Hydrological Foundation as a Basis for a Holistic Environmental Flow Assessment of Tropical Highland Rivers in Ethiopia

The sustainable development of water resources includes retaining some amount of the natural flow regime in water bodies to protect and maintain aquatic ecosystem health and the human livelihoods and wellbeing dependent upon them. Although assessment of environmental flows is now occurring globally, limited studies have been carried out in the Ethiopian highlands, especially studies to understand flow-ecological response relationships. This paper establishes a hydrological foundation of Gumara River from an ecological perspective. The data analysis followed three steps: first, determination of the current flow regime flow indices and ecologically relevant flow regime; second, naturalization of the current flow regime looking at how flow regime is changing; and, finally, an initial exploration of flow linkages with ecological processes. Flow data of Gumara River from 1973 to 2018 are used for the analysis. Monthly low flow occurred from December to June; the lowest being in March, with a median flow of 4.0 m(3) s(-1). Monthly high flow occurred from July to November; the highest being in August, with a median flow of 236 m(3) s(-1). 1-Day low flows decreased from 1.55 m(3) s(-1) in 1973 to 0.16 m(3) s(-1) in 2018, and 90-Day (seasonal) low flow decreased from 4.9 m(3) s(-1) in 1973 to 2.04 m(3) s(-1) in 2018. The Mann-Kendall trend test indicated that the decrease in low flow was significant for both durations at alpha = 0.05. A similar trend is indicated for both durations of high flow. The decrease in both low flows and high flows is attributed to the expansion of pump irrigation by 29 km(2) and expansion of plantations, which resulted in an increase of NDVI from 0.25 in 2000 to 0.29 in 2019. In addition, an analysis of environmental flow components revealed that only four "large floods" appeared in the last 46 years; no "large flood" occurred after 1988. Lacking "large floods" which inundate floodplain wetlands has resulted in early disconnection of floodplain wetlands from the river and the lake; which has impacts on breeding and nursery habitat shrinkage for migratory fish species in Lake Tana. On the other hand, the extreme decrease in "low flow" components has impacts on pin smaller pools. These results serve as the hydrological foundation for continued studies in the Gumara catchment, with the eventual goal of quantifying environmental flow requirements.redators, reducing their mobility and ability to access prey concentrate

An Examination of Psychological Flexibility as a Mediator Between Mental Health Concerns and Satisfaction With Life Among Autistic Adults

Background: Experiencing mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress) can have negative effects on satisfaction with life (SWL) for autistic adults. Current mental health supports that may promote SWL do not effectively meet the needs of autistic adults, often due to deficits-based approaches. Methods: To begin addressing the gap in research surrounding mental health supports among autistic adults, we designed a preregistered longitudinal study that used structural equation modeling to assess 289 autistic adults from the Simons Powering Autism Research (SPARK) program to determine if progress toward ones values, a strengths-based component of psychological flexibility, is a potential mechanism through which mental health concerns (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) impact SWL. Results: Results suggested that depression (but not anxiety or stress) negatively affected participants’ SWL. However, when including components of psychological flexibility as a mediator, there was no longer a significant direct effect between depression and SWL, suggesting that influences on SWL was explained through participants levels of components of psychological flexibility. The influence of values progress on the association between depression and SWL was significantly stronger than that of value obstruction (a deficit-based construct). Associations did not differ across gender. Conclusion: These findings provide preliminary support for interventions targeting improvements in psychological flexibility as they may help address core issues of deficit-based mental health services while also being able to emphasize outcomes that matter most to the autism community

Microhabitat preferences of fish assemblages in the Udzungwa Mountains (Eastern Africa)

[EN] Environmental flow assessment (EFA) involving microhabitat preference models is a common approach to set ecologically friendly flow regimes in territories with ongoing or planned projects to develop river basins, such as many rivers of Eastern Africa. However, habitat requirements of many African fish species are poorly studied, which may impair EFAs. This study investigated habitat preferences of fish assemblages, based on species presence-absence data from 300 microhabitats collected in two tributaries of the Kilombero River (Tanzania), aiming to disentangle differences in habitat preferences of African species at two levels: assemblage (i.e. between tributaries) and species (i.e. species-specific habitat preferences). Overall, flow velocity, which implies coarser substrates and shallower microhabitats, emerged as the most important driver responsible of the changes in stream-dwelling assemblages at the microhabitat scale. At the assemblage level, we identified two important groups of species according to habitat preferences: (a) cover-orientated and limnophilic species, including Barbus spp., Mormyridae and Chiloglanis deckenii, and (b) rheophilic species, including Labeo cylindricus, Amphilius uranoscopus and Parakneria spekii. Rheophilic species preferred boulders, fast flow velocity and deeper microhabitats. At the species level, we identified species-specific habitat preferences. For instance, Barbus spp. preferred low flow velocity shallow depth and fine-to-medium substratum, whereas L. cylindricus and P. spekii mainly selected shallow microhabitats with coarse substrata. Knowledge of habitat preferences of these assemblages and species should enhance the implementation of ongoing and future EFA studies of the region.We thank C. Alexander and an anonymous referee for constructive comments on the submitted manuscript. This study was financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the Technical Assistance to Support the Development of Irrigation and Rural Roads Infrastructure Project (IRRIP2), implemented by CDM International Inc. We are particularly grateful to the local people who helped us during the data collection. We also gratefully acknowledge individuals from organisations that collaborated in this research and especially the scientific committee that shared their knowledge of the Kilombero River basin. These individuals include the following: J.J. Kashaigili (SUA), K.N. Njau (NM. AIST), P.M. Ndomba (UDSM), F. Mombo (SUA), S. Graas (UNESCO- IHE), C.M. Mengo (RUFIJI BASIN), J.H. O'keeffe (Rhodes Univ.), S.M. Andrew (SUA), P. Paron (UNESCO-IHE), W. Kasanga (CDM Smith), and R. Tharme (RIVER FUTURES). R. Muñoz-Mas benefitted from a postdoctoral Juan de la Cierva fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (ref. FJCI-2016-30829) and J. Sánchez-Hernández was supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Galician Plan for Research, Innovation and Growth (Plan I2C, Xunta de Galicia). Additional funding was provided by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (projects CGL2016-80820-R and PCIN-2016-168) and the Government of Catalonia (ref. 2017 SGR 548).Muñoz-Mas, R.; Sánchez-Hernández, J.; Martinez-Capel, F.; Tamatamah, R.; Mohamedi, S.; Massinde, R.; Mcclain, ME. (2019). Microhabitat preferences of fish assemblages in the Udzungwa Mountains (Eastern Africa). Ecology Of Freshwater Fish. 28(3):473-484. https://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12469S473484283Akbaripasand, A., & Closs, G. P. (2017). Effects of food supply and stream physical characteristics on habitat use of a stream-dwelling fish. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 27(1), 270-279. doi:10.1111/eff.12345Alexander, C., Poulsen, F., Robinson, D. C. E., Ma, B. O., … Luster, R. A. (2018). 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Science of The Total Environment, 440, 123-131. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.07.074Muñoz-Mas, R., Papadaki, C., Martínez-Capel, F., Zogaris, S., Ntoanidis, L., & Dimitriou, E. (2016). Generalized additive and fuzzy models in environmental flow assessment: A comparison employing the West Balkan trout (Salmo farioides; Karaman, 1938). Ecological Engineering, 91, 365-377. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.03.009Ngugi, C. C., Manyala, J. O., Njiru, M., & Mlewa, C. M. (2009). Some aspects of the biology of the stargazer mountain catfish,Amphilius uranoscopus(pfeffer); (Siluriformes: Amphiliidae) indigenous to Kenya streams. African Journal of Ecology, 47(4), 606-613. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2009.01032.xNovák, V., & Lehmke, S. (2006). Logical structure of fuzzy IF-THEN rules. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 157(15), 2003-2029. doi:10.1016/j.fss.2006.02.011Pease, A. A., Taylor, J. M., Winemiller, K. O., & King, R. S. (2015). 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Medically relevant ElectroNeedle technology development.

ElectroNeedles technology was developed as part of an earlier Grand Challenge effort on Bio-Micro Fuel Cell project. During this earlier work, the fabrication of the ElectroNeedles was accomplished along with proof-of-concept work on several electrochemically active analytes such as glucose, quinone and ferricyanide. Additionally, earlier work demonstrated technology potential in the field of immunosensors by specifically detecting Troponin, a cardiac biomarker. The current work focused upon fabrication process reproducibility of the ElectroNeedles and then using the devices to sensitively detect p-cresol, a biomarker for kidney failure or nephrotoxicity. Valuable lessons were learned regarding fabrication assurance and quality. The detection of p-cresol was accomplished by electrochemistry as well as using fluorescence to benchmark ElectroNeedles performance. Results from these studies will serve as a guide for the future fabrication processes involving ElectroNeedles as well as provide the groundwork necessary to expand technology applications. One paper has been accepted for publication acknowledging LDRD funding (K. E. Achyuthan et al, Comb. Chem. & HTS, 2008). We are exploring the scope for a second paper describing the applications potential of this technology

Effect of rhPDGF-BB on bone turnover during periodontal repair

Purpose : Growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) exert potent effects on wound healing including the regeneration of periodontia. Pyridinoline cross-linked carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) is a well-known biomarker of bone turnover, and as such is a potential indicator of osseous metabolic activity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the release of the ICTP into the periodontal wound fluid (WF) following periodontal reconstructive surgery using local delivery of highly purified recombinant human PDGF (rhPDGF)-BB. Methods : Forty-seven human subjects at five treatment centres possessing chronic severe periodontal disease were monitored longitudinally for 24 weeks following PDGF regenerative surgical treatment. Severe periodontal osseous defects were divided into one of three groups and treated at the time of surgery with either: Β -tricalcium phosphate (TCP) osteoconductive scaffold alone (active control), Β -TCP+0.3 mg/ml of rhPDGF-BB, or Β -TCP+1.0 mg/ml of rhPDGF-BB. WF was harvested and analysed for local ICTP levels by radioimmunoassay. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance and an area under the curve analysis (AUC). Results : The 0.3 and 1.0 mg/ml PDGF-BB treatment groups demonstrated increases in the amount of ICTP released locally for up to 6 weeks. There were statistically significant differences at the week 6 time point between Β -TCP carrier alone group versus 0.3 mg/ml PDGF-BB group ( p <0.05) and between Β -TCP alone versus the 1.0 mg/ml PDGF-BB-treated lesions ( p <0.03). The AUC analysis revealed no statistical differences amongst groups. Conclusion : This study corroborates the release of ICTP as a measure of active bone turnover following local delivery of PDGF-BB to periodontal osseous defects. The amount of ICTP released from the WF revealed an early increase for all treatment groups. Data from this study suggests that when PDGF-BB is delivered to promote periodontal tissue engineering of tooth-supporting osseous defects, there is a direct effect on ICTP released from the wound.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72239/1/j.1600-051X.2005.00870.x.pd

Platelet‐Derived Growth Factor Promotes Periodontal Regeneration in Localized Osseous Defects: 36‐Month Extension Results From a Randomized, Controlled, Double‐Masked Clinical Trial

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141092/1/jper0456.pd

Iron Overload and Diabetes Risk: A Shift From Glucose to Fatty Acid Oxidation and Increased Hepatic Glucose Production in a Mouse Model of Hereditary Hemochromatosis

OBJECTIVE Excess tissue iron levels are a risk factor for diabetes, but the mechanisms underlying the association are incompletely understood. We previously published that mice and humans with a form of hereditary iron overload, hemochromatosis, exhibit loss of beta-cell mass. This effect by itself is not sufficient, however, to fully explain the diabetes risk phenotype associated with all forms of iron overload. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We therefore examined glucose and fatty acid metabolism and hepatic glucose production in vivo and in vitro in a mouse model of hemochromatosis in which the gene most often mutated in the human disease, HFE, has been deleted (Hfe(-/-)). RESULTS Although Hfe(-/-) mice exhibit increased glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, glucose oxidation is decreased and the ratio of fatty acid to glucose oxidation is increased. On a high-fat diet, the Hfe(-/-) mice exhibit increased fatty acid oxidation and are hypermetabolic. The decreased glucose oxidation in skeletal muscle is due to decreased pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) enzyme activity related, in turn, to increased expression of PDH kinase 4 (pdk4). Increased substrate recycling to liver contributes to elevated hepatic glucose production in the Hfe(-/-) mice. CONCLUSIONS Increased hepatic glucose production and metabolic inflexibility, both of which are characteristics of type 2 diabetes, may contribute to the risk of diabetes with excessive tissue iron

Platelet‐Derived Growth Factor Stimulates Bone Fill and Rate of Attachment Level Gain: Results of a Large Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141430/1/jper2205.pd