Fecundity and Nutrient Deficiency Following Obesity Treatment: Implications for Young-Onset Cancer Risk in Offspring.

Young-onset adult cancers have been an emerging problem over the last three decades in Australia [...

Sedimentary ancient DNA reveals the impact of anthropogenic land use disturbance and ecological shifts on fish community structure in small lowland lake.

Freshwater fish biodiversity and abundance are decreasing globally. The drivers of decline are primarily anthropogenic; however, the causative links between disturbances and fish community change are complex and challenging to investigate. We used a suite of sedimentary DNA methods (droplet digital PCR and metabarcoding) and traditional paleolimnological approaches, including pollen and trace metal analysis, ITRAX X-ray fluorescence and hyperspectral core scanning to explore changes in fish abundance and drivers over 1390 years in a small lake.

A paleoecological investigation of recent cyanobacterial blooms and their drivers in two contrasting lakes.

Cyanobacterial blooms are one of the most significant threats to global water security and freshwater biodiversity. Interactions among multiple stressors, including habitat degradation, species invasions, increased nutrient runoff, and climate change, are key drivers. However, assessing the role of anthropogenic activity on the onset of cyanobacterial blooms and exploring response variation amongst lakes of varying size and depth is usually limited by lack of historical records.

Resolving 500 Years of Anthropogenic Impacts in a Mesotrophic Lake: Nutrients Outweigh Other Drivers of Lake Change.

Interactions among multiple stressors, legacies of past perturbations, and the lack of historical information make it difficult to determine the influence of individual anthropogenic impacts on lakes and separate them from natural ecosystem variability. In the present study, we coupled paleolimnological approaches, historical data, and ecological experiments to disentangle the impacts of multiple long-term stressors on lake ecosystem structure and function. We found that the lake structure and function remained resistant to the impacts of catchment deforestation and erosion, and the introduction of several exotic fish species.

A bacterial index to estimate lake trophic level: National scale validation.

Lakes and their catchments have been subjected to centuries to millennia of exploitation by humans. Efficient monitoring methods are required to promote proactive protection and management. Traditional monitoring is time consuming and expensive, which limits the number of lakes monitored.

Local factors drive bacterial and microeukaryotic community composition in lake surface sediment collected across an altitudinal gradient.

Lake surface sediments are dominated by microorganisms that play significant roles in biogeochemical cycling within lakes. There is limited knowledge on the relative importance of local environmental factors and altitude on bacterial and microeukaryotic community richness and composition in lake sediments. In the present study, surface sediment samples were collected from 40 lakes along an altitude gradient (2-1215 m).

Mid-Pleistocene climate transition drives net mass loss from rapidly uplifting St. Elias Mountains, Alaska.

Erosion, sediment production, and routing on a tectonically active continental margin reflect both tectonic and climatic processes; partitioning the relative importance of these processes remains controversial. Gulf of Alaska contains a preserved sedimentary record of the Yakutat Terrane collision with North America. Because tectonic convergence in the coastal St.

Genome-wide scan of additional Jewish families confirms linkage of a myopia susceptibility locus to chromosome 22q12.

Purpose: A genome-wide scan was previously reported for myopia in Ashkenazi Jews. In order to confirm the previous linkage peaks, a collection of DNA samples from 19 new Ashkenazi Jewish families were tested for linkage in a genome wide scan.

Methods: Families were ascertained from an Orthodox Ashkenazi Jewish community through mailings.

Genomewide scan in Ashkenazi Jewish families demonstrates evidence of linkage of ocular refraction to a QTL on chromosome 1p36.

Unlabelled: The development of refractive error is mediated by both environmental and genetic factors. We performed regression-based quantitative trait locus (QTL) linkage analysis on Ashkenazi Jewish families to identify regions in the genome responsible for ocular refraction. We measured refractive error on individuals in 49 multi-generational American families of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

Xcat, a novel mouse model for Nance-Horan syndrome inhibits expression of the cytoplasmic-targeted Nhs1 isoform.

Nance-Horan syndrome (NHS) is an X-linked disorder characterized by congenital cataracts, dental anomalies, dysmorphic features and mental retardation. A recent report suggests that the novel gene NHS1 is involved in this disorder due to the presence of point mutations in NHS patients. A possible mouse model for NHS, Xcat, was mapped to a 2.

Genome-wide scan for myopia in the Old Order Amish.

Purpose: To identify myopia susceptibility genes influencing common myopia in 34 Old Order Amish families, a genetically well-defined founder population.

Design: A prospective study of families with myopia consisting of a minimum of two individuals affected with myopia.

Methods: Extended families consisting of at least two siblings affected with myopia were ascertained.

Genomewide linkage scan for myopia susceptibility loci among Ashkenazi Jewish families shows evidence of linkage on chromosome 22q12.

Mild/moderate (common) myopia is a very common disorder, with both genetic and environmental influences. The environmental factors are related to near work and can be measured. There are no known genetic loci for common myopia.