Seasonal occurrence of balanomorph barnacle nauplius larvae in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 392 (2010): 125-128, doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2010.04.016.Plankton samples taken along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and in Bransfield Strait show widespread occurrence of Bathylasma corolliforme nauplius larvae during the austral spring, mid-October to the third week of December. During autumn, between the first week of May and early June there was a complete absence of balanomorph nauplii. This evidence shows periodicity in reproduction. There is a seemingly close correlation between the presence of these nauplii and the published data on phytoplankton biomass and seawater surface temperature.The research was supported by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs

The relationship between pelagic larval duration and range size in tropical reef fishes: a synthetic analysis

We address the conflict in earlier results regarding the relationship between dispersal potential and range size. We examine all published pelagic larval duration data for tropical reef fishes. Larval duration is a convenient surrogate for dispersal potential in marine species that are sedentary as adults and that therefore only experience significant dispersal during their larval phase. Such extensive quantitative dispersal data are only available for fishes and thus we use a unique dataset to examine the relationship between dispersal potential and range size. We find that dispersal potential and range size are positively correlated only in the largest ocean basin, the Indo-Pacific, and that this pattern is driven primarily by the spatial distribution of habitat and dispersal barriers. Furthermore, the relationship strengthens at higher taxonomic levels, suggesting an evolutionary mechanism. We document a negative correlation between species richness and larval duration at the family level in the Indo-Pacific, implying that speciation rate may be negatively related to dispersal potential. If increased speciation rate within a taxonomic group results in smaller range sizes within that group, speciation rate could regulate the association between range size and dispersal potential

Differences in craving for cannabis between schizophrenia patients using risperidone, olanzapine or clozapine

Substance abuse and psychotic disorders have a high rate of comorbidity. Both disorders are associated with changes in the dopaminergic transmission in the mesocorticolimbic pathways of the brain. Since antipsychotic medications interact with the dopamine receptors in these pathways, these medications could affect craving for substances. In the current study, the effect of clozapine (n = 27, mean dosage 350 mg), risperidone (n = 54, mean dosage 3.46 mg) and olanzapine (n = 60, mean dosage 13.78 mg) on subjective craving for cannabis was compared in 123 patients with cannabis dependence and psychotic disorder. Patients treated with risperidone reported significantly more craving compared with patients treated with clozapine (Z = -3.19, p = .001) or olanzapine (Z = -2.24, p = .025). No significant differences in craving between clozapine and olanzapine were found. These results are in concordance with findings in the literature on this subject and could be explained by differences in three dopamine mediated mechanisms of these compounds: 1) occupancy rate of dopamine D(2) receptors, 2) dissociation rate of dopamine D(2) receptors, 3) D(1)/D(2) occupancy ratio. Risperidone and clozapine show a maximal difference in D(2) receptor occupancy rate, dissociation rate and D(1)/D(2) ratio. Olanzapine is intermediate between risperidone and clozapine in these characteristics