The bloom of pelagic Sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean has become increasingly problematic, especially when the algae have beached. A build-up of decaying beached material has damaging effects on ...coastal ecosystems and tourism industries. While remote sensing offers an effective tool to assess the spatial and temporal patterns of Sargassum over large spatial extents, its use so far has been limited to a broad discrimination of Sargassum species from other macroalgae and floating vegetation. Knowledge on the spatial distribution of decayed material will help to support management strategies and inform targeted removal. In this study, we aim to characterise the spectral response of fresh and decayed Sargassum and identify regions of the spectra that offer the greatest separability for the detection and classification of decayed material. We assessed the spectral response of fresh and decayed Sargassum (1) in situ on the beach and (2) in mesocosm experiments where Sargassum samples were allowed to decay over time. We found a decrease in the magnitude of reflectance, noticeably in the visible region (400–700 nm), for decayed, in contrast to fresh, Sargassum. Separability analyses also showed that most spectral bands with a wavelength > ~540 nm will be capable of discriminating between fresh and decayed material, although the near-infrared region offers the greatest degree of separability. We demonstrate, for the first time, that there are clear differences in the spectral reflectance of fresh and decayed Sargassum with potential application for remote sensing approaches.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Herring embryos exposed to crude oil had a ∑PAC tissue dose range of 64 – 238 ng/g.•Ballooning of the cardiac ventricle was delayed in larvae hatched in clean water.•Later stage larvae showed ...defects in formation of spongy myocardium (trabeculation).•Early juveniles had hypertrophic spongy myocardium.•Altered expression of key cardiac genes in embryos presaged the ventricular defects.
There is a growing awareness that transient, sublethal embryonic exposure to crude oils cause subtle but important forms of delayed toxicity in fish. While the precise mechanisms for this loss of individual fitness are not well understood, they involve the disruption of early cardiogenesis and a subsequent pathological remodeling of the heart much later in juveniles. This developmental cardiotoxicity is attributable, in turn, to the inhibitory actions of crude oil-derived mixtures of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) on specific ion channels and other proteins that collectively drive the rhythmic contractions of heart muscle cells via excitation-contraction coupling. Here we exposed Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) embryos to oiled gravel effluent yielding ΣPAC concentrations as low as ~ 1 μg/L (64 ng/g in tissues). Upon hatching in clean seawater, and following the depuration of tissue PACs (as evidenced by basal levels of cyp1a gene expression), the ventricles of larval herring hearts showed a concentration-dependent reduction in posterior growth (ballooning). This was followed weeks later in feeding larvae by abnormal trabeculation, or formation of the finger-like projections of interior spongy myocardium, and months later with hypertrophy (overgrowth) of the spongy myocardium in early juveniles. Given that heart muscle cell differentiation and migration are driven by Ca2+-dependent intracellular signaling, the observed disruption of ventricular morphogenesis was likely a secondary (downstream) consequence of reduced calcium cycling and contractility in embryonic cardiomyocytes. We propose defective trabeculation as a promising phenotypic anchor for novel morphometric indicators of latent cardiac injury in oil-exposed herring, including an abnormal persistence of cardiac jelly in the ventricle wall and cardiomyocyte hyperproliferation. At a corresponding molecular level, quantitative expression assays in the present study also support biomarker roles for genes known to be involved in muscle contractility (atp2a2, myl7, myh7), cardiomyocyte precursor fate (nkx2.5) and ventricular trabeculation (nrg2, and hbegfa). Overall, our findings reinforce both proximal and indirect roles for dysregulated intracellular calcium cycling in the canonical fish early life stage crude oil toxicity syndrome. More work on Ca2+-mediated cellular dynamics and transcription in developing cardiomyocytes is needed. Nevertheless, the highly specific actions of ΣPAC mixtures on the heart at low, parts-per-billion tissue concentrations directly contravene classical assumptions of baseline (i.e., non-specific) crude oil toxicity.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Massive influxes of holopelagic
Sargassum
spp. (
Sargassum natans
and
S. fluitans
) have been causing major economic, environmental and ecological problems along the Caribbean coast of Mexico. ...Predicting the arrival of the sargassum as an aid to addressing these problems is a priority for the government, coastal communities and the society; both mitigating the impacts and providing opportunities for its use. Lack of data concerning precise locations and times of sargassum beachings means that public and private funds are being spent inefficiently and most actions are reactive. The dynamic nature of sargassum beachings/influxes render conventional ground-based monitoring insufficient. Earth observation and cloud-based processing services offer tools to track, quantify and understand sargassum beaching remotely in a frequent, systematic and reliable manner with the temporal and spatial resolutions required for its management. In order to find the right solutions to address this problem, in this paper the needs and requirements of stakeholders are taken into consideration for the development of an Earth observation-based service to monitor sargassum along the Mexican Caribbean coast. Routine monitoring of sargassum over a large area will be cost effective and help mitigate the negative effects of sargassum influxes. The combination of imagery from Planet, specifically their SuperDove systems that provide daily data at 3 m spatial resolutions, with the freely available EU Copernicus data would be useful for many different stakeholders and potential users. A prototype of the service is presented, based on the main user requirements. The system would enable public and private organizations to allocate resources appropriately in affected areas quickly and efficiently, thereby minimizing economic, social and environmental impacts and enhancing the resilience of local communities. It would also assist the sargassum industry in the collection of fresh algae for onward processing. The system could easily be implemented for similar types of environmental monitoring in the Greater Caribbean and beyond.
IntroductionChildren and youth with moderate-severe (Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels II–V) cerebral palsy (CP) participate less frequently in physical activities compared ...with peers without CP and have elevated risk of cardiorespiratory morbidity and mortality in adulthood. Frame Running (RaceRunning) is a new athletics discipline that is an accessible option for physical activity participation for people with moderate-severe CP. There is no high-quality evidence for the effect of Frame Running on cardiovascular disease in children and young people with CP. The primary aim of this study is to conduct a randomised controlled trial of the effect of 12 weeks of Frame Running training on risk factors for cardiovascular disease.Methods and nalysisSixty-two children and youth with CP (age 8–20 years) in GMFCS levels II–V will be recruited across four sites and randomised to receive either 12 weeks of Frame Running training two times weekly for 60 min, or usual care. Outcomes will be measured at baseline, immediately postintervention (primary endpoint) and 12 weeks later for retention of training effects. The primary outcome is cardiorespiratory fitness as measured by distance covered on Six Minute RaceRunner Test with 1 min heart rate recovery. Other outcomes include blood pressure, objectively measured physical activity, body mass index, waist circumference, percentage body fat, gross motor function capacity, community participation, feasibility, tolerability and safety. Adverse events will be monitored, and participants and their caregivers will be interviewed to discern their experiences of participation in Frame Running.Ethics and disseminationThe Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service and the University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committees have approved this study. Results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences; through professional and athletic organisations; and to people with CP and their families.Trial registration numberACTRN12621000317897; Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number.
The treatment of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales, especially New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM)-producing bacteria, is challenging. Although less common in the United ...States than some other carbapenemase producers, NDM-producing bacteria are a public health threat due to the limited treatment options available. Here, we report on the antibiotic susceptibility of 275 contemporary NDM-producing Enterobacterales collected from 30 U.S. states through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network. The aims of the study were to determine the susceptibility of these isolates to 32 currently available antibiotics using reference broth microdilution and to explore the in vitro activity of 3 combination agents that are not yet available. Categorical interpretations were determined using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) interpretive criteria. For agents without CLSI criteria, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) interpretive criteria were used. The percentage of susceptible isolates did not exceed 90% for any of the FDA-approved antibiotics tested. The antibiotics with breakpoints that had the highest in vitro activity were tigecycline (86.5% susceptible), eravacycline (66.2% susceptible), and omadacycline (59.6% susceptible); 18.2% of isolates were susceptible to aztreonam. All NDM-producing isolates tested were multidrug resistant, and 116 isolates were extensively drug resistant (42.2%); 207 (75.3%) isolates displayed difficult-to-treat resistance. The difficulty in treating infections caused by NDM-producing Enterobacterales highlights the need for containment and prevention efforts to keep these infections from becoming more common.
There is little information on the impact of COVID-19 on breast pathologists. This survey assessed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK and Ireland-based breast pathologists to optimise working ...environments and ensure preparedness for potential future pandemics.
A 35-question survey during the first wave of COVID-19 infections in the UK including questions on workload, working practices, professional development, training, health and safety and well-being was distributed to consultant breast pathologists and responses collected anonymously.
There were 135 responses from breast pathologists based in the UK and Ireland. Most participants (75.6%) stated that their workload had decreased and their productivity dropped. 86/135 (63.7%) were given the option of working from home and 36% of those who did reported improved efficiency. Multidisciplinary team meetings largely moved to virtual platforms (77.8%) with fewer members present (41.5%). Online education, including webinars and courses, was utilised by 92.6%. 16.3% of pathologists reported shortages of masks, visors or gowns as the the most common health and safety concern. COVID-19 had a significant negative impact on the physical and mental health of 33.3% of respondents. A small number of pathologists (10.4%) were redeployed and/or retrained.
The UK and Ireland breast pathologists adapted to the rapid change and maintained service delivery despite the significant impact of the pandemic on their working practices and mental health. It is important to apply flexible working patterns and environments that improve productivity and well-being. The changes suggested should be considered for long-term shaping of breast pathology services.
LibSBGN is a software library for reading, writing and manipulating Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN) maps stored using the recently developed SBGN-ML file format. The library (available in ...C++ and Java) makes it easy for developers to add SBGN support to their tools, whereas the file format facilitates the exchange of maps between compatible software applications. The library also supports validation of maps, which simplifies the task of ensuring compliance with the detailed SBGN specifications. With this effort we hope to increase the adoption of SBGN in bioinformatics tools, ultimately enabling more researchers to visualize biological knowledge in a precise and unambiguous manner.
Milestone 2 was released in December 2011. Source code, example files and binaries are freely available under the terms of either the LGPL v2.1+ or Apache v2.0 open source licenses from http://libsbgn.sourceforge.net.
sbgn-libsbgn@lists.sourceforge.net.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dyadic and triadic family interactions and their association with the development of children's externalizing behaviors. Data ...were obtained from a longitudinal study of family interactions (N = 125), followed from before parents had their first child until children were 7 years old. Family interactions (marital father–child, mother–child, and triadic mother–father–child) were observed in separate interaction tasks when children were 24 months old as predictors of children's externalizing behaviors at age 7 (n = 71 children). Results demonstrated that the triadic measure of competitive coparenting and the dyadic mother–child interaction characterized by negative emotional socialization related to children's later externalizing behavior, even after controlling for covariates and effects of all other family interaction variables. Results emphasize the importance of examining the family holistically and provided new information for designing more effective whole-family interventions to reduce the development of children's externalizing behaviors.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, INZLJ, KILJ, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
Obesity is a chronic disease that affects more than 650 million adults worldwide. Obesity not only is a significant health concern on its own, but predisposes to cardiometabolic comorbidities, ...including coronary heart disease, dyslipidemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. Lifestyle interventions effectively promote weight loss of 5% to 10%, and pharmacological and surgical interventions even more, with some novel approved drugs inducing up to an average of 25% weight loss. Yet, maintaining weight loss over the long‐term remains extremely challenging, and subsequent weight gain is typical. The mechanisms underlying weight regain remain to be fully elucidated. The purpose of this Pennington Biomedical Scientific Symposium was to review and highlight the complex interplay between the physiological, behavioral, and environmental systems controlling energy intake and expenditure. Each of these contributions were further discussed in the context of weight‐loss maintenance, and systems‐level viewpoints were highlighted to interpret gaps in current approaches. The invited speakers built upon the science of obesity and weight loss to collectively propose future research directions that will aid in revealing the complicated mechanisms involved in the weight‐reduced state.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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