Caribbean Corals in Crisis: Record Thermal Stress, Bleaching, and Mortality in 2005

BACKGROUND The rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Satellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers' field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior efforts in detail and extent, and provided a new standard for documenting the effects of bleaching and for testing nowcast and forecast products. Collaborators from 22 countries undertook the most comprehensive documentation of basin-scale bleaching to date and found that over 80% of corals bleached and over 40% died at many sites. The most severe bleaching coincided with waters nearest a western Atlantic warm pool that was centered off the northern end of the Lesser Antilles. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Thermal stress during the 2005 event exceeded any observed from the Caribbean in the prior 20 years, and regionally-averaged temperatures were the warmest in over 150 years. Comparison of satellite data against field surveys demonstrated a significant predictive relationship between accumulated heat stress (measured using NOAA Coral Reef Watch's Degree Heating Weeks) and bleaching intensity. This severe, widespread bleaching and mortality will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for reef ecosystems and suggests a troubled future for tropical marine ecosystems under a warming climate.This work was partially supported by salaries from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program to the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program authors. NOAA provided funding to Caribbean ReefCheck investigators to undertake surveys of bleaching and mortality. Otherwise, no funding from outside authors' institutions was necessary for the undertaking of this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Nociceptors: a phylogenetic view

The ability to react to environmental change is crucial for the survival of an organism and an essential prerequisite is the capacity to detect and respond to aversive stimuli. The importance of having an inbuilt “detect and protect” system is illustrated by the fact that most animals have dedicated sensory afferents which respond to noxious stimuli called nociceptors. Should injury occur there is often sensitization, whereby increased nociceptor sensitivity and/or plasticity of nociceptor-related neural circuits acts as a protection mechanism for the afflicted body part. Studying nociception and nociceptors in different model organisms has demonstrated that there are similarities from invertebrates right through to humans. The development of technology to genetically manipulate organisms, especially mice, has led to an understanding of some of the key molecular players in nociceptor function. This review will focus on what is known about nociceptors throughout the Animalia kingdom and what similarities exist across phyla; especially at the molecular level of ion channels

Impact of the 2009 (7th Edition) AJCC Melanoma Staging System in the Classification of Thin Cutaneous Melanomas

Context. The 7th (2009) edition of the AJCC melanoma staging system incorporates tumor (Breslow) thickness, MR, and ulceration in stratifying T1 primary melanomas. Compared to the prior 6th (2001) edition, MR has replaced CL for thin melanomas. Objective. We sought to identify and report differences of the classification of thin melanomas as well as outcome of SLNB in patients according to the 6th and 7th editions at our institution. Results. 106 patients were identified with thin melanomas verified by wide excision. 31 of 106 thin melanomas were reclassified according to the 7th edition of the AJCC. Of those 31, 15 CL II/III patients (6th edition T1a) were reclassified as T1b based on the presence of mitoses while 16 CL IV patients (6th edition T1b) were categorized as T1a based on the absence of mitoses. 26/31 reclassified patients underwent SLNB, and all were negative. Patients with thin melanoma and a +SLNB (N = 3) were all classified as T1b according to both staging systems. Conclusions. In our experience, 29% of thin melanomas were reclassified according to the 7th edition with similar proportions of patients re-distributed as T1a (14%) and T1b (15%). Cases with +SLN corresponded with T1b lesions in both 6th and 7th editions