Fossil And Recent Mountain Suckers, Pantosteus, And Significance Of Introgression In Catostomin Fishes Of Western United States

Catostomus is the most diverse genus of fishes in western North America. Over thirty species of Catostomus and other catostomins have been classified in five recent genera, Catostomus, Deltistes, Chasmistes, Xyrauchen, and Pantosteus. Introgressed evolutionary history is apparent in all five western catostomin genera. Mountain suckers, subgenus Pantosteus, are small and medium-sized fishes that live in moderate-gradient streams in the foothills and mountains, from the Black Hills to Pacific coastal drainages and from western Canada to central Mexico. Pantosteus is distinct in its molecular as well as morphological traits, but it is polyphyletic because Catostomus (Pantosteus) columbianus shares unique, derived morphological traits with Pantosteus and mtDNA with Catostomus (s.s.), thereby identifying two genera in its ancestry. We recognize three subgroups of Pantosteus: C. (P.) discobolus group of six species is distributed in the Snake River, eastern and southern Basin and Range Province to central Mexico, the Colorado Plateau, and the Los Angeles Basin. The C. (P.) platyrhynchus species group consists of four species, found in the Columbia, Snake, Upper Missouri, Upper Green, Lahontan, and Bonneville basins. Catostomus (P.) columbianus is a separate subgroup. The Pantosteus fossil record is sparse. We describe three Miocene records of the C. (P.) discobolus group from Oregon and Washington, three Pliocene species from Idaho and Nevada, and two Pleistocene records--from the Rio Grande rift in Colorado and from the Missouri River drainage of Kansas. The Kansas record suggests a much wider range for the species during glacial periods. Miocene relatives of C. (P.) discobolus from three sites in Oregon and Washington, 11.5-8.5 million years old, are morphologically advanced suckers. The Pliocene species from southern Nevada is intermediate between its modern relatives in the surrounding Great Basin and Colorado Plateau. At least one of the two Pliocene mountain suckers in the Snake River drainage was probably involved in the hybrid ancestry of C. (P.) columbianus. The general Pantosteus pattern suggests an origin in the northwest Great Basin and Columbia Plateau, with a history of dispersal, isolation, and evolution southward through Basin and Range drainages to the Colorado Plateau and Mexico, and eastward across the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri drainage. Mountain suckers are adapted to moderate-gradient mountain streams and to scraping food from rocky substrate.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/122717/1/OP 743.pd

Applying mixed-effects growth models to back-calculated size-at-age data for Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)

We fit growth models to back-calculated size-at-age data for Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) captured in the western Atlantic management area to inform alternative growth scenarios within the current management framework of the species. The Modified-Fry function was the best-performing of three back-calculation functions based on a leave-one-out cross-validation for within-cohort comparisons. We fit multiple growth models to the back-calculated growth trajectories, and demonstrated that growth parameters were highly sensitive to whether the lack of independence between back-calculated lengths from each individual was accounted for by the model. Non-linear mixed-effects modelling provides a suitable approach for accounting for this lack of independence and the autocorrelation between back-calculated lengths from the same individual. We further demonstrated the utility of mixed-effects models for predicting future growth of individuals using a forecasting test. We used this modelling approach to demonstrate that male bluefin tuna had greater estimated asymptotic length than females, and found that there was no significant difference in growth parameters between individuals assigned to genetically distinct spawning stocks.1,58

A Decision Analysis Evaluating Screening for Kidney Cancer Using Focused Renal Ultrasound

Background Screening for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been identified as a key research priority; however, no randomised control trials have been performed. Value of information analysis can determine whether further research on this topic is of value. Objective To determine (1) whether current evidence suggests that screening is potentially cost effective and, if so, (2) in which age/sex groups, (3) identify evidence gaps, and (4) estimate the value of further research to close those gaps. Design, setting, and participants A decision model was developed evaluating screening in asymptomatic individuals in the UK. A National Health Service perspective was adopted. Intervention A single focused renal ultrasound scan compared with standard of care (no screening). Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Expected lifetime costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), discounted at 3.5% per annum. Results and limitations Given a prevalence of RCC of 0.34% (0.18–0.54%), screening 60-yr-old men resulted in an ICER of £18 092/QALY (€22 843/QALY). Given a prevalence of RCC of 0.16% (0.08–0.25%), screening 60-yr-old women resulted in an ICER of £37 327/QALY (€47 129/QALY). In the one-way sensitivity analysis, the ICER was <£30 000/QALY as long as the prevalence of RCC was ≥0.25% for men and ≥0.2% for women at age 60 yr. Given the willingness to pay a threshold of £30 000/QALY (€37 878/QALY), the population-expected values of perfect information were £194 million (€244 million) and £97 million (€123 million) for 60-yr-old men and women, respectively. The expected value of perfect parameter information suggests that the prevalence of RCC and stage shift associated with screening are key research priorities. Conclusions Current evidence suggests that one-off screening of 60-yr-old men is potentially cost effective and that further research into this topic would be of value to society. Patient summary Economic modelling suggests that screening 60-yr-old men for kidney cancer using ultrasound may be a good use of resources and that further research on this topic should be performed

Classification Models of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and fatal interstitial lung disease with no current cure. Progression of IPF is difficult to predict as the clinical course can be highly variable and range from a rapidly deteriorating state to a relatively stable state, or may be characterized by a slow progressive decline. Therefore, the need for an accurate diagnosis and improved tools for monitoring and managing IPF is of paramount importance, all for understanding the mitochondrial structure and the function played in the IPF. Mitochondrial DNA copy number (MtDCN) has been correlated with mortality in IPF patients and is a source of potentially clinically relevant information. We investigated the effects of various expiratory variables on MtDCN via multiple linear regression models. The models and their theoretical framework are presented under a descriptive and then analytic approach to investigate the complex and impact causes of IPF. Generalized linear model (GLM) based boosting is fitted before and after imputing the missing data. The Bayesian Hierarchical logistic models with categorical response variables that were created using carefully chosen cut-off points to classify the patients. This research provides an opportunity for novel patient surveillances

The ‘digital glimpse’ as imagining home

This paper proposes the concept of the ‘digital glimpse’, which develops the existing framing of imaginative travel. Here it articulates the experiences of mobile workers digitally connecting into family life and everyday rituals when physically absent with work. The recent embedding of digital communication technologies into personal relationships and family life is reconfiguring how absence is experienced and practiced by workers on the move, and through this, new digital paradigms for life on-the-move are emerging. This paper explores how such social relationships are maintained at-a-distance through digital technology – using evidence from qualitative interviews with mobile workers and their families. Digital technology now enables expressive forms of ‘virtual travel’, including video calling, picture sharing, and instant messaging. This has implications for the ways in which families can manage the social and relational pressures of being apart. Experiences of imaginative travel created through novel media can enrich the experience and give a greater sense of connection for both those who are at home and those who are away. While technology is limited in its ability to replicate a sense of co-presence, ‘digital glimpses’ are an emergent set of sociotechnical practices that can reduce the negative impact of absence on family relationships

Refining tree recruitment models

We used a micrometeorological dispersal model to simulate seed and seedling distributions derived from subcanopy balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) source trees in a trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) dominated forest. Our first objective was to determine the effect of substituting basal area for cone production as a proxy for seed output. The results showed that the r2 from the regression of predicted versus observed densities increased by ∼5% for seeds and ∼15% for seedling simulations. Our second objective was to determine the effects of changing the median horizontal wind speed. The median speed in this forest environment varies according to the proportion of leaves abscised. For values of the median expected wind speed between the extremes of leafless and full-canopy forests, the r2 of predicted versus observed varied between 0.35 and 0.49 for seeds and between 0.33 and 0.62 for seedling simulations. We demonstrated that the simple one-dimensional model can have added precision if the dispersal parameters are chosen so as to allow more fine-scale variation

An Experimental Approach To Evaluate the Impact of Impaired Transport Function on Hepatobiliary Drug Disposition Using Mrp2-Deficient TR – Rat Sandwich-Cultured Hepatocytes in Combination with Bcrp Knockdown

Breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) are members of the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter family located in the canalicular membrane of hepatocytes that mediate biliary excretion of many drugs and endogenous compounds. BCRP and MRP2 have overlapping substrate profiles. Predicting drug disposition in the setting of altered transport function has important clinical significance. This investigation was designed to establish an in vitro model system to evaluate the impact of impaired Mrp2 and Bcrp function on hepatobiliary drug disposition. To achieve Bcrp knockdown by RNA interference (RNAi), sandwich-cultured hepatocytes (SCH) from Mrp2-deficient (TR–) and wild-type (WT) rats were infected with adenoviral vectors to express shRNA targeting Bcrp (Ad-siBcrp) at multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1–10. MOI of 5 was identified as optimal. At MOI of 5, viral infection as well as WT or TR– status was statistically significant predictors of the rosuvastatin (RSV) biliary excretion index (BEI), consistent with the known role of Bcrp and Mrp2 in the biliary excretion of RSV in vivo in rats. Relative to WT rat SCH, marginal mean BEI (%) of RSV in TR– rat SCH decreased by 28.6 (95% CI: 5.8–51.3). Ad-siBcrp decreased marginal mean BEI (%) of RSV by 13.3 (7.5–9.1) relative to SCH infected with adenoviral vectors expressing a nontargeting shRNA (Ad-siNT). The BEI of RSV was almost ablated in TR– rat SCH with Bcrp knockdown (5.9 ± 3.0%) compared to Ad-siNT-infected WT rat SCH (45.4 ± 6.6%). These results demonstrated the feasibility of Bcrp knockdown in TR– rat SCH as an in vitro system to assess the impact of impaired Bcrp and Mrp2 function. At MOI of 5, viral infection had minimal effects on RSV total accumulation, but significantly decreased marginal mean taurocholate total accumulation (pmol/mg of protein) and BEI (%) by 9.9 (7.0–12.8) and 7.5 (3.7–11.3), respectively, relative to noninfected SCH. These findings may be due to off-target effects on hepatic bile acid transporters, even though no changes in protein expression levels of the hepatic bile acid transporters were observed. This study established a strategy for optimization of the knockdown system, and demonstrated the potential use of RNAi in SCH as an in vitro tool to predict altered hepatobiliary drug disposition when canalicular transporters are impaired