Evaluation and Comparison of a Habitat Suitability Model for Postdrift Larval Lake Sturgeon in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers

We evaluated composition and spatial distribution of riverine nursery habitat for larval Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens in the Middle Channel of the St. Clair River, Michigan, and Fighting Island Channel of the Detroit River, Ontario, using a habitat suitability model (HSM) and fish collections. Although model outputs indicated similar portions of high‐quality habitat in the Middle Channel (16.9%) and Fighting Island Channel (15.7%), larval abundance and dispersal patterns varied between these systems. Analysis with Akaike’s information criterion indicated that a regression model using sand–silt substrate performed best at predicting the observed water‐volume‐standardized CPUE (number of larvae·h−1·m−3) in the Middle Channel. Of 93 larvae that were collected in the Middle Channel, most were found to cluster at three distinct areas of high‐ and moderate‐quality habitat, which was composed predominately of sand–silt substrate. Lengths of larvae varied by as much as 9 mm, and the degree of yolk sac absorption also varied, indicating that larvae in the Middle Channel remained within the channel after a short drift downstream. Of the 25 larvae that were collected in Fighting Island Channel, distribution was sporadic, and occurrence did not significantly correlate with measured habitat variables. Larvae were relatively homogeneous in size and yolk sac stage, indicating that newly emerged larvae did not utilize available habitat in Fighting Island Channel but instead drifted into the main channel of the Detroit River. Dispersal patterns indicate variability in young Lake Sturgeon ecology, which is dependent on local habitat conditions—most notably, substrate composition. Furthermore, modeled larval–habitat associations found in this study were compared to a similar study on larval Lake Sturgeon from the North Channel of the St. Clair River. Model outputs from all three systems accurately accounted for observed larval dispersal patterns among both rivers. This supports the transferability of an HSM parameterized for Lake Sturgeon from individual river reaches within two large river systems.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146299/1/nafm10217.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146299/2/nafm10217_am.pd

Mental Health in Head and Neck Cancer

Acknowledging the health behaviors that lead to HNC, as well as the highly impactful location and functional changes from the cancer and treatment, has led to increasing interest in MH in HNC. The distressing aspects of HNC affect patients, their caregivers, and their physicians alike. MH must be a priority from diagnosis through to the end of these patients’ lives. Here we have summarized the known elements of MH in HNC. We have determined that health behaviors, such as tobacco use, alcohol use, and high-risk sexual behaviors that lead to heighten HPV infection risk, play a long-lasting and complex role with distress levels in HNC. Psychiatric illness is one aspect of psychosocial distress that can more easily be studied due to existing clinical frameworks from which to begin investigation, though other elements of distress are more difficult to identify and quantify. We have highlighted advances in stress management for improving MH in these patients, most notably cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions. This summary has led to the conclusion that the best is yet to come, with the open opportunities to define the mental health challenges in the landscape of HNC, to generate effective and validated treatments, and to pair treatments with patients and their caregivers