Species occurrence records are vital data streams in marine conservation with a wide range of important applications. From 2001-2020, the Monterey Bay Aquarium led an international research ...collaboration to understand the life cycle, ecology, and behavior of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the southern California Current. The collaboration was devoted to tagging juveniles with animal-borne sensors, also known as biologging. Here we report the full data records from 59 pop-up archival (PAT) and 20 smart position and temperature transmitting (SPOT) tags that variously recorded pressure, temperature, and light-level data, and computed depth and geolocations for 63 individuals. Whether transmitted or from recovered devices, raw data files from successful deployments (n = 70) were auto-ingested from the manufacturer into the United States (US) Animal Telemetry Network's (ATN) Data Assembly Center (DAC). There they have attributed a full suite of metadata, visualized within their public-facing data portal, compiled for permanent archive under the DataONE Research Workspace member node, and are accessible for download from the ATN data portal.
Background:
There is growing interest in white matter (WM) imaging with positron emission tomography (PET).
Objectives:
We studied the association of cognitive function in late multiple sclerosis ...(MS) with cortical and WM Pittsburgh compound-B PET (PiB-PET) binding.
Methods:
In the population-based Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, 24 of 4869 participants had MS (12 underwent PiB-PET). Controls were age and sex matched (5:1). We used automated or semi-automated processing for quantitative image analyses and conditional logistic regression for group differences.
Results:
MS patients had lower memory (p = 0.03) and language (p = 0.02) performance; smaller thalamic volumes (p = 0.003); and thinner temporal (p = 0.001) and frontal (p = 0.045) cortices on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) than controls. There was no difference in global cortical PiB standardized uptake value ratios between MS and controls (p = 0.35). PiB uptake was lower in areas of WM hyperintensities compared to normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) in MS (p = 0.0002). Reduced PiB uptake in both the areas of WM hyperintensities (r = 0.65; p = 0.02) and NAWM (r = 0.69; p = 0.01) was associated with decreased visuospatial performance in MS.
Conclusion:
PiB uptake in the cortex in late MS is not different from normal age-matched controls. PiB uptake in the WM in late MS may be a marker of the large network structures’ integrity such as those involved in visuospatial performance.
Protists are major consumers of phytoplankton and bacterioplankton in the marine environment, playing a key role in carbon cycling and nutrient regeneration. Consequently, the feeding activities of ...planktonic protists have been intensively studied. In particular, the dinoflagellate, Oxyrrhis marina, has been used extensively as a model predator in laboratory-based feeding studies. This is predominately because it is easy to culture and manipulate and also because its plasticity in feeding behaviour allows it to represent a broad range of free-living heterotrophic protists. Prey preferences of this versatile, but selective, predator have been well documented. However, our ability to determine the factors driving prey selectivity is limited by a poor understanding of the detailed mechanisms underlying O. marina feeding. Within this study, we explore the known aspects of O. marina feeding behaviour and highlight areas that require further research to exploit this species as an effective model protist predator.
The lower Eocene McAbee fossil beds (∼53 Ma), in south-central British Columbia, Canada, represent a lacustrine sequence deposited during a time of pervasive regional volcanism. Previous studies on ...fossil assemblages at the McAbee fossil beds consist of amalgamated collections of plants from several disjunct and stratigraphically unconstrained exposures and horizons, with limited knowledge of the spatio-temporal variation in depositional and taphonomic setting. This study presents a high-resolution lithostratigraphic analysis of the McAbee main site to provide stratigraphic, paleoenvironmental, and taphonomic context to fossil collections. A lithostratigraphic framework was developed for the McAbee main site by correlating tuff marker beds. The sequence was divided into eight lithostratigraphic units on the basis of systematic lithologic trends, a result of varying degrees of volcanic influences. An absence of shallow water indicators, bioturbation, and evidence for fluvio-deltaic influence, and the nonrestricted presence of highly abundant and diverse well-preserved plant fossils indicates a deep water, yet relatively near shore facies, suggesting steep sided lake margins. This taphonomic regime imparts minimal transport- and degradation-induced biases in fossil plant assemblages and suggests plant fossils represent local vegetation growing near the point of deposition. The new lithostratigraphic framework coupled with a refined understanding of depositional setting and taphonomic regime demonstrates the opportunity to document conditions of forest ecology within a dynamic volcanic environment over millennial and multi-millennial time scales.
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a neurodegenerative disorder with a wide heterogeneity of symptoms, which suggests the existence of different subtypes. We used data-driven analysis of magnetic ...resonance imaging (MRI) data to investigate DLB subtypes. We included 165 DLB from the Mayo Clinic and 3 centers from the European DLB consortium and performed a hierarchical cluster analysis to identify subtypes based on gray matter (GM) volumes. To characterize the subtypes, we used demographic and clinical data, as well as β-amyloid, tau, and cerebrovascular biomarkers at baseline, and cognitive decline over three years. We identified 3 subtypes: an older subtype with reduced cortical GM volumes, worse cognition, and faster cognitive decline (n = 49, 30%); a subtype with low GM volumes in fronto-occipital regions (n = 76, 46%); and a subtype of younger patients with the highest cortical GM volumes, proportionally lower GM volumes in basal ganglia and the highest frequency of cognitive fluctuations (n = 40, 24%). This study shows the existence of MRI subtypes in DLB, which may have implications for clinical workout, research, and therapeutic decisions.
Brucella melitensis was identified in an aspirate obtained from a patient's hip joint during a procedure at a hospital in Canada. We conducted an investigation into possible exposures among hospital ...workers; 1 worker who assisted with the procedure tested positive for B. melitensis. Aerosol-generating procedures performed outside the laboratory may facilitate transmission of this bacterium.
Objective
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with increased cardiovascular event (CVE) risk. The impact of statins in RA is not established. We assessed whether atorvastatin is superior to ...placebo for the primary prevention of CVEs in RA patients.
Methods
A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial was designed to detect a 32% CVE risk reduction based on an estimated 1.6% per annum event rate with 80% power at P < 0.05. RA patients age >50 years or with a disease duration of >10 years who did not have clinical atherosclerosis, diabetes, or myopathy received atorvastatin 40 mg daily or matching placebo. The primary end point was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, transient ischemic attack, or any arterial revascularization. Secondary and tertiary end points included plasma lipids and safety.
Results
A total of 3,002 patients (mean age 61 years; 74% female) were followed up for a median of 2.51 years (interquartile range IQR 1.90, 3.49 years) (7,827 patient‐years). The study was terminated early due to a lower than expected event rate (0.70% per annum). Of the 1,504 patients receiving atorvastatin, 24 (1.6%) experienced a primary end point, compared with 36 (2.4%) of the 1,498 receiving placebo (hazard ratio HR 0.66 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.39, 1.11; P = 0.115 and adjusted HR 0.60 95% CI 0.32, 1.15; P = 0.127). At trial end, patients receiving atorvastatin had a mean ± SD low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level 0.77 ± 0.04 mmoles/liter lower than those receiving placebo (P < 0.0001). C‐reactive protein level was also significantly lower in the atorvastatin group than the placebo group (median 2.59 mg/liter IQR 0.94, 6.08 versus 3.60 mg/liter IQR 1.47, 7.49; P < 0.0001). CVE risk reduction per mmole/liter reduction in LDL cholesterol was 42% (95% CI −14%, 70%). The rates of adverse events in the atorvastatin group (n = 298 19.8%) and placebo group (n = 292 19.5%) were similar.
Conclusion
Atorvastatin 40 mg daily is safe and results in a significantly greater reduction of LDL cholesterol level than placebo in patients with RA. The 34% CVE risk reduction is consistent with the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration meta‐analysis of statin effects in other populations.
Background
Nearly 20 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, multiple studies have documented the adverse mental consequences among World Trade Center (WTC) rescue, recovery, and ...clean‐up workers. However, scarce research has examined mental health stigma and barriers to care in WTC‐exposed individuals, and no known study has examined whether rates of endorsement may differ between police and “nontraditional” responders, the latter comprising a heterogeneous group of workers and volunteers.
Objective
To identify the prevalence and correlates of mental health stigma and barriers to care in WTC responders.
Methods
Mental health stigma and barriers to care and their correlates were examined in 6,777 police and 6,272 nontraditional WTC responders.
Results
Nontraditional responders endorsed more stigma or barriers to care concerns than police responders. Within a subsample who screened positive for a psychiatric disorder, police were more likely than nontraditional responders to endorse “concerns that negative job consequences might result” (17.9% vs. 9.1%), while nontraditional responders were more likely to endorse “I don't know where to go to find counseling services” (18.4% vs.6.6%). Within this subsample, mental health service need and more severe WTC‐related posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were associated with increased likelihood of endorsing stigma or barriers; pre‐9/11 psychiatric history and non‐Hispanic Black race/ethnicity were associated with lower likelihood of endorsing stigma or barriers.
Conclusions
Results of this study underscore the burden of mental health stigma and barriers to care in WTC responders, and highlight the need for targeted interventions to address these concerns and promote mental healthcare utilization in this population.
Anti‐platelet factor 4 (PF4) antibodies that activate platelets via FcγRIIA drive the pathophysiology of vaccine‐induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT). Evolution of these antibodies ...and their ability to activate platelets after initial treatment remains unknown.
To assess how clinical and platelet parameters, anti‐PF4 antibody levels, and patient serum reactivity changes during follow‐up after VITT presentation.
We describe cases of seven discharged VITT patients that were followed from diagnosis up to 280 days (range 199–280) after vaccination. We measured anti‐PF4 antibodies and PF4 levels in patient serum during follow‐up and tested the ability of patient serum to activate healthy donor platelets and patient platelets over time.
Anti‐PF4 immunoglobulin G antibody levels are very high at diagnosis (0.9–2.6 OD) and remain relatively high (>1.0 OD) in all patients, except one treated with rituximab, at 7 months post vaccination. All patients were on direct oral anticoagulants throughout follow‐up and no patients had recurrent thrombosis. Patients’ platelets during follow‐up have normal FcγRIIA levels and responsiveness to platelet agonists. Patient diagnostic serum strongly activated control platelets, either alone or with PF4. Most follow‐up serum alone was weaker at stimulating donor and patient platelets. However, follow‐up serum beyond 150 days still strongly activated platelets with PF4 addition in three patients. Patient serum PF4 levels were lower than controls at diagnosis but returned within normal range by day 50.
Explanations for reduced platelet activation during follow‐up, despite similar total anti‐PF4 antibody levels, remains unclear. Clinical implications of persistent anti‐PF4 antibodies in VITT require further study.
Objective
Decreased expression of diacylglycerol kinase delta (DGKδ) has been linked to insulin resistance in humans and mice and it is abundantly expressed in adipose tissue. Therefore, its role in ...adipogenesis was examined.
Design and Methods
3T3‐L1 pre‐adipocytes were generated in which DGKδ expression had been knocked down and the effect of this on adipogenesis was determined. Lipidomic analyses were performed to determine levels of the DGKδ product phosphatidic acid (PA), its substrate diacylglycerol (DAG) and triglyceride (TG).
Results
Inhibiting DGKδ expression prevents adipogenesis. DGKδ knockdown in differentiating adipocytes blunted the increase in total levels of PA and DAG but did not affect the early rise in TG levels. DAG or PA species acting as TG precursors were only modestly reduced by DGKδ knockdown which significantly impaired the accumulation of DAG or PA species implicated in intracellular signaling. The DAG activated kinase PKCδ was also stimulated in DGKδ knockdown cells, despite no increase in detectable species of DAG.
Conclusions
DGKδ is a novel regulator of adipogenesis and phosphorylates a quantitatively small pool of signaling DAG important for differentiation and indirectly affects overall levels of signaling DAG and PA species distinct from those acting as precursors for TG synthesis.
PDF
