Summary
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is a devastating disease. Since 2014, it has spread along the entire Florida Reef Tract and into the greater Caribbean. It was first detected in the ...United States Virgin Islands in January 2019. To more quickly identify microbial bioindicators of disease, we developed a rapid pipeline for microbiome sequencing. Over a span of 10 days we collected, processed and sequenced coral and near‐coral seawater microbiomes from diseased and apparently healthy Colpophyllia natans, Montastraea cavernosa, Meandrina meandrites and Orbicella franksi. Analysis of bacterial and archaeal 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences revealed 25 bioindicator amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) enriched in diseased corals. These bioindicator ASVs were additionally recovered in near‐coral seawater (<5 cm of coral surface), a potential reservoir for pathogens. Phylogenetic analysis of microbial bioindicators with sequences from the Coral Microbiome Database revealed that Vibrio, Arcobacter, Rhizobiaceae and Rhodobacteraceae sequences were related to disease‐associated coral bacteria and lineages novel to corals. Additionally, four ASVs (Algicola, Cohaesibacter, Thalassobius and Vibrio) were matches to microbes previously associated with SCTLD that should be targets for future research. Overall, this work suggests that a rapid sequencing framework paired with specialized databases facilitates identification of microbial disease bioindicators.
How literature of the British imperial world contended
with the social and environmental consequences of industrial
mining The 1830s to the 1930s saw the rise of large-scale
industrial mining in the ...British imperial world. Elizabeth Carolyn
Miller examines how literature of this era reckoned with a new
vision of civilization where humans are dependent on finite,
nonrenewable stores of earthly resources, and traces how the
threatening horizon of resource exhaustion worked its way into
narrative form. Britain was the first nation to transition to
industry based on fossil fuels, which put its novelists and other
writers in the remarkable position of mediating the emergence of
extraction-based life. Miller looks at works like Hard
Times , The Mill on the Floss , and Sons and
Lovers , showing how the provincial realist novel's
longstanding reliance on marriage and inheritance plots transforms
against the backdrop of exhaustion to withhold the promise of
reproductive futurity. She explores how adventure stories like
Treasure Island and Heart of Darkness reorient
fictional space toward the resource frontier. And she shows how
utopian and fantasy works like "Sultana's Dream," The Time
Machine , and The Hobbit offer imaginative ways of
envisioning energy beyond extractivism. This illuminating book
reveals how an era marked by violent mineral resource rushes gave
rise to literary forms and genres that extend extractivism as a
mode of environmental understanding.
How literature of the British imperial world contended with the social and environmental consequences of industrial mining The 1830s to the 1930s saw the rise of large-scale industrial mining in the ...British imperial world. Elizabeth Carolyn Miller examines how literature of this era reckoned with a new vision of civilization where humans are dependent on finite, nonrenewable stores of earthly resources, and traces how the threatening horizon of resource exhaustion worked its way into narrative form.Britain was the first nation to transition to industry based on fossil fuels, which put its novelists and other writers in the remarkable position of mediating the emergence of extraction-based life. Miller looks at works like Hard Times, The Mill on the Floss, and Sons and Lovers, showing how the provincial realist novel's longstanding reliance on marriage and inheritance plots transforms against the backdrop of exhaustion to withhold the promise of reproductive futurity. She explores how adventure stories like Treasure Island and Heart of Darkness reorient fictional space toward the resource frontier. And she shows how utopian and fantasy works like "Sultana's Dream, " The Time Machine, and The Hobbit offer imaginative ways of envisioning energy beyond extractivism.This illuminating book reveals how an era marked by violent mineral resource rushes gave rise to literary forms and genres that extend extractivism as a mode of environmental understanding.
OBJECTIVE:To quantitatively and qualitatively describe the patient experience for clinically stable patients presenting with miscarriage to the emergency department (ED) or ambulatory clinics.
...METHODS:We present a subanalysis of a mixed-methods study from 2016 on factors that influence miscarriage treatment decision-making among clinically stable patients. Fifty-four patients were evaluated based on location of miscarriage care (ED or ambulatory-only), and novel parameters were assessed including timeline (days) from presentation to miscarriage resolution, number of health system interactions, and number of specialty-based provider care teams seen. We explored themes around patient satisfaction through in-depth narrative interviews.
RESULTS:Median time to miscarriage resolution was 11 days (range 5–57) (ED) and 8 days (range 0–47) (ambulatory-only). We recorded a mean of 4.4±1.4 (ED) and 3.0±1.2 (ambulatory-only) separate care teams and a median of 13 (range 8–20) (ED) and 19 (range 8–22) (ambulatory-only) health system interactions. Patients seeking care in the ED were younger (28.3 vs 34.0, odds ratio OR 5.8, 95% CI 1.8–18.7), more likely to be of black race (28.3 vs 34.0, OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.1–10.0), uninsured or insured through Medicaid (16 vs 6, OR 6.8, 95% CI 2.1–22.5), and more likely to meet criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder when compared with ambulatory-only patients (10 vs 3, OR 6.0, 95% CI 1.5–23.4). Patients valued diagnostic clarity, timeliness, and individualized care. We found that ED patients reported a lack of clarity surrounding their diagnosis, inefficient care, and a mixed experience with health care provider sensitivity. In contrast, ambulatory-only patients described a streamlined and sensitive care experience.
CONCLUSION:Patients seeking miscarriage care in the ED were more likely to be socioeconomically and psychosocially vulnerable and were less satisfied with their care compared with those seen in the ambulatory setting alone. Expedited evaluation of early pregnancy problems, with attention to clear communication and emotional sensitivity, may optimize the patient experience.
Whales are now largely protected from direct harvest, leading to partial recoveries in many previously depleted species.1 However, most populations remain far below their historical abundances and ...incidental human impacts, especially vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, are increasingly recognized as key threats.2 In addition, climate-driven changes to prey dynamics are impacting the seasonal foraging grounds of many baleen whales.2 In many cases these impacts result directly in mortality. But it is less clear how widespread and increasing sub-lethal impacts are affecting life history, individual fitness, and population viability. We evaluated changes in body lengths of North Atlantic right whales (NARW) using aerial photogrammetry measurements collected from crewed aircraft and remotely operated drones over a 20-year period (Figure 1). NARW have been monitored consistently since the 1980s and have been declining in abundance since 2011 due primarily to deaths associated with entanglements in active fishing gear and vessel strikes.3 High rates of sub-lethal injuries and individual-level information on age, size and observed entanglements make this an ideal population to evaluate the effects that these widespread stressors may have on individual fitness. We find that entanglements in fishing gear are associated with shorter whales, and that body lengths have been decreasing since 1981. Arrested growth may lead to reduced reproductive success4,5 and increased probability of lethal gear entanglements.6 These results show that sub-lethal stressors threaten the recoveries of vulnerable whale populations even in the absence of direct harvest.
•Whales with severe entanglements in fishing gear are stunted•Whales whose mothers were entangled while nursing are stunted•Body lengths have been decreasing since 1981•Cumulative impacts in addition to entanglements may contribute to stunted growth
Stewart et al. examine trends in body lengths in endangered North Atlantic right whales using aerial photogrammetry. They show that whales that have experienced severe entanglements in fishing gear are shorter than whales with no documented entanglements, and that body lengths of right whales have been decreasing over the past four decades.
Background: It is important to understand whether eating eggs, which are a major source of dietary choline, results in increased exposure to trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), which is purported to be a ...risk factor for developing heart disease.Objective: We determined whether humans eating eggs generate TMAO and, if so, whether there is an associated increase in a marker for inflammation ie, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) or increased oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL).Design: In a longitudinal, double-blind, randomized dietary intervention, 6 volunteers were fed breakfast doses of 0, 1, 2, 4, or 6 egg yolks. Diets were otherwise controlled on the day before and day of each egg dose with a standardized low-choline menu. Plasma TMAO at timed intervals (immediately before and 1, 2, 4, 8, and 24 h after each dose), 24-h urine TMAO, predose and 24-h postdose serum hsCRP, and plasma oxidized LDL were measured. Volunteers received all 5 doses with each dose separated by >2-wk washout periods.Results: The consumption of eggs was associated with increased plasma and urine TMAO concentrations (P < 0.01), with ∼14% of the total choline in eggs having been converted to TMAO. There was considerable variation between individuals in the TMAO response. There was no difference in hsCRP or oxidized LDL concentrations after egg doses.Conclusions: The consumption of ≥2 eggs results in an increased formation of TMAO. Choline is an essential nutrient that is required for normal human liver and muscle functions and important for normal fetal development. Additional study is needed to both confirm the association between TMAO and atherosclerosis and identify factors, microbiota and genetic, that influence the generation of TMAO before policy and medical recommendations are made that suggest reduced dietary choline intake. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01906554.
The North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis (NARW), currently numbering <410 individuals, is on a trajectory to extinction. Although direct mortality from ship strikes and fishing gear ...entanglements remain the major threats to the population, reproductive failure, resulting from poor body condition and sublethal chronic entanglement stress, is believed to play a crucial role in the population decline. Using photo grammetry from unmanned aerial vehicles, we conducted the largest population assessment of right whale body condition to date, to determine if the condition of NARWs was poorer than 3 seemingly healthy (i.e. growing) populations of southern right whales E. australis (SRWs) in Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. We found that NARW juveniles, adults and lactating females all had lower body condition scores compared to the SRW populations. While some of the difference could be the result of genetic isolation and adaptations to local environmental conditions, the magnitude suggests that NARWs are in poor condition, which could be suppressing their growth, survival, age of sexual maturation and calving rates. NARW calves were found to be in good condition. Their body length, however, was strongly determined by the body condition of their mothers, suggesting that the poor condition of lactating NARW females may cause a reduction in calf growth rates. This could potentially lead to a reduction in calf survival or an in crease in female calving intervals. Hence, the poor body condition of individuals within the NARW population is of major concern for its future viability.
Miller talks about her firts real publication, "A Humanistic Rationale," which is still cited, or just alluded to, as a turning point in the field of technical writing, or what now called "technical ...and professional communication" (or TPC). Composition was the course that anyone could teach and tech writing was the course that nobody wanted to teach. But she had gone to graduate school at Rensselaer, and she had discovered Rhetoric. And rhetoric gave her a way to think about these two courses in her teaching portfolio as two applications of the same field and to see both as important in the formation of college graduates who are educated, articulate, effective, and, I want to say, "eloquent." To my mind, there was more to be gained from connecting first-year composition and third-year tech writing than from dissociating them. However, both composition and TPC have changed dramatically in the past 40 years.
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