Influence of Larval Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) Density on Piscivory and Growth of Young-of-Year Saugeye (Stizostedion vitreum x S. canadense)

Abstract in English and French.Growth and survival of young-of-year saugeye (Stizostedion vitreum x S. canadense) (stocked into Ohio reservoirs to create sport fisheries) are probably influenced by prey availability, variations in which may account for historically documented variability in stocking success. Because saugeye switch from a diet of zooplankton to fish once stocked, we sought to determine experimentally if saugeye size and available ichthyoplankton, i.e., larval gizzard shad (Borosoma cepediaraum), affected this switch and whether piscivory improved saugeye growth. In an enclosure experiment, saugeye (33.9 mm TL) immediately switched to piscivory when exposed to ichthyoplankton densities of 20 and l00m^-3, growing faster when more gizzard shad were available. In another enclosure experiment, saugeye 30-49 mm TL consumed 14-mm gizzard shad. In ponds (N = 4 ponds-treatment-1) containing zooplankton and chironornids, we compared saugeye growth with and without larval gizzard shad and found, as in the first enclosure experiment, that piscivory improved saugeye growth. Neither saugeye size nor ichthyoplankton density influenced how quickly saugeye switched to piscivory. We conclude that managers should stock saugeye >=30 mm 1-2 wk before peak ichthyoplankton densities to improve saugeye growth and survival by enhancing opportunities for exploitation of young-of-yeas gizzard shad.This work was funded by the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program (F-57-R, Evaluation of Fish Management Techniques), administered jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ohio Division of Wildlife

Survival benefit and additional value of preoperative chemoradiotherapy in resectable gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction cancer: a direct and adjusted indirect comparison meta-analysis

Several phase I/II studies of chemoradiotherapy for gastric cancer have reported promising results, but the significance of preoperative radiotherapy in addition to chemotherapy has not been proven. In this study, a systematic literature search was performed to capture survival and postoperative morbidity and mortality data in randomised clinical studies comparing preoperative (chemo)radiotherapy or chemotherapy versus surgery alone, or preoperative chemoradiotherapy versus chemotherapy for gastric and/or gastro-oesophageal junction (GOJ) cancer. Hazard ratios (HRs) for overall mortality were extracted from the original studies, individual patient data provided from the principal investigators of eligible studies or the earlier published meta-analysis. The incidences of postoperative morbidities and mortalities were also analysed. In total 18 studies were eligible and data were available from 14 of these. The meta-analysis on overall survival yielded HRs of 0.75 (95% CI 0.65–0.86, P < 0.001) for preoperative (chemo)radiotherapy and 0.83 (95% CI 0.67–1.01, P = 0.065) for preoperative chemotherapy when compared to surgery alone. Direct comparison between preoperative chemoradiotherapy and chemotherapy resulted in an HR of 0.71 (95% CI 0.45–1.12, P = 0.146). Combination of direct and adjusted indirect comparisons yielded an HR of 0.86 (95% CI 0.69–1.07, P = 0.171). No statistically significant differences were seen in the risk for postoperative morbidity or mortality between preoperative treatments and surgery alone, or preoperative (chemo)radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Preoperative (chemo)radiotherapy for gastric and GOJ cancer showed significant survival benefit over surgery alone. In comparisons between preoperative chemotherapy and (chemo)radiotherapy, there is a trend towards improved survival when adding radiotherapy, without increased postoperative morbidity or mortality

Empowerment or Engagement? Digital Health Technologies for Mental Healthcare

We argue that while digital health technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence, smartphones, and virtual reality) present significant opportunities for improving the delivery of healthcare, key concepts that are used to evaluate and understand their impact can obscure significant ethical issues related to patient engagement and experience. Specifically, we focus on the concept of empowerment and ask whether it is adequate for addressing some significant ethical concerns that relate to digital health technologies for mental healthcare. We frame these concerns using five key ethical principles for AI ethics (i.e. autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and explicability), which have their roots in the bioethical literature, in order to critically evaluate the role that digital health technologies will have in the future of digital healthcare

Cosmicflows-4

With Cosmicflows-4, distances are compiled for 55,877 galaxies gathered into 38,065 groups. Eight methodologies are employed, with the largest numbers coming from the correlations between the photometric and kinematic properties of spiral galaxies (TF) and elliptical galaxies (FP). Supernovae that arise from degenerate progenitors (SNIa) are an important overlapping component. Smaller contributions come from distance estimates from the surface brightness fluctuations of elliptical galaxies (SBF) and the luminosities and expansion rates of core collapse supernovae (SNII). Cepheid Period-Luminosity Relation (CPLR) and Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) observations founded on local stellar parallax measurements along with the geometric maser distance to NGC 4258 provide the absolute scaling of distances. The assembly of galaxies into groups is an important feature of the study in facilitating overlaps between methodologies. Merging between multiple contributions within a methodology and between methodologies is carried out with Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo procedures. The final assembly of distances is compatible with a value of the Hubble constant of $H_0=75.0$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ with the small statistical error $\pm$ $0.8$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ but a large potential systematic error ~3 km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. Peculiar velocities can be inferred from the measured distances. The interpretation of the field of peculiar velocities is complex because of large errors on individual components and invites analyses beyond the scope of this study.Comment: 38 pages, 24 figures. catalogs available at edd.ifa.hawaii.edu. Accepted to Ap

Measurement of triple gauge boson couplings from WW production at LEP energies up to 189 GeV

A measurement of triple gauge boson couplings is presented, based on W-pair data recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP during 1998 at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV with an integrated luminosity of 183 pb^-1. After combining with our previous measurements at centre-of-mass energies of 161-183 GeV we obtain k_g=0.97 +0.20 -0.16, g_1^z=0.991 +0.060 -0.057 and lambda_g=-0.110 +0.058 -0.055, where the errors include both statistical and systematic uncertainties and each coupling is determined by setting the other two couplings to their SM values. These results are consistent with the Standard Model expectations.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J.

Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at sqrt(s) ~189GeV

A search for neutral Higgs bosons has been performed with the OPAL detector at LEP, using approximately 170 pb-1 of e+e- collision data collected at sqrt(s)~189GeV. Searches have been performed for the Standard Model (SM) process e+e- to H0Z0 and the MSSM processes e+e- to H0Z0, A0h0. The searches are sensitive to the b b-bar and tau antitau decay modes of the Higgs bosons, and also to the MSSM decay mode h0 to A0A0. OPAL search results at lower centre-of-mass energies have been incorporated in the limits we set, which are valid at the 95% confidence level. For the SM Higgs boson, we obtain a lower mass bound of 91.0 GeV. In the MSSM, our limits are mh>74.8GeV and mA>76.5GeV, assuming tan(beta)>1, that the mixing of the scalar top quarks is either zero or maximal, and that the soft SUSY-breaking masses are 1 TeV. For the case of zero scalar top mixing, we exclude values of tan(beta) between 0.72 and 2.19.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures, submitted Euro. Phys. J.