Case report: tracking data from foraging hawksbill turtles in the northern Red Sea

Background: Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are Critically Endangered throughout their global range, and concerningly little is known about this species in the Red Sea. With large-scale coastal development projects underway in the northern Red Sea, it is critical to understand the movement and habitat use patterns of hawksbill turtles in this environmentally unique region, so that effective conservation strategies can be implemented. We satellite tagged three hawksbill turtles, one 63 cm curved carapace length adult male captured near Wahlei Island, one 55 cm turtle captured in the Gulf of Aqaba, and one 56 cm turtle suffering from a floating syndrome which was captured at Waqqadi Island, rehabilitated, and released at Waqqadi Island. Turtles were tracked for 156, 199, and 372 days between October 2020 and November 2021. Results: We calculated the home ranges and core use areas of hawksbill turtles using kernel-density estimations and found that each turtle showed high fidelity to their foraging sites. Home ranges calculated with GPS-derived locations ranged between 13.6 and 2.86 km2, whereas home ranges calculated with Argos-derived locations ranged from 38.98 to 286.45 km2. GPS-derived locations also revealed a higher proportion of time spent in coral and rock habitats compared to Argos, based on location overlap with the Allen Coral Reef Atlas. We also found that turtles were making shallow dives, usually remaining between 0 and 5 m. Conclusions: While the number of tracked turtles in this study was small, it represents an important contribution to the current understanding of spatial ecology among foraging hawksbill turtles globally, and provides the first-ever reported hawksbill turtle tracking data from the Red Sea. Our results suggest that protecting coral reef habitats and implementing boating speed limits near reefs could be effective conservation measures for foraging hawksbill turtles in the face of rapid coastal development

Clinical and genetic determinants of warfarin pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics during treatment initiation

Variable warfarin response during treatment initiation poses a significant challenge to providing optimal anticoagulation therapy. We investigated the determinants of initial warfarin response in a cohort of 167 patients. During the first nine days of treatment with pharmacogenetics-guided dosing, S-warfarin plasma levels and international normalized ratio were obtained to serve as inputs to a pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) model. Individual PK (S-warfarin clearance) and PD (I max) parameter values were estimated. Regression analysis demonstrated that CYP2C9 genotype, kidney function, and gender were independent determinants of S-warfarin clearance. The values for I max were dependent on VKORC1 and CYP4F2 genotypes, vitamin K status (as measured by plasma concentrations of proteins induced by vitamin K absence, PIVKA-II) and weight. Importantly, indication for warfarin was a major independent determinant of I max during initiation, where PD sensitivity was greater in atrial fibrillation than venous thromboembolism. To demonstrate the utility of the global PK-PD model, we compared the predicted initial anticoagulation responses with previously established warfarin dosing algorithms. These insights and modeling approaches have application to personalized warfarin therapy. © 2011 Gong et al

The 'lost child' as figure of trauma and recovery in early post-war cinema: Fred Zinnemann's The Search (1948) and Natan Gross's Unzere Kinder (1948)

The article examines the figure of the ‘lost child’ in feature films of the immediate post-war period. The figure’s enormous symbolic value as innocent victim and future generation, granted the ‘lost child’ a key position in post-war discourse, including films which tried to grapple with the moral and physical destruction of the continent after 1945. National film industries, particularly of the perpetrator nation, employed the ‘lost child’ for genre stories in which the post-war chaos is being mastered and a new, masculine national self is re-built. However, films made by victim groups outside a national context rely on the ‘lost child’ to broach the destruction of their identity by war and persecution. Analysing two films, Fred Zinnemann’s The Search (1948) and Nata Gross’s Unzere Kinder (1948), I argue that they use the child figure to deal with traumatization and make it part of the reconstruction of communal intergenerational relations. This does not result in stories of masculine mastery but in narratives that incorporate moments of trauma process emerging around destroyed mother-child relations. The films, encoding traumatization in film language, develop a rich cinematic language along questions of identity and form a first instance of posttraumatic cinema

Museum Liaunig : von der Sammlung zum Kunstmuseum

Kurzzusammenfassung: Museum Liaunig ? Von der Sammlung zum KunstmuseumAm 29. August 2008 eröffnete das Museum Liaunig in Neuhaus/Suha,Kärnten. Der Wirtschaftsfachmann und Kunstsammler Herbert W.Liaunig gab hiermit seiner hochkarätigen Kunstsammlung von rund3.000 Werken mit Schwerpunkt zeitgenössischer österreichischer Kunstab 1945 ein würdiges Zuhause.Das Hauptaugenmerk der vorliegenden Diplomarbeit liegt auf derEntstehung und dem Werdegang des Privatmuseums Liaunig. Um dieArbeit abzurunden, wird einleitend auf die Merkmale öffentlicherMuseen, in Gegenüberstellung dazu auf einen repräsentativenQuerschnitt privater Kunstsammlungen eingegangen, die anhandmarkanter Beispiele des deutschsprachigen Raumes näher gebrachtwerden. Der weitere Verlauf hält Informationen zum Gründer unddessen Sammelleidenschaft bereit, und reicht von den Beweg- undHintergründen der Errichtung des Museums, über Details zurArchitektur bis hin zu tieferen Einblicken in die Sammlung.Ziel der Arbeit war es, auf die zunehmend wachsende Bedeutungprivater Kunstmuseen anhand des eindrucksvollen Beispiels MuseumLiaunig näher einzugehen, wobei der Schwerpunkt demkunsthistorischen Verlauf - von der Grundsteinlegung zur öffentlichenPräsentation - der Kunstinitiative gilt.Die Grundlage hierfür bildeten literarische und photographische Quellen,Internetrecherchen sowie ein persönliches Gespräch mit Herbert Liaunig.Die Diplomarbeit schließt - zur besseren Veranschaulichung derschriftlichen Ausführungen - mit einem Bildteil ab.abstract: Museum Liaunig ? from the collection to the museumOn August 29th, 2008 the Museum Liaunig opened in Neuhaus/Suha,Kärnten. Hereby the well respected economist and art collector HerbertW. Liaunig gave space to his top-class collection of almost 3000 piecesof contemporary Austrian art since 1945.The main focus of this thesis is the origin and development of the privateMuseum Liaunig. The introduction gives you a brief survey of thedifferences of public and private museums on the basis of arepresentative selection in the German-speaking area. The main chapterprovides information about the founder himself, his passion to collectand his intention and motivation to build a museum. A profound insightinto the architecture and art compilation itself constitutes the centerpiece.Since private art museums are gaining more and more populartiy everyyear, this thesis describes the foundation to the public presentation of theimpressive Museum Liaunig from an art historical point of view.The background information is based on published data in textbooks,homepages of the described museums and a personal interview withHerbert Liaunig.For better visualisation a figure part will be provided at the end.vorgelegt von Ute LangnerAbweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersZsfassung in dt. und engl. SpracheGraz, Univ., Dipl.-Arb., 2013(VLID)23419

Estimating the prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) and proportions of patients with associated dementia and depression among the older adults based on secondary claims data

OBJECTIVES: While the epidemiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) has been extensively studied, data on the prevalence of PD among the older adults in Germany are scarce, based on small samples, and limited to primary data designs. This study estimated the PD prevalence among the older adults in Germany in 2006 using secondary data. METHODS: We included 815,573 health insurance members aged ≥65 years from all regions in Germany. PD was identified in case of at least one inpatient or outpatient diagnosis. An outpatient diagnosis had to be confirmed by either a subsequent diagnosis or an antiparkinsonian drug within 12 months. PD was also assumed if a first prescription was confirmed by a diagnosis within 12 months. Cases were checked for a diagnosis of dementia or depression. RESULTS: The standardized prevalence of PD was 1680 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1644–1716) cases per 100,000 persons. The prevalence increased with age and peaked in the age group of ≥90 years (4633 cases; 95% CI: 4227–5068) with higher rates in men (1729; 95% CI: 1684–1776) than in women (1644; 95% CI: 1593–1697). Dementia and depression occurred in 26.6% (95% CI: 25.8–27.5) and 32.6 (95% CI: 31.7–33.5) of PD cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The age‐related increase of PD prevalence and the age‐specific prevalence estimates are in line with other European studies, stressing the public health relevance related to PD. In addition to the minimization of biases that might occur in primary data studies, further strengths of our findings are the large underlying sample size and the coverage of Germany

Quantitative Diffusion-Weighted MRI of Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial, malignant, solid tumor found in children. In more than one-third of cases, the tumor is in an advanced stage, with limited resectability. The treatment options include resection, with or without (neo-/) adjuvant therapy, and conservative therapy, the latter even with curative intent. Contrast-enhanced MRI is used for staging and therapy monitoring. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is often included. DWI allows for a calculation of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) for quantitative assessment. Histological tumor characteristics can be derived from ADC maps. Monitoring the response to treatment is possible using ADC maps, with an increase in ADC values in cases of a response to therapy. Changes in the ADC value precede volume reduction. The usual criteria for determining the response to therapy can therefore be supplemented by ADC values. While these changes have been observed in neuroblastoma, early changes in the ADC value in response to therapy are less well described. In this study, we evaluated whether there is an early change in the ADC values in neuroblastoma under therapy; if this change depends on the form of therapy; and whether this change may serve as a prognostic marker. We retrospectively evaluated neuroblastoma cases treated in our institution between June 2007 and August 2014. The examinations were grouped as ‘prestaging’; ‘intermediate staging’; ‘final staging’; and ‘follow-up’. A classification of “progress”, “stable disease”, or “regress” was made. For the determination of ADC values, regions of interest were drawn along the borders of all tumor manifestations. To calculate ADC changes (∆ADC), the respective MRI of the prestaging was used as a reference point or, in the case of therapies that took place directly after previous therapies, the associated previous staging. In the follow-up examinations, the previous examination was used as a reference point. The ∆ADC were grouped into ∆ADCregress for regressive disease, ∆ADCstable for stable disease, and ∆ADC for progressive disease. In addition, examinations at 60 to 120 days from the baseline were grouped as er∆ADCregress, er∆ADCstable, and er∆ADCprogress. Any differences were tested for significance using the Mann–Whitney test (level of significance: p ∆ADC values (absolute and percentage) according to the course of the disease were significant: between ∆ADCregress and ∆ADCstable, between ∆ADCprogress and ∆ADCstable, as well as between ∆ADCregress and ∆ADCprogress. The differences between the mean er∆ADC values (absolute and percentage) according to the course of the disease were significant: between er∆ADCregress and er∆ADCstable, as well as between er∆ADCregress and er∆ADCprogress. Forms of therapy, N-Myc status, and risk groups showed no further significant differences in mean ADC values and ∆ADC/er∆ADC. A clear connection between the ADC changes and the response to therapy could be demonstrated. This held true even within the first 120 days after the start of therapy: an increase in the ADC value corresponds to a probable response to therapy, while a decrease predicts progression. Minimal or no changes were seen in cases of stable disease

Appendix C. Demographic data used to calculate annual fecundity for the 22 species for which we had nesting success data.

Demographic data used to calculate annual fecundity for the 22 species for which we had nesting success data

Appendix A. A description of the procedure used to assess how representative BBIRD sites were of overall conditions of forest fragmentation across the United States.

A description of the procedure used to assess how representative BBIRD sites were of overall conditions of forest fragmentation across the United States

Model predicted response curves following warfarin initiation using various initiation protocols.

<p>Simulations were performed using non-genetics and genetics-based nomograms for typical AF and VTE patients harbouring variable number of variant alleles. The genotype of zero-variant patients is <i>VKORC1</i>G/G-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*1. Patients carrying 1 variant allele have one of the following genotype combinations: <i>VKORC1</i>G/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*1, <i>VKORC1</i>G/G-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*2, or <i>VKORC1</i>G/G-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*3. Patients carrying 2 variant alleles have one of the following genotype combinations: <i>VKORC1</i>A/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*1, <i>VKORC1</i>G/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*2, <i>VKORC1</i>G/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*3, or <i>VKORC1</i>G/G-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*2/^*2. Patients carrying 3 variant alleles have one of the following genotype combinations: <i>VKORC1</i>A/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*2, <i>VKORC1</i>A/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*1/^*3, <i>VKORC1</i>G/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*2/^*2, or <i>VKORC1</i>G/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*2/^*3. Patients carrying 4 variant alleles have one of the following genotype combinations: <i>VKORC1</i>A/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*2/^*2, or <i>VKORC1</i>A/A-<i>CYP2C9</i>^*2/^*3. AF, atrial fibrillation; VTE, venous thromboembolism.</p

Determinants of maximal inhibitory factor, I_max.

<p>(A) Box-and-whisker plots of <i>S</i>-warfarin plasma concentration and INR on days 7/8/9 segregated by <i>VKORC1</i> -1639G>A genotype. Box-and-whisker plots representing <i>VKORC1</i> gene-dose effect during initiation. The top and bottom of the boxes represents 25^th and 75^th percentile, respectively; median is represented by the middle line, whiskers are the 95% CI, and outliers are identified as closed circles. (B) Warfarin daily dose on days 7/8/9 with respect to <i>VKORC1</i> genotype. (C) Frequency distribution of estimated I_max, shown as percent of total patients for each bin. (D) Association between <i>VKORC1</i> genotype and I_max. Results are represented as mean with standard deviation. (E) Additive effect of indication for warfarin therapy and <i>VKORC1</i> genotype on I_max. (F) INR time course for patients with AF and VTE over the initial 10 days of therapy with common genetics-guided dosing protocol. Results are represented as mean with 95% CI of the standard error. AF, atrial fibrillation; INR, international normalized ratio; VTE, venous thromboembolism. ^* P<0.05, ^** P<0.01, ^*** P<0.001, ^**** P<0.0001.</p