and 379 healthy controls (160 males) aged 9–18 years (Mage = 14.4) were selected from the European multisite FemNAT-CD study. Structural MRI scans were analysed using surface-based morphometry followed by application of the ENIGMA quality control protocols. An atlas-based approach was used to investigate group differences and test for group-by-age and group-by-age-by-sex interactions in cortical thickness, surface area and subcortical volumes. Relative to healthy controls, the CD group showed lower surface area across frontal, temporal and parietal regions as well as lower total surface area. No significant group-by-age or group-by-age-by-sex interactions were observed on any brain structure measure. These findings suggest that CD is associated with lower surface area across multiple cortical regions, but do not support the idea that CD is associated with delayed brain maturation, at least within the age bracket considered here.</p

Adiponectin levels in people with Latent Autoimmune Diabetes-a case control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To examine adiponectin levels in people with Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults using a matched pair case control study.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Patients with LADA (n = 64), were matched for sex with type 2 diabetic and non-diabetic controls. A matched paired T-test was used to examine average adiponectin levels in the LADA patients' versus controls. The average adiponectin level for the LADA patients was 9.96 μg/ml compared to 6.4 μg/ml for Type 2 matched controls and 9.6 μg/ml for non-diabetic controls. Mean difference for the LADA-type 2 comparison was calculated after data was log transformed and showed a difference of 1.58 μg/ml (95%CI: 1.28-1.95, p = 0.0001). There was no significant difference between LADA and non-diabetic controls (p = 0.54).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Adiponectin levels are higher among people with LADA compared to those with type 2 diabetes and are equivalent to levels seen in non-diabetic controls. This suggests that risk of complications in LADA, as with type 1 diabetes may be related more to glycaemic control rather than to factors of the metabolic syndrome.</p

Rise in frequency of surface melting at Siple Dome through the Holocene : evidence for increasing marine influence on the climate of West Antarctica

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 113 (2008): D02112, doi:10.1029/2007JD008790.A new melt layer history from Siple Dome, West Antarctica, indicates notable late-Holocene summertime warming. Visual stratigraphic analyses of the 1004-m ice core identified 62 years with melt layers. Melting events began around 11.7 ka, followed by a period of no melting from 8.8–6.6 ka. Melt layer frequency increased from 6.6 ka to the present, with the 1000-year-average melt layer frequency reaching a maximum of 2% at 0.8 ka. We use our millennial-scale archive of melt events as a unique seasonal paleothermometer to elucidate changes in West Antarctic Holocene summer climate. Our calibration suggests the change in melt frequency from 0% to 2% may represent a summer temperature increase of ≥2°C from the middle to late Holocene. This temperature change cannot be explained entirely by local change in ice elevation or summer insolation and is in contrast to East Antarctic climate records, which show peak warmth in the early Holocene followed by stable or decreasing temperature. We interpret the rise in melt frequency as evidence of an increasing marine influence on the Ross Sea sector of West Antarctica. Although the surface elevation of Siple Dome has not changed greatly, the continued lateral retreat of the West Antarctic ice sheet from its Last Glacial Maximum configuration (across the outer continental shelf), and the delayed drawdown in ice thickness from the adjacent coastal Marie Byrd Land region, in conjunction with periods of increased cyclogenesis, perhaps related to variations in ENSO, would allow a moderated maritime climate to more easily reach West Antarctica.This research was supported by NSF grant OPP-9814485 and NASA grant NAG5-7776 to Penn State University and by a NASA Earth System Science Graduate Fellowship and a WHOI Postdoctoral Scholar Fellowship to S. Das. Additional support to R. Alley at PSU is from NSF grants 0440899, 0440447, and 0424589 and the Comer Science and Education Foundation

Columnar cell lesions and subsequent breast cancer risk: a nested case-control study

Introduction: Histologic and genetic evidence suggests that at least some columnar cell lesions (CCL) of the breast represent precursor lesions in the low-grade breast neoplasia pathway. However, the risk of subsequent breast cancer associated with the presence of CCL in a benign breast biopsy is poorly understood.Methods The authors examined the association between the presence of CCL and subsequent breast cancer risk in a nested case-control study of benign breast disease (BBD) and breast cancer within the Nurses' Health Studies (394 cases, 1,606 controls). Benign breast biopsy slides were reviewed by pathologists and CCL presence assessed. Logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between CCL and breast cancer risk. Results: Women with CCL (140 cases, 448 controls) had an increased risk of breast cancer compared with those without CCL (OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.14 to 1.83), although this was attenuated and became non-significant after adjustment for the histologic category of BBD (OR = 1.20, 95% CI: 0.94 to 1.54). CCL presence was associated with the greatest risk of breast cancer for those with nonproliferative BBD (OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 0.79 to 2.37) and the lowest risk for those with atypical hyperplasia (AH) (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.65 to 1.87); however, this apparent heterogeneity in risk across BBD categories was not significant (P for interaction between CCL presence and BBD category = 0.77). Conclusions: These results provide evidence that CCL may be an important marker of breast cancer risk in women with BBD but suggest that CCL do not increase breast cancer risk independently of concurrent proliferative changes in the breast

The Role of Host Genetics in Susceptibility to Influenza: A Systematic Review

Background: The World Health Organization has identified studies of the role of host genetics on susceptibility to severe influenza as a priority. A systematic review was conducted to summarize the current state of evidence on the role of host genetics in susceptibility to influenza (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42011001380). Methods and Findings: PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and OpenSIGLE were searched using a pre-defined strategy for all entries up to the date of the search. Two reviewers independently screened the title and abstract of 1,371 unique articles, and 72 full text publications were selected for inclusion. Mouse models clearly demonstrate that host genetics plays a critical role in susceptibility to a range of human and avian influenza viruses. The Mx genes encoding interferon inducible proteins are the best studied but their relevance to susceptibility in humans is unknown. Although the MxA gene should be considered a candidate gene for further study in humans, over 100 other candidate genes have been proposed. There are however no data associating any of these candidate genes to susceptibility in humans, with the only published study in humans being under-powered. One genealogy study presents moderate evidence of a heritable component to the risk of influenza-associated death, and while the marked familial aggregation of H5N1 cases is suggestive of host genetic factors, this remains unproven. Conclusion: The fundamental question ‘‘Is susceptibility to severe influenza in humans heritable?’ ’ remains unanswered. No