A Tale of Four “Carp”: Invasion Potential and Ecological Niche Modeling

. We assessed the geographic potential of four Eurasian cyprinid fishes (common carp, tench, grass carp, black carp) as invaders in North America via ecological niche modeling (ENM). These “carp” represent four stages of invasion of the continent (a long-established invader with a wide distribution, a long-established invader with a limited distribution, a spreading invader whose distribution is expanding, and a newly introduced potential invader that is not yet established), and as such illustrate the progressive reduction of distributional disequilibrium over the history of species' invasions.We used ENM to estimate the potential distributional area for each species in North America using models based on native range distribution data. Environmental data layers for native and introduced ranges were imported from state, national, and international climate and environmental databases. Models were evaluated using independent validation data on native and invaded areas. We calculated omission error for the independent validation data for each species: all native range tests were highly successful (all omission values <7%); invaded-range predictions were predictive for common and grass carp (omission values 8.8 and 19.8%, respectively). Model omission was high for introduced tench populations (54.7%), but the model correctly identified some areas where the species has been successful; distributional predictions for black carp show that large portions of eastern North America are at risk.ENMs predicted potential ranges of carp species accurately even in regions where the species have not been present until recently. ENM can forecast species' potential geographic ranges with reasonable precision and within the short screening time required by proposed U.S. invasive species legislation

Coagulation changes in elective surgery and trauma.

Although antithrombin-3 (AT-3), a naturally-occurring inhibitor of thrombin, has been associated with a variety of thrombotic disorders, it has been studied in surgery and trauma. Three groups of patients were studied: Group I (20 patients) who underwent elective surgery; Group II (ten patients) who sustained moderate trauma: Group III (ten patients) who sustained severe trauma. Hypercoagulability panels were run preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively. Nine units of banked blood were also tested. The coagulation pattern changed during the stress, becoming hypercoagulable in proportion to the stress endured by the patient. In the severe trauma group, AT-3 fell significantly (p less than or equal to 0.002) in all patients, indicating extreme hypercoagulability. Three of these patients sustained thrombosis and loss of the involved extremity. The banked blood was found to be hypercoagulable. It appears that patients who sustain severe trauma, have multiple transfusions, and major operative procedures are at increased risk of developing postoperative thrombotic complications, including loss of limb

Analysis of failures after vascularized fibular grafting in femoral head necrosis

Evaluation of graft-host bone interactions after failed vascularized fibular grafting of femoral head necrosis may elucidate the reasons for failure of the procedure. According to the authors' study, the vascularized fibula implanted into the femoral head before collapse has the potential for restructuring the major segment of the affected head and delaying joint degeneration for many years if circumferential graft-host union is established. Asymmetric bonehealing and non-union between the graft and the necroticsubchondral bone in the weight-bearing area lead to failure, progression of symptoms, and subsequent early hip replacement