Predator telemetry informs temporal and spatial overlap with stocked salmonids in Lake Huron

Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auratus), Walleyes (Sander vitreus), and Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are migratory predators that undergo extensive movements in Lake Huron. Stocking of juvenile salmonid fish (Oncorhynchus and Salmo sp.) is an important component of fishery management in Lake Huron and assessing the spatial and temporal extent of predator movements is a useful consideration for determining when and where to stock juvenile fish to reduce predation and maximize survival. Previous investigation indicated that some Walleyes migrate to the main basin of Lake Huron in spring from Saginaw Bay. Similarly, telemetry studies of Lake Trout movement in Lake Huron have indicated an onshore movement in the spring. We used detection histories of Walleyes implanted with acoustic transmitters tagged in Saginaw Bay and Lake Trout implanted in northern Lake Huron to estimate the arrival date of migrating adults at eight ports in Lake Huron, where hatchery reared juvenile salmonids are stocked. Satellite telemetry of Cormorants that return to nesting grounds in northern Lake Huron were used to estimate their arrival dates at the same Lake Huron ports. Arrival of Walleye at Lake Huron ports ranged from April 10th to May 7th. Cormorants arrived earlier than Walleye at most Lake Huron ports (April 11th–April 18th). Lake Trout were more variable with a range of onshore movement from March 28th to May 16th. Our results suggested stocking efforts at these ports should generally occur before April 14th to decrease predatory impact from Cormorants, Walleyes, and Lake Trout

Urinary eicosanoid metabolites in HIV-infected women with central obesity switching to raltegravir: an analysis from the women, integrase, and fat accumulation trial.

Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of HIV infection. Eicosanoids reflect inflammation, oxidant stress, and vascular health and vary by sex and metabolic parameters. Raltegravir (RAL) is an HIV-1 integrase inhibitor that may have limited metabolic effects. We assessed urinary F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs), prostaglandin E2 (PGE-M), prostacyclin (PGI-M), and thromboxane B2 (TxB2) in HIV-infected women switching to RAL-containing antiretroviral therapy (ART). Thirty-seven women (RAL = 17; PI/NNRTI = 20) with a median age of 43 years and BMI 32 kg/m(2) completed week 24. TxB2 increased in the RAL versus PI/NNRTI arm (+0.09 versus -0.02; P = 0.06). Baseline PGI-M was lower in the RAL arm (P = 0.005); no other between-arm cross-sectional differences were observed. In the PI/NNRTI arm, 24-week visceral adipose tissue change correlated with PGI-M (rho = 0.45; P = 0.04) and TxB2 (rho = 0.44; P = 0.005) changes, with a trend seen for PGE-M (rho = 0.41; P = 0.07). In an adjusted model, age ≥ 50 years (N = 8) was associated with increased PGE-M (P = 0.04). In this randomized trial, a switch to RAL did not significantly affect urinary eicosanoids over 24 weeks. In women continuing PI/NNRTI, increased visceral adipose tissue correlated with increased PGI-M and PGE-M. Older age (≥ 50) was associated with increased PGE-M. Relationships between aging, adiposity, ART, and eicosanoids during HIV-infection require further study

Urinary Eicosanoid Metabolites in HIV-Infected Women with Central Obesity Switching to Raltegravir: An Analysis from the Women, Integrase, and Fat Accumulation Trial

Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of HIV infection. Eicosanoids reflect inflammation, oxidant stress, and vascular health and vary by sex and metabolic parameters. Raltegravir (RAL) is an HIV-1 integrase inhibitor that may have limited metabolic effects. We assessed urinary F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs), prostaglandin E2 (PGE-M), prostacyclin (PGI-M), and thromboxane B2 (TxB2) in HIV-infected women switching to RAL-containing antiretroviral therapy (ART). Thirty-seven women (RAL = 17; PI/NNRTI = 20) with a median age of 43 years and BMI 32 kg/m2 completed week 24. TxB2 increased in the RAL versus PI/NNRTI arm (+0.09 versus −0.02; P=0.06). Baseline PGI-M was lower in the RAL arm (P=0.005); no other between-arm cross-sectional differences were observed. In the PI/NNRTI arm, 24-week visceral adipose tissue change correlated with PGI-M (rho=0.45; P=0.04) and TxB2 (rho=0.44; P=0.005) changes, with a trend seen for PGE-M (rho=0.41; P=0.07). In an adjusted model, age ≥ 50 years (N=8) was associated with increased PGE-M (P=0.04). In this randomized trial, a switch to RAL did not significantly affect urinary eicosanoids over 24 weeks. In women continuing PI/NNRTI, increased visceral adipose tissue correlated with increased PGI-M and PGE-M. Older age (≥50) was associated with increased PGE-M. Relationships between aging, adiposity, ART, and eicosanoids during HIV-infection require further study

A prospective, randomized clinical trial of antiretroviral therapies on carotid wall thickness

Objective: This article compares the effects of initiating three contemporary antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens on progression of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) over 3 years. Design: Randomized clinical trial. Setting: Multicenter (26 institutions). Patients: ART-naive HIV-infected individuals (n ¼ 328) without known cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus. Intervention: Random assignment to tenofovir/emtricitabine along with atazanavir/ ritonavir (ATV/r), darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r), or raltegravir (RAL). Main outcome measures: Right-sided carotid IMT was evaluated by B-mode ultrasonography before ART initiation, and then after 48, 96, and 144 weeks. Comparisons of yearly rates of change in carotid IMT used mixed-effects linear regression models that permitted not only evaluation of the effects of ART on carotid IMT progression but also how ART-associated changes in traditional risk factors, bilirubin, and markers of HIV infection were associated carotid IMT progression. Results: HIV-1 RNA suppression rates were high in all arms (>85%) over 144 weeks. Modest increases in triglycerides and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were observed in the protease inhibitor-containing arms compared with decreases with RAL. In contrast, carotid IMT progressed more slowly on ATV/r [8.2, 95% confidence interval (5.6, 10.8) mm/year] than DRV/r [12.9 (10.3, 15.5) mm/year, P ¼ 0.013]; changes with RAL were intermediate [10.7 (9.2, 12.2) mm/year, P ¼ 0.15 vs. ATV/r; P ¼ 0.31 vs. DRV/r]. Bilirubin and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels appeared to influence carotid IMT progression rates. Conclusion: In ART-naive HIV-infected individuals at low cardiovascular disease risk, carotid IMT progressed more slowly in participants initiating ATV/r than those initiating DRV/r, with intermediate changes associated with RAL. This effect may be due, in part, to hyperbilirubinemia

Comparison of the Metabolic Effects of Ritonavir-Boosted Darunavir or Atazanavir Versus Raltegravir, and the Impact of Ritonavir Plasma Exposure: ACTG 5257

Background. Metabolic effects following combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) vary by regimen type. Changes in metabolic effects were assessed following cART in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) A5257 study, and correlated with plasma ritonavir trough concentrations (C24)

Comparison of the Metabolic Effects of Ritonavir-Boosted Darunavir or Atazanavir Versus Raltegravir, and the Impact of Ritonavir Plasma Exposure: ACTG 5257

Background. Metabolic effects following combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) vary by regimen type. Changes in metabolic effects were assessed following cART in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) A5257 study, and correlated with plasma ritonavir trough concentrations (C24)

EGFR interacts with the fusion protein of respiratory syncytial virus strain 2-20 and mediates infection and mucin expression.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of viral lower respiratory tract illness in children. In contrast to the RSV prototypic strain A2, clinical isolate RSV 2-20 induces airway mucin expression in mice, a clinically relevant phenotype dependent on the fusion (F) protein of the RSV strain. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays a role in airway mucin expression in other systems; therefore, we hypothesized that the RSV 2-20 F protein stimulates EGFR signaling. Infection of cells with chimeric strains RSV A2-2-20F and A2-2-20GF or over-expression of 2-20 F protein resulted in greater phosphorylation of EGFR than infection with RSV A2 or over-expression of A2 F, respectively. Chemical inhibition of EGFR signaling or knockdown of EGFR resulted in diminished infectivity of RSV A2-2-20F but not RSV A2. Over-expression of EGFR enhanced the fusion activity of 2-20 F protein in trans. EGFR co-immunoprecipitated most efficiently with RSV F proteins derived from "mucogenic" strains. RSV 2-20 F and EGFR co-localized in H292 cells, and A2-2-20GF-induced MUC5AC expression was ablated by EGFR inhibitors in these cells. Treatment of BALB/c mice with the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib significantly reduced the amount of RSV A2-2-20F-induced airway mucin expression. Our results demonstrate that RSV F interacts with EGFR in a strain-specific manner, EGFR is a co-factor for infection, and EGFR plays a role in RSV-induced mucin expression, suggesting EGFR is a potential target for RSV disease

The Modeling and Control of Highly Flexible Continuous Structures Interacting with Fluids

The present thesis investigates modeling and control techniques for nonlinear continuous vibratory systems in contact with flow. The objective is to derive and solve the nonlinear partial differential equations which represent these systems and explore their behavior through numerical simulations and experiments. A series of examples are considered to motivate the applicability of these techniques to a wide variety of problems. The common thread in each of these examples is the fundamental assumption that the underlying structural dynamics can be approximated by a continuous nonlinear beam and that the motion is influenced by the flow forces that interact with it. First, a system in which the structure is controlled through an open loop input waveform is considered. Here the flow forces follow the structure’s motion in a one-way fluid structure interaction(FSI) problem. An example transient dynamic problem is introduced related to the locomotion of fish and bio-inspired engineering. In this case, a robotic fish is designed and constructed, which relies on the passive dynamics of a buckled beam to generate rapid transient underwater locomotion. The continuous beam generates kinematics similar to those observed in live systems. A nonlinear dynamic model is derived and solved to investigate the experimentally observed behavior. The buckled structure is shown to undergo a snap-through bifurcation. The snap-through bifurcation is found to have an intuitive description in the coupled nonlinear equations of motion when cast into the modal domain. Experiments on the snap-through bifurcation in air and in water confirm the modal dynamics and the stability of fixed points determined from the derived discretization of the continuous nonlinear partial differential equation. In a subsequent example, the dynamics of an iv aeroelastic system is investigated. The aeroelastic problem is characterized by a system where the structure’s response is due to the coupling of the fluid and structure. A nonlinear coupled fluid-structure interaction aeroelastic model is derived utilizing a continuous representation of the structure and the ONERA dynamic stall model for the aerodynamic loading. The model is used to predict post-critical behavior of systems undergoing stall flutter at large angles of attack. The stall flutter response is observed experimentally and compared to theoretical simulations, for the onset of stall flutter and the amplitude and frequency of post-critical response. A modal control strategy is applied to influence the coupled response of the structure

Experimental and theoretical investigation of stall flutter in an elastic wing

International audienceA highly flexible continuous wing model has been built to study either coupled-mode flutter or stall flutter in a wind tunnel. This model utilizes a composite cantilever beam arrangement that provides the bending and torsional stiffness, cladding segments representing a NACA0012 geometry and an added slender body allowing for the control of the ratio of the torsional and flapwise natural frequencies . In the present paper we will focus on a series of stall flutter experiments, tracking the motion of the tip of the wing to capture post-critical oscillation modes. Following the work of Tang and Dowel, the associated nonlinear post-critical behavior, due to both dynamic stall and static deflection, will also be studied using a continuous model including the ONERA dynamic stall formulation for the unsteady aerodynamics