Life history and secondary production of the crustacean gammarus mucronatus say (amphipoda: gammaridae) in warm temperate estuarine habitats, York River, Virginia

In order to assess the secondary production potential of the amphipod Gammarus mucronatus its life history was examined with laboratory experimentation and field sampling in two warm temperate estuarine habitats in the York River, Virginia. A seagrass (Zostera marina) bed and a macroalgae (Ulva spp., Enteromorpha spp.) fouling community on old pier pilings. Variations in amphipod abundance between the habitats were not similar. G. mucronatus was present in the seagrass habitat during most of the year attaining maximum densities of 1200(.)m(\u27-2) in the spring. Presence of G. mucronatus in the macroalgae habitat was almost totally restricted to late spring and early summer, but maximum densities as high as 6800(.)m(\u27-2) occurred. Estimates from field and laboratory evidence suggest that G. mucronatus produced 6-9 generations over a one year period. Rapid turnover resulted from increased spring and summer growth rates and maturation at smaller sizes during these months. Reduction in size of summer adults is hypothesized to be a co-evolutionary response to predation by which the amphipod population can increase its intrinsic rate of growth (r). Production calculations were made using four different approaches. The size-frequency method was calculated for 26 fortnightly sample dates, two alternate subsets of the data set (13 sample dates each), and separate calculations for the sexes. The fourth approach utilized a modified instantaneous growth (IGR) equation. The IGR method produced results that were more than 25% greater than the size-frequency estimates which all agreed fairly well. Monthly sampling is sufficient to characterize the population for production estimates, but because of rapid spring and summer growth it is incapable of detecting voltinism. Production in the algal habitat was 10.2 g m(\u27-2)(.)yr(\u27-1) with a P/B of 60.8, greater than the 5.0 g m(\u27-2)(.)yr(\u27-1) production and 40.0 P/B of the seagrass habitat. The higher algal values are the result of the greater maximum abundance of this habitat coinciding with rapid spring and summer growth. of three different predictive models tested, one proposed by Robertson (1979) provides the best agreement with the P/B estimates calculated from empirical data

Quantifying discordance between structure and function measurements in the clinical assessment of glaucoma

Objective: The visual field (VF) may be predicted from retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFLT) using a Bayesian Radial Basis Function (BRBF). This study aimed to evaluate a new methodology to quantify and visualise discordance between structural and functional measurements in glaucomatous eyes. Methods: Five GDxVCC RNFLT scans and 5 Humphrey SITA VF tests were obtained from 50 glaucomatous eyes from 50 patients. A best available estimate of the ‘true’ VF was calculated as the point-wise median of these 5 replications. This ‘true’ VF was compared with every single RNFLT-predicted VF from BRBF and every single measured VF. Predictability of VFs from RNFLT was established from previous data. A structure-function pattern discordance map (PDM) and structure-function discordance index (SFDI; values 0 to 1) were established from the predictability limits for each structure-function measurement pair to quantify and visualise the discordance between the structure-predicted and measured VFs. Results: Mean absolute difference (MAD) between the structure-predicted and ‘true’ VFs was 3.9dB. MAD between single and ‘true’ VFs was 2.6dB. Mean of SFDI was 0.34 (SD 0.11). 39% of the structure-predicted VFs showed significant discordance (SFDI>0.3) from measured VFs. Conclusions: BRBF, on average, predicts the ‘true’ VF from RNFLT slightly less well than a measured VF from the 5 VFs compromising the ‘true’ VF. The PDM highlights locations with structure-function discordance, with the SFDI providing a summary index. These tools may help clinicians trust the mutually confirmatory structure-function measurements with good concordance, or identify unreliable ones with poor concordance

Genome-wide study of association and interaction with maternal cytomegalovirus infection suggests new schizophrenia loci.

Genetic and environmental components as well as their interaction contribute to the risk of schizophrenia, making it highly relevant to include environmental factors in genetic studies of schizophrenia. This study comprises genome-wide association (GWA) and follow-up analyses of all individuals born in Denmark since 1981 and diagnosed with schizophrenia as well as controls from the same birth cohort. Furthermore, we present the first genome-wide interaction survey of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and maternal cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. The GWA analysis included 888 cases and 882 controls, and the follow-up investigation of the top GWA results was performed in independent Danish (1396 cases and 1803 controls) and German-Dutch (1169 cases, 3714 controls) samples. The SNPs most strongly associated in the single-marker analysis of the combined Danish samples were rs4757144 in ARNTL (P=3.78 × 10(-6)) and rs8057927 in CDH13 (P=1.39 × 10(-5)). Both genes have previously been linked to schizophrenia or other psychiatric disorders. The strongest associated SNP in the combined analysis, including Danish and German-Dutch samples, was rs12922317 in RUNDC2A (P=9.04 × 10(-7)). A region-based analysis summarizing independent signals in segments of 100 kb identified a new region-based genome-wide significant locus overlapping the gene ZEB1 (P=7.0 × 10(-7)). This signal was replicated in the follow-up analysis (P=2.3 × 10(-2)). Significant interaction with maternal CMV infection was found for rs7902091 (P(SNP × CMV)=7.3 × 10(-7)) in CTNNA3, a gene not previously implicated in schizophrenia, stressing the importance of including environmental factors in genetic studies

Supplementing High-Density SNP Microarrays for Additional Coverage of Disease-Related Genes: Addiction as a Paradigm

Commercial SNP microarrays now provide comprehensive and affordable coverage of the human genome. However, some diseases have biologically relevant genomic regions that may require additional coverage. Addiction, for example, is thought to be influenced by complex interactions among many relevant genes and pathways. We have assembled a list of 486 biologically relevant genes nominated by a panel of experts on addiction. We then added 424 genes that showed evidence of association with addiction phenotypes through mouse QTL mappings and gene co-expression analysis. We demonstrate that there are a substantial number of SNPs in these genes that are not well represented by commercial SNP platforms. We address this problem by introducing a publicly available SNP database for addiction. The database is annotated using numeric prioritization scores indicating the extent of biological relevance. The scores incorporate a number of factors such as SNP/gene functional properties (including synonymy and promoter regions), data from mouse systems genetics and measures of human/mouse evolutionary conservation. We then used HapMap genotyping data to determine if a SNP is tagged by a commercial microarray through linkage disequilibrium. This combination of biological prioritization scores and LD tagging annotation will enable addiction researchers to supplement commercial SNP microarrays to ensure comprehensive coverage of biologically relevant regions

Internet of Things for Sustainability: Perspectives in Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Future Trends

In the sustainability IoT, the cybersecurity risks to things, sensors, and monitoring systems are distinct from the conventional networking systems in many aspects. The interaction of sustainability IoT with the physical world phenomena (e.g., weather, climate, water, and oceans) is mostly not found in the modern information technology systems. Accordingly, actuation, the ability of these devices to make changes in real world based on sensing and monitoring, requires special consideration in terms of privacy and security. Moreover, the energy efficiency, safety, power, performance requirements of these device distinguish them from conventional computers systems. In this chapter, the cybersecurity approaches towards sustainability IoT are discussed in detail. The sustainability IoT risk categorization, risk mitigation goals, and implementation aspects are analyzed. The openness paradox and data dichotomy between privacy and sharing is analyzed. Accordingly, the IoT technology and security standard developments activities are highlighted. The perspectives on opportunities and challenges in IoT for sustainability are given. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of sustainability IoT cybersecurity case studies

Sodium-glucose cotransporter protein-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists for type 2 diabetes: Systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Objective To evaluate sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists in patients with type 2 diabetes at varying cardiovascular and renal risk. Design Network meta-analysis. Data sources Medline, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL up to 11 August 2020. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Randomised controlled trials comparing SGLT-2 inhibitors or GLP-1 receptor agonists with placebo, standard care, or other glucose lowering treatment in adults with type 2 diabetes with follow up of 24 weeks or longer. Studies were screened independently by two reviewers for eligibility, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Main outcome measures Frequentist random effects network meta-analysis was carried out and GRADE (grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation) used to assess evidence certainty. Results included estimated absolute effects of treatment per 1000 patients treated for five years for patients at very low risk (no cardiovascular risk factors), low risk (three or more cardiovascular risk factors), moderate risk (cardiovascular disease), high risk (chronic kidney disease), and very high risk (cardiovascular disease and kidney disease). A guideline panel provided oversight of the systematic review. Results 764 trials including 421 346 patients proved eligible. All results refer to the addition of SGLT-2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists to existing diabetes treatment. Both classes of drugs lowered all cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and kidney failure (high certainty evidence). Notable differences were found between the two agents: SGLT-2 inhibitors reduced mortality and admission to hospital for heart failure more than GLP-1 receptor agonists, and GLP-1 receptor agonists reduced non-fatal stroke more than SGLT-2 inhibitors (which appeared to have no effect). SGLT-2 inhibitors caused genital infection (high certainty), whereas GLP-1 receptor agonists might cause severe gastrointestinal events (low certainty). Low certainty evidence suggested that SGLT-2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists might lower body weight. Little or no evidence was found for the effect of SGLT-2 inhibitors or GLP-1 receptor agonists on limb amputation, blindness, eye disease, neuropathic pain, or health related quality of life. The absolute benefits of these drugs vary substantially across patients from low to very high risk of cardiovascular and renal outcomes (eg, SGLT-2 inhibitors resulted in 5 to 48 fewer deaths in 1000 patients over five years; see interactive decision support tool (https://magicevidence.org/match-it/200820dist/#!/) for all outcomes. Conclusions In patients with type 2 diabetes, SGLT-2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists reduced cardiovascular and renal outcomes, with notable differences in benefits and harms. Absolute benefits are determined by individual risk profiles of patients, with clear implications for clinical practice, as reflected in the BMJ Rapid Recommendations directly informed by this systematic review. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42019153180