Publications by authors named "Connor White"

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have garnered considerable interest for the treatment of adult and pediatric malignant brain tumors. However, owing to their broad-spectrum nature and inability to effectively penetrate the blood-brain barrier, HDAC inhibitors have failed to provide substantial clinical benefit to patients with glioblastoma (GBM) to date. Moreover, global inhibition of HDACs results in widespread toxicity, highlighting the need for selective isoform targeting.

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Juvenile white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) typically aggregate along coastal beaches; however, high levels of recruitment and shifting oceanographic conditions may be causing habitat use expansions. Telemetry data indicate increased habitat use at the Northern Channel Islands (California, USA) by juvenile white shark that may be in response to increased population density at aggregation locations, or anomalous oceanographic events that impact habitat use or expand available habitat. Findings illustrate the need for long-term movement monitoring and understanding drivers of habitat use shifts and expansion to improve ecosystem management.

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The practice of catch and release fishing is common among anglers but has been shown to cause unintended mortalities in some species. Current post-release mortality estimates used in coastal shark stock assessments are typically derived from boat-based shark fisheries, which differ from shore-based operations that expose sharks to potentially more stressful environmental and handling conditions. Recreational post-release mortality rates in shore-based fisheries must be quantified to improve stock assessment models and to create guidelines that protect species from overexploitation.

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The hypoxic constraint on peak oxygen uptake (ṀO2,peak) was characterized in rainbow trout over a range of ambient oxygen tensions with different testing protocols and statistical models. The best-fit model was selected using both statistical criteria (R2 and AIC) and the model's prediction of three anchor points for hypoxic performance: critical PO2 (Pcrit), maximum ṀO2 and a new metric, the minimum PO2 that supports 50% of absolute aerobic scope (PAAS-50). The best-fitting model was curvilinear using five strategically selected PO2 values.

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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.

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During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown, contact clustering in social bubbles may allow extending contacts beyond the household at minimal additional risk and hence has been considered as part of modified lockdown policy or a gradual lockdown exit strategy. We estimated the impact of such strategies on epidemic and mortality risk using the UK as a case study. We used an individual based model for a synthetic population similar to the UK, stratified into transmission risks from the community, within the household and from other households in the same social bubble.

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Shark skin denticles (scales) are diverse in morphology both among species and across the body of single individuals, although the function of this diversity is poorly understood. The extremely elongate and highly flexible tail of thresher sharks provides an opportunity to characterize gradients in denticle surface characteristics along the length of the tail and assess correlations between denticle morphology and tail kinematics. We measured denticle morphology on the caudal fin of three mature and two embryo common thresher sharks (Alopias vulpinus), and we compared thresher tail denticles to those of eleven other shark species.

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Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) molecules play a vital role helping our immune system to detect the presence of pathogens. Previous work to try and ascertain which HLA alleles offer advantages against particular pathogens has generated inconsistent results. We have constructed an epidemiological model to understand why this may occur.

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While adult white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are apex predators with a circumglobal distribution, juvenile white sharks (JWS) feed primarily on bottom dwelling fishes and tend to be coastally associated. Despite the assumedly easier access to juveniles compared to large, migratory adults, limited information is available on the movements, environments, and distributions of individuals during this life stage. To quantify movement and understand their distribution in the southern California Bight, JWS were captured and fitted with dorsal fin-mounted satellite transmitters (SPOT tags; n = 18).

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Length, mass and girth relationships are presented for 112 juvenile white sharks (JWS) Carcharodon carcharias caught in the Southern California Bight (SCB) nursery area between June 2008 and August 2017. No difference was found between male and female JWS length-mass relationships, but data suggest that JWS in the SCB gain more mass per unit length for the juvenile size classes compared with other C. carcharias populations.

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RGG/RG domains are the second most common RNA binding domain in the human genome, yet their RNA-binding properties remain poorly understood. Here, we report a detailed analysis of the RNA binding characteristics of intrinsically disordered RGG/RG domains from Fused in Sarcoma (FUS), FMRP and hnRNPU. For FUS, previous studies defined RNA binding as mediated by its well-folded domains; however, we show that RGG/RG domains are the primary mediators of binding.

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