Echinoderms have bilateral tendencies

Echinoderms take many forms of symmetry. Pentameral symmetry is the major form and the other forms are derived from it. However, the ancestors of echinoderms, which originated from Cambrian period, were believed to be bilaterians. Echinoderm larvae are bilateral during their early development. During embryonic development of starfish and sea urchins, the position and the developmental sequence of each arm are fixed, implying an auxological anterior/posterior axis. Starfish also possess the Hox gene cluster, which controls symmetrical development. Overall, echinoderms are thought to have a bilateral developmental mechanism and process. In this article, we focused on adult starfish behaviors to corroborate its bilateral tendency. We weighed their central disk and each arm to measure the position of the center of gravity. We then studied their turning-over behavior, crawling behavior and fleeing behavior statistically to obtain the center of frequency of each behavior. By joining the center of gravity and each center of frequency, we obtained three behavioral symmetric planes. These behavioral bilateral tendencies might be related to the A/P axis during the embryonic development of the starfish. It is very likely that the adult starfish is, to some extent, bilaterian because it displays some bilateral propensity and has a definite behavioral symmetric plane. The remainder of bilateral symmetry may have benefited echinoderms during their evolution from the Cambrian period to the present

Updating known distribution models for forecasting climate change impact on endangered species

To plan endangered species conservation and to design adequate management programmes, it is necessary to predict their distributional response to climate change, especially under the current situation of rapid change. However, these predictions are customarily done by relating de novo the distribution of the species with climatic conditions with no regard of previously available knowledge about the factors affecting the species distribution. We propose to take advantage of known species distribution models, but proceeding to update them with the variables yielded by climatic models before projecting them to the future. To exemplify our proposal, the availability of suitable habitat across Spain for the endangered Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) was modelled by updating a pre-existing model based on current climate and topography to a combination of different general circulation models and Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. Our results suggested that the main threat for this endangered species would not be climate change, since all forecasting models show that its distribution will be maintained and increased in mainland Spain for all the XXI century. We remark on the importance of linking conservation biology with distribution modelling by updating existing models, frequently available for endangered species, considering all the known factors conditioning the species’ distribution, instead of building new models that are based on climate change variables only.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and FEDER (project CGL2009-11316/BOS

Short-term acclimation in adults does not predict offspring acclimation potential to hypoxia

Abstract The prevalence of hypoxic areas in coastal waters is predicted to increase and lead to reduced biodiversity. While the adult stages of many estuarine invertebrates can cope with short periods of hypoxia, it remains unclear whether that ability is present if animals are bred and reared under chronic hypoxia. We firstly investigated the effect of moderate, short-term environmental hypoxia (40% air saturation for one week) on metabolic performance in adults of an estuarine amphipod, and the fitness consequences of prolonged exposure. We then reared the offspring of hypoxia-exposed parents under hypoxia, and assessed their oxyregulatory ability under declining oxygen tensions as juveniles and adults. Adults from the parental generation were able to acclimate their metabolism to hypoxia after one week, employing mechanisms typically associated with prolonged exposure. Their progeny, however, did not develop the adult pattern of respiratory regulation when reared under chronic hypoxia, but instead exhibited a poorer oxyregulatory ability than their parents. We conclude that species apparently hypoxia-tolerant when tested in short-term experiments, could be physiologically compromised as adults if they develop under hypoxia. Consequently, we propose that the increased prevalence of hypoxia in coastal regions will have marked effects in some species currently considered hypoxia tolerant

Prediction of two month modified Rankin Scale with an ordinal prediction model in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage

Background. Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) is a devastating event with a frequently disabling outcome. Our aim was to develop a prognostic model to predict an ordinal clinical outcome at two months in patients with aSAH. Methods. We studied patients enrolled in the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT), a randomized multicentre trial to compare coiling and clipping in aSAH patients. Several models were explored to estimate a patient's outcome according to the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at two months after aSAH. Our final model was validated internally with bootstrapping techniques. Results. The study population comprised of 2,128 patients of whom 159 patients died within 2 months (8%). Multivariable proportional odds analysis identified World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) grade as the most important predictor, followed by age, sex, lumen size of the aneurysm, Fisher grade, vasospasm on angiography, and treatment modality. The model discriminated moderately between those with poor and good mRS scores (c statistic = 0.65), with minor optimism according to bootstrap re-sampling (optimism corrected c statistic = 0.64). Conclusion. We presented a calibrated and internally validated ordinal prognostic model to predict two month mRS in aSAH patients who survived the early stage up till a treatment decision.

Multiple populations in globular clusters. Lessons learned from the Milky Way globular clusters

Recent progress in studies of globular clusters has shown that they are not simple stellar populations, being rather made of multiple generations. Evidence stems both from photometry and spectroscopy. A new paradigm is then arising for the formation of massive star clusters, which includes several episodes of star formation. While this provides an explanation for several features of globular clusters, including the second parameter problem, it also opens new perspectives about the relation between globular clusters and the halo of our Galaxy, and by extension of all populations with a high specific frequency of globular clusters, such as, e.g., giant elliptical galaxies. We review progress in this area, focusing on the most recent studies. Several points remain to be properly understood, in particular those concerning the nature of the polluters producing the abundance pattern in the clusters and the typical timescale, the range of cluster masses where this phenomenon is active, and the relation between globular clusters and other satellites of our Galaxy.Comment: In press (The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review

An Exploratory Study of Primary Care Physician Decision Making Regarding Total Joint Arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: For patients to experience the benefits of total joint arthroplasty (TJA), primary care physicians (PCPs) ought to know when to refer a patient for TJA and/or optimize nonsurgical treatment options for osteoarthritis (OA). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the ability of physicians to make clinical treatment decisions. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A survey, using ten clinical vignettes, of PCPs in Indiana. MEASUREMENTS: A test score (range 0 to 10) was computed based on the number of correct answers consistent with published explicit appropriateness criteria for TJA. We also collected demographic characteristics and physicians’ perceived success rate of TJA in terms of pain relief and functional improvement. RESULTS: There were 149 PCPs (response rate = 61%) who participated. The mean test score was 6.5 ± 1.5. Only 17% correctly identified the published success rate of TJA (i.e., ≥90%). In multivariate analysis, the only physician-related variables associated with test score were ethnicity, board status, and perceived success rate of TJA. Physicians who were white (P = .001), board-certified (P = .04), and perceived a higher success rate of TJA (P = .004) had higher test scores. CONCLUSIONS: PCP knowledge with respect to guideline-concordant care for OA could be improved, specifically in deciding when to consider TJA versus optimizing nonsurgical options. Moreover, the perception of the success rate of TJA may influence a clinician’s decision making

Oxygen uptake kinetics in trained adolescent females

Little evidence exists with regard to the effect that exercise training has upon oxygen uptake kinetics in adolescent females. PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to compare [Formula: see text] and muscle deoxygenation kinetics in a group of trained (Tr) and untrained (Utr) female adolescents. METHOD: Twelve trained (6.4 ± 0.9 years training, 10.3 ± 1.4 months per year training, 5.2 ± 2.0 h per week) adolescent female soccer players (age 14.6 ± 0.7 years) were compared to a group (n = 8) of recreationally active adolescent girls (age 15.1 ± 0.6 years) of similar maturity status. Subjects underwent two, 6-min exercise transitions at a workload equivalent to 80 % of lactate threshold from a 3-min baseline of 10 W. All subjects had a passive rest period of 1 h between each square-wave transition. Breath-by-breath oxygen uptake and muscle deoxygenation were measured throughout and were modelled via a mono-exponential decay with a delay relative to the start of exercise. RESULT: Peak [Formula: see text] was significantly (p < 0.05) greater in the Tr compared to the Utr (Tr: 43.2 ± 3.2 mL kg(-1 )min(-1) vs. Utr: 34.6 ± 4.0 mL kg(-1 )min(-1)). The [Formula: see text] time constant was significantly (p < 0.05) faster in the Tr compared to the Utr (Tr: 26.3 ± 6.9 s vs. Utr: 35.1 ± 11.5 s). There was no inter-group difference in the time constant for muscle deoxygenation kinetics (Tr: 8.5 ± 3.0 s vs. Utr: 12.4 ± 8.3 s); a large effect size, however, was demonstrated (-0.804). CONCLUSION: Exercise training and/or genetic self-selection results in faster kinetics in trained adolescent females. The faster [Formula: see text] kinetics seen in the trained group may result from enhanced muscle oxygen utilisation

Mobility, Balance and Falls in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of information concerning the relation between objective measures of gait and balance and fall history in persons with MS (PwMS). This investigation assessed the relation between demographic, clinical, mobility and balance metrics and falls history in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: 52 ambulatory persons with MS (PwMS) participated in the investigation. All persons provided demographic information including fall history over the last 12 months. Disease status was assessed with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Walking speed, coordination, endurance and postural control were quantified with a multidimensional mobility battery. RESULTS: Over 51% of the participants fell in the previous year with 79% of these people being suffering recurrent falls. Overall, fallers were older, had a greater prevalence of assistive devices use, worse disability, decreased walking endurance, and greater postural sway velocity with eyes closed compared to non-fallers. Additionally, fallers had greater impairment in cerebellar, sensory, pyramidal, and bladder/bowel subscales of the EDSS. CONCLUSIONS: The current observations suggest that PwMS who are older, more disabled, utilize an assistive device, have decreased walking coordination and endurance and have diminished balance have fallen in the previous year. This suggests that individuals who meet these criteria need to be carefully monitored for future falls. Future research is needed to determine a prospective model of falls specific to PwMS. Additionally, the utility of interventions aimed at reducing falls and fall risk in PwMS needs to be established

An assessment of air-sea heat fluxes from ocean and coupled reanalyses

Sixteen monthly air–sea heat flux products from global ocean/coupled reanalyses are compared over 1993–2009 as part of the Ocean Reanalysis Intercomparison Project (ORA-IP). Objectives include assessing the global heat closure, the consistency of temporal variability, comparison with other flux products, and documenting errors against in situ flux measurements at a number of OceanSITES moorings. The ensemble of 16 ORA-IP flux estimates has a global positive bias over 1993–2009 of 4.2 ± 1.1 W m−2. Residual heat gain (i.e., surface flux + assimilation increments) is reduced to a small positive imbalance (typically, +1–2 W m−2). This compensation between surface fluxes and assimilation increments is concentrated in the upper 100 m. Implied steady meridional heat transports also improve by including assimilation sources, except near the equator. The ensemble spread in surface heat fluxes is dominated by turbulent fluxes (>40 W m−2 over the western boundary currents). The mean seasonal cycle is highly consistent, with variability between products mostly <10 W m−2. The interannual variability has consistent signal-to-noise ratio (~2) throughout the equatorial Pacific, reflecting ENSO variability. Comparisons at tropical buoy sites (10°S–15°N) over 2007–2009 showed too little ocean heat gain (i.e., flux into the ocean) in ORA-IP (up to 1/3 smaller than buoy measurements) primarily due to latent heat flux errors in ORA-IP. Comparisons with the Stratus buoy (20°S, 85°W) over a longer period, 2001–2009, also show the ORA-IP ensemble has 16 W m−2 smaller net heat gain, nearly all of which is due to too much latent cooling caused by differences in surface winds imposed in ORA-IP

Runoff sources and land cover change in the Amazon : an end-member mixing analysis from small watersheds

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Biogeochemistry 105 (2011): 7-18, doi:10.1007/s10533-011-9597-8.The flowpaths by which water moves from watersheds to streams has important consequences for the runoff dynamics and biogeochemistry of surface waters in the Amazon Basin. The clearing of Amazon forest to cattle pasture has the potential to change runoff sources to streams by shifting runoff to more surficial flow pathways. We applied end member mixing analysis (EMMA) to ten small watersheds throughout the Amazon in which solute composition of streamwater and groundwater, overland flow, soil solution, throughfall and rainwater were measured, largely as part of the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia. We found a range in the extent to which streamwater samples fell within the mixing space determined by potential flowpath end members, suggesting that some water sources to streams were not sampled. The contribution of overland flow as a source of stream flow was greater in pasture watersheds than in forest watersheds of comparable size. Increases in overland flow contribution to pasture streams ranged in some cases from 0% in forest to 27 to 28% in pasture and were broadly consistent with results from hydrometric sampling of Amazon forest and pasture watersheds that indicate 17- to 18-fold increase in the overland flow contribution to stream flow in pastures. In forest, overland flow was an important contribution to stream flow (45 to 57%) in ephemeral streams where flows were dominated by stormflow. Overland flow contribution to stream flow decreased in importance with increasing watershed area, from 21 to 57% in forest and 60 to 89% in pasture watersheds 100 ha. Soil solution contributions to stream flow were similar across watershed area and groundwater inputs generally increased in proportion to decreases in overland flow. Application of EMMA across multiple watersheds indicated patterns across gradients of stream size and land cover that were consistent with patterns determined by detailed hydrometric sampling.This work was supported by National Science Foundation (DEB-0315656, DEB-0640661), the NASA LBA Program (NCC5-686, NCC5-69, NCC5-705, NNG066E88A) and by grants from Brazilian agencies FAPESP (03/13172-2) and CNPq (20199/2005-5)