Shallow Water Fish Communities and Coastal Development Stressors in the Lynnhaven River

Coastal development pressures in the Mid-Atlantic have been attributed to significant negative impacts to aquatic ecosystems. The Lynnhaven River watershed, located in the southernmost extent of the Chesapeake Bay and encompassing Virginia Beach, is an example of a shallow-water tidal system under intense development pressure that is confronted with multiple and often conflicting coastal management issues. Rapid development in and around the City of Virginia Beach over the past few decades has led to the loss of natural buffers and habitat (e.g. oyster, wetlands and seagrasses), increased sedimentation, and degraded water quality. The Lynnhaven Ecosystem Restoration Project, led by U.S Army Corps of Engineers, is an effort to collaborate with State and federal partners over a 5-year period to identify and implement the most effective strategies for improving water quality, restoring oysters and seagrasses, and managing siltation. Limited quantitative information exists on the nekton assemblages utilizing shallow water habitats, such as tidal creeks, within the Lynnhaven River restoration area. To document nekton composition, and to investigate potential effects of development stressors, such as dredging and shoreline modification, three sets of paired dredged and undredged tidal creeks were surveyed in the Western Branch of the Lynnhaven River. Fish communities were sampled with multiple gear types once per month for three months (August, September, October, 2006). Abundance, average length and weight, diversity, and fish community indices were estimated for each creek and time period, and dredged compared with undredged systems for resemblance in fish composition and abundance. Tidal creeks within Lynnhaven Bay support diverse and similar fish communities. Slight differences in community structure among creeks may be attributable to the location and size of watersheds. The effects of dredging were not apparent in fish community responses measured as abundance, biomass, diversity, and fish community indices. However, anthropogenic effects may be obscured in the shortterm by the background variability of physical and water quality features of Lynnhaven Bay estuary, and long-term or cumulative effects are not quantifiable due to the dearth of historic information on fish communities. Available historic information may indicate a shift in fish community structure that could be associated with coastal development pressures, such as shoreline alteration and habitat loss of wetlands and oyster reefs. Accordingly, restoration and preservation of critical nursery habitats may augment fish productivity in Lynnhaven Bay

Role of angiopoietin-like protein 3 in sugar-induced dyslipidemia in rhesus macaques: suppression by fish oil or RNAi.

Angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) inhibits lipid clearance and is a promising target for managing cardiovascular disease. Here we investigated the effects of a high-sugar (high-fructose) diet on circulating ANGPTL3 concentrations in rhesus macaques. Plasma ANGPTL3 concentrations increased ∼30% to 40% after 1 and 3 months of a high-fructose diet (both P < 0.001 vs. baseline). During fructose-induced metabolic dysregulation, plasma ANGPTL3 concentrations were positively correlated with circulating indices of insulin resistance [assessed with fasting insulin and the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR)], hypertriglyceridemia, adiposity (assessed as leptin), and systemic inflammation [C-reactive peptide (CRP)] and negatively correlated with plasma levels of the insulin-sensitizing hormone adropin. Multiple regression analyses identified a strong association between circulating APOC3 and ANGPTL3 concentrations. Higher baseline plasma levels of both ANGPTL3 and APOC3 were associated with an increased risk for fructose-induced insulin resistance. Fish oil previously shown to prevent insulin resistance and hypertriglyceridemia in this model prevented increases of ANGPTL3 without affecting systemic inflammation (increased plasma CRP and interleukin-6 concentrations). ANGPTL3 RNAi lowered plasma concentrations of ANGPTL3, triglycerides (TGs), VLDL-C, APOC3, and APOE. These decreases were consistent with a reduced risk of atherosclerosis. In summary, dietary sugar-induced increases of circulating ANGPTL3 concentrations after metabolic dysregulation correlated positively with leptin levels, HOMA-IR, and dyslipidemia. Targeting ANGPTL3 expression with RNAi inhibited dyslipidemia by lowering plasma TGs, VLDL-C, APOC3, and APOE levels in rhesus macaques

A Draft Regional Guidebook for Applying the Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Wet Hardwood Flats on Mineral Soils in the Coastal Plain of Virginia

The hydrogeomorphic (HGM) approach applies functional indices to the assessment of functions by comparing functions across a suite of reference sites that range from severely altered to unaltered. This Draft Regional Guidebook is the result of applying the HGM approach to Hardwood Mineral Flats in the coastal plain of Virginia. In developing the Draft Regional Guidebook, various models from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, as well as, input from a workshop held in Wakefield, Virginia on May 13-14, 1998 were used to provide a template for model development. The workshop was attended by hydrologists, biogeochemists, soil scientists, wildlife biologists, and botanists from the public, private and academic sectors who have extensive knowledge of Hardwood Mineral Flats (Table 1 ). This Draft Regional Guidebook incorporates material from the Regional Guidebook for Applying the Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Wet Pine Flats on Mineral Soils in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains by Richard Rheinhardt, Martha Rheinhardt, and Mark Brinson (1999). Excerpted material includes the overview of the HGM approach and the hydrology section (since the approach utilized for pine flats is also appropriate for hardwood flats). Additional input was gained from the Draft Functional Assessment for Deciduous Mineral Flat Wetlands, Version 5 - 1999 by the Natural Resources Conservation Service staff. Valuable suggestions from end-users of other HGM guidebooks regarding the pros and cons of various sampling methods were considered and incorporated into this draft guidebook where possible. An attempt was made to incorporate data that is routinely collected as part of wetlands delineations to reduce duplication of field data and expedite the assessment procedure. The field sampling time for this assessment will depend on the size of the site, and the skill level and number of personnel. The sampling assessment protocol can be conducted by one person (though sampling of microtopography will require the use of a measured stake that can be installed temporarily in the ground). Two people can collect field data on a three- plot site in three to four hours

Targeted “Hotspot” Removal of Derelict Blue Crab Traps (VA, MD)

In the winter of 2019/2020, five commercial watermen spent a cumulative total of 120 removal days on the water and collected 971 derelict blue crab traps which contained 985 blue crabs, 239 fish (oyster toad fish, black sea bass, flounder, pig fish, striped bass, speckled trout, perch, butterfish), 31 diamond back terrapin (a listed “species of concern”), and one duck. A majority of the traps removed were metal as opposed to vinyl coated (83% and 17%, respectively). Bycatch was present in 43% (346) of metal traps and 44% (72) of vinyl coated traps removed. On average, the instantaneous capture rates were similar for both trap types with an average of 1.0 crab captured per trap and 0.25 fish captured per trap. In addition, 10 abandoned eel traps were removed which contained 2 blue crabs, 3 fish, and 1eel

E-letter: Follow-up after arthroplasty of the hip and knee: Are we over-servicing or under-caring?

© 2018 The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery. The number of arthroplasties of the hip and knee is predicted to increase rapidly during the next 20 years. Accompanying this is the dilemma of how to follow-up these patients appropriately. Current guidelines recommend long-term follow-up to identify patients with aseptic loosening, which can occur more than a decade postoperatively. The current guidelines and practices of orthopaedic surgeons vary widely. Existing models take up much clinical time and are expensive. Pilot studies using 'virtual' clinics and advanced-practice physiotherapists have shown promise in decreasing the time and costs for orthopaedic surgeons and patients. This review discusses current practices and future trends in the follow-up of patients who have an arthroplasty

Fabrication of Ankle-Foot Orthoses using Selective Laser Sintering Technology

Passive dynamic ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) are often prescribed to improve gait performance for those with various neuromuscular disorders. Designs and materials used for AFOs range from simple polypropylene braces to advanced custom carbon fiber dynamic AFOs that passively store and release mechanical energy during gait. AFO designs vary in the shape and length of the foot component as well as the stiffness and length of the tibial component, depending on the desired functional outcomes. However, the current fabrication technology is not ideally suited for refined customization of AFO characteristics to optimize performance, or for rapid lowcost, high volume manufacturing and global distribution. A promising engineering solution for producing customized dynamic AFOs is the application of Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), which is a versatile manufacturing technology that provides advantages over traditional methods and has already been successfully used to fabricate prosthetic sockets for lower limb amputees (e.g., Faustini et al., 2006). Thus, the primary objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of using an SLSbased design, analysis and manufacturing framework to produce subject-specific passive dynamic AFOs in a cost-effective manner

Exposure to greenspaces could reduce the high global burden of pain

Available online 08 May 2020Painful conditions are among the leading causes of years lived with disability. To reduce this burden, novel, cost-effective and accessible interventions are required. We propose that greenspace exposure may be one such intervention. Drawing on evidence from neuroscience, physiology, microbiology, and psychology, we articulate how and why exposure to greenspaces could improve pain outcomes and reduce the high global burden of pain. Greenspace exposure potentially provides opportunities to benefit from known or proposed health-enhancing components of nature, such as environmental microbiomes, phytoncides, negative air ions, sunlight, and the sights and sounds of nature itself. We review the established and potential links between these specific exposures and pain outcomes. While further research is required to determine possible causal links between greenspace exposure and pain outcomes, we suggest that there is already sufficient evidence to help reduce the global burden of pain by improving access and exposure to quality greenspaces.Jessica Stanhope, Martin F. Breed, Philip Weinstei

Gene regulation by CcpA and catabolite repression explored by RNA-Seq in Streptococcus mutans

A bacterial transcriptome of the primary etiological agent of human dental caries, Streptococcus mutans, is described here using deep RNA sequencing. Differential expression profiles of the transcriptome in the context of carbohydrate source, and of the presence or absence of the catabolite control protein CcpA, revealed good agreement with previously-published DNA microarrays. In addition, RNA-seq considerably expanded the repertoire of DNA sequences that showed statistically-significant changes in expression as a function of the presence of CcpA and growth carbohydrate. Novel mRNAs and small RNAs were identified, some of which were differentially expressed in conditions tested in this study, suggesting that the function of the S. mutans CcpA protein and the influence of carbohydrate sources has a more substantial impact on gene regulation than previously appreciated. Likewise, the data reveal that the mechanisms underlying prioritization of carbohydrate utilization are more diverse than what is currently understood. Collectively, this study demonstrates the validity of RNA-seq as a potentially more-powerful alternative to DNA microarrays in studying gene regulation in S. mutans because of the capacity of this approach to yield a more precise landscape of transcriptomic changes in response to specific mutations and growth conditions