Human activities have placed populations of many endangered species at risk and mitigation efforts typically focus on reducing anthropogenic sources of mortality. However, failing to recognize the ...additional role of environmental factors in regulating birth and mortality rates can lead to erroneous demographic analyses and conclusions. The North Atlantic right whale population is currently the focus of conservation efforts aimed at reducing mortality rates associated with ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Consistent monitoring of the population since 1980 has revealed evidence that climate‐associated changes in prey availability have played an important role in the population's recovery. The considerable interdecadal differences observed in population growth coincide with remote Arctic and North Atlantic oceanographic processes that link to the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. Here, we build capture‐recapture models to quantify the role of prey availability on right whale demographic transitional probabilities and use a corresponding demographic model to project population growth rates into the next century. Contrary to previous predictions, the right whale population is projected to recover in the future as long as prey availability and mortality rates remain within the ranges observed during 1980–2012. However, recent events indicate a northward range shift in right whale prey, potentially resulting in decreased prey availability and/or an expansion of right whale habitat into unprotected waters. An annual increase in the number of whale deaths comparable to that observed during the summer 2017 mass mortality event may cause a decline to extinction even under conditions of normal prey availability. This study highlights the importance of understanding the oceanographic context for observed population changes when evaluating the efficacy of conservation management plans for endangered marine species.
Successful management of the North Atlantic right whale requires awareness of environmental influences on population growth and demography. Decadal‐scale regime shifts in prey availability have driven a significant amount of demographic change since population monitoring began in 1980. We build a prey‐dependent full demographic capture–recapture model to characterize this relationship and project right whale growth into the next century. An increase in prey in the first decade of the new millennium has contributed to an increase in the population size. However, more recent trends in calving and an unusual mortality event in 2017 may herald a shift into a regime of population decline.
Rising global temperatures are causing a poleward shift in species distribution. Range shift velocities are higher in the marine environment, with observed rates of 30–130 km per decade. Both ...protected and exploited species will be at risk if marine species management policies are not structured to anticipate these range shifts. The 2017 mass mortality event of the North Atlantic right whale showcases the detrimental impact of unanticipated climate-mediated behavior in a species protected by geographically and seasonally fixed policies. Based on the results of a demographic capture-recapture model, right whales may face extinction in fewer than 30 years unless protective policies are expanded to cover their shifting distribution. Increased support of long-term monitoring programs paired with environmental modeling research is critical to developing more proactive conservation management strategies and preventing further ecological crises.
Considered one of the most endangered cetacean species, the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis suffered declining abundance during the 1990s due to a high rate of anthropogenic-associated ...mortality and a low rate of reproduction. Previous studies have suggested that the reproductive rate is tightly coupled to the abundance of Calanus finmarchicus in the Gulf of Maine (GOM), which has been shown to respond to ecosystem regime shifts associated with decadal-scale climate forcing from the Arctic. Given the endangered status of the right whale population, it is vital to determine how climate-associated changes in prey availability will affect this species in the future. Here, we investigate a 3-state reproduction model that explores multiple environmental proxies as potential predictors of annual calf production during the period from 1980 to 2007. The model achieves its best fit to observations using temporally and spatially resolved C. finmarchicus abundance data derived from Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) surveys of the GOM. Building on previous research, this prey-dependent model, which uses bimonthly and geographically specific abundance anomalies of C. finmarchicus, significantly improves estimates of annual calf production relative to a null model. The temporal and geographic distributions of prey objectively chosen for inclusion in the new version of the model correspond well with observed right whale seasonal distribution patterns, providing further evidence that the model captures essential features of right whale reproductive ecology.
Changes in the physical oceanography of the Northwest Atlantic stemming from both natural and anthropogenic climate change impact the foraging ecology and distribution of endangered North Atlantic ...right whales. In this study, right whale sightings from 1990 to 2018 were analyzed to examine decadal patterns in monthly habitat use in 12 high‐use areas. Depth‐integrated abundances of late‐stage Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus hyperboreus were also analyzed for decadal variations in the right whale foraging habitats. There were significant differences in the occurrence, seasonal timing, and persistence of foraging habitats across these three decades. In the decades of the 1990s and the 2010s, prey was less abundant than in the 2000s, corresponding to reduced use of the Southeast US calving grounds in the winter, increased use of Cape Cod Bay in winter and spring, and reduced use of Roseway Basin in the fall. In the 2010s, right whale sightings increased in Southern New England and the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the spring and summer, respectively. Summertime declines in the 2010s in late‐stage copepod abundances in the Gulf of Maine and surrounding regions, as well as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, indicate that recent increased use of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is driven by a decline in prey in traditional foraging habitats rather than by an increase in prey in the new foraging habitat. This analysis of decadal‐scale differences in right whale sightings and prey abundance is critical for redefining right whale distribution patterns for the most recent (post‐2010) decade.
Phospholipases play crucial roles in plant membrane lipid homeostasis. Nonspecific phospholipase C (NPCs) establish a unique class of phospholipases found only in plants and certain bacteria. Here, ...we show that two previously uncharacterized NPC isoforms, NPC2 and NPC6, are required for male and female gametophyte development in Arabidopsis.
Double mutant plants of npc2-1 npc6-2 could not be retrieved because npc2-1 npc6-2 ovule and pollen development is affected. Genetic complementation, reciprocal crossing and microscope observation of npc2-1/– npc6-2/+ and npc2-1/+ npc6-2/– plants suggest that NPC2 and NPC6 are redundant and are required for normal gametophyte development. Both NPC2 and NPC6 proteins are localized to the plastids. Promoter-GUS assays in transgenic Arabidopsis revealed that NPC2 and NPC6 are preferentially expressed in floral organs rather than in leaves.
In vitro enzyme assays showed that NPC2 and NPC6 hydrolyze phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, but not phosphatidate, being consistent with the reported substrate selectivity of NPCs. The amounts of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol were increased in buds but not in flowers of npc2-1/– npc6-2/+ and npc2-1/+ npc6-2/– plants, presumably due to reduced phospholipid hydrolysis activity in developing flowers.
Our results demonstrate that NPC2 and NPC6 play crucial roles in gametogenesis during flower development.
Objectives
The aim of the study was to examine baseline neurocognitive impairment (NCI) prevalence and factors associated with NCI among patients enrolled in the Neurocognitive Assessment in the ...Metabolic and Aging Cohort (NAMACO) study.
Methods
The NAMACO study is an ongoing, prospective, longitudinal, multicentre and multilingual (German, French and Italian) study within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study. Between 1 May 2013 and 30 November 2016, 981 patients ≥ 45 years old were enrolled in the study. All underwent standardized neuropsychological (NP) assessment by neuropsychologists. NCI was diagnosed using Frascati criteria and classified as HIV‐associated or as related to other factors. Dichotomized analysis (NCI versus no NCI) and continuous analyses (based on NP test z‐score means) were performed.
Results
Most patients (942; 96.2%) had viral loads < 50 HIV‐1 RNA copies/mL. NCI was identified in 390 patients (39.8%): 263 patients (26.8%) had HIV‐associated NCI 249 patients (25.4%) had asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment (ANI) and 127 patients (13%) had NCI attributable to other factors, mainly psychiatric disorders. There was good correlation between dichotomized and continuous analyses, with NCI associated with older age, non‐Caucasian ethnicity, shorter duration of education, unemployment and longer antiretroviral therapy duration.
Conclusions
In this large sample of aging people living with HIV with well‐controlled infection in Switzerland, baseline HIV‐associated NCI prevalence, as diagnosed after formal NP assessment, was 26.8%, with most cases being ANI. The NAMACO study data will enable longitudinal analyses within this population to examine factors affecting NCI development and course.
Small molecule inhibitors of protein kinases are widely used in signal transduction research and are emerging as a major class of drugs. Although interpretation of biological results obtained with ...these reagents critically depends on their selectivity, efficient methods for proteome-wide assessment of kinase inhibitor selectivity have not yet been reported. Here, we address this important issue and describe a method for identifying targets of the widely used p38 kinase inhibitor SB 203580. Immobilization of a suitable SB 203580 analogue and thoroughly optimized biochemical conditions for affinity chromatography permitted the dramatic enrichment and identification of several previously unknown protein kinase targets of SB 203580. In vitro kinase assays showed that cyclin G-associated kinase (GAK) and CK1 were almost as potently inhibited as p38α whereas RICK Rip-like interacting caspase-like apoptosis-regulatory protein (CLARP) kinase/Rip2/CARDIAK was even more sensitive to inhibition by SB 203580. The cellular kinase activity of RICK, a known signal transducer of inflammatory responses, was already inhibited by submicromolar concentrations of SB 203580 in intact cells. Therefore, our results warrant a reevaluation of the vast amount of data obtained with SB 203580 and might have significant implications on the development of p38 inhibitors as antiinflammatory drugs. Based on the procedures described here, efficient affinity purification techniques can be developed for other protein kinase inhibitors, providing crucial information about their cellular modes of action.
Objectives The goal of this study was to develop a low-energy, implantable device–based multistage electrotherapy (MSE) to terminate atrial fibrillation (AF). Background Previous attempts to perform ...cardioversion of AF by using an implantable device were limited by the pain caused by use of a high-energy single biphasic shock (BPS). Methods Transvenous leads were implanted into the right atrium (RA), coronary sinus, and left pulmonary artery of 14 dogs. Self-sustaining AF was induced by 6 ± 2 weeks of high-rate RA pacing. Atrial defibrillation thresholds of standard versus experimental electrotherapies were measured in vivo and studied by using optical imaging in vitro. Results The mean AF cycle length (CL) in vivo was 112 ± 21 ms (534 beats/min). The impedances of the RA–left pulmonary artery and RA–coronary sinus shock vectors were similar (121 ± 11 Ω vs. 126 ± 9 Ω; p = 0.27). BPS required 1.48 ± 0.91 J (165 ± 34 V) to terminate AF. In contrast, MSE terminated AF with significantly less energy (0.16 ± 0.16 J; p < 0.001) and significantly lower peak voltage (31.1 ± 19.3 V; p < 0.001). In vitro optical imaging studies found that AF was maintained by localized foci originating from pulmonary vein–left atrium interfaces. MSE Stage 1 shocks temporarily disrupted localized foci; MSE Stage 2 entrainment shocks continued to silence the localized foci driving AF; and MSE Stage 3 pacing stimuli enabled consistent RA–left atrium activation until sinus rhythm was restored. Conclusions Low-energy MSE significantly reduced the atrial defibrillation thresholds compared with BPS in a canine model of AF. MSE may enable painless, device-based AF therapy.
Alterations to amino acid residues G4946 and I4790, associated with resistance to diamide insecticides, suggests a location of diamide interaction within the pVSD voltage sensor-like domain of the ...insect ryanodine receptor (RyR). To further delineate the interaction site(s), targeted alterations were made within the same pVSD region on the diamondback moth (
) RyR channel. The editing of five amino acid positions to match those found in the diamide insensitive skeletal RyR1 of humans (hRyR1) in order to generate a human-
chimeric construct showed that these alterations strongly reduce diamide efficacy when introduced in combination but cause only minor reductions when introduced individually. It is concluded that the sites of diamide interaction on insect RyRs lie proximal to the voltage sensor-like domain of the RyR and that the main site of interaction is at residues K4700, Y4701, I4790 and S4919 in the S1 to S4 transmembrane domains.
Proximal humerus fractures are the third most common fracture type in adults, with their incidence increasing over time. There are varied approaches to both the classification and treatment of ...proximal humerus fractures. Optimal treatments for this fracture type are still widely open to debate. This review summarizes the current and historical treatment modalities for proximal humerus fractures. In this paper, we provide updates on the advances and trends in the epidemiology, classification, and operative and nonoperative treatments of proximal humerus fractures.
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