Discussions around the "slow science movement" abound in environmental sciences, yet they are generally counterproductive. Researchers must focus on producing robust and transparent knowledge, regardless of speed. Slow versus fast science is irrelevant - what we need is reproducible research to support evidence-based decision making and tackle urgent and costly environmental problems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThree field seasons of exploration along the Río Alto Madre de Dios in Peruvian Amazonia have yielded a fauna of micromammals from a new locality AMD-45, at ∼12.8°S. So far we have identified the new primate described here as well as small caviomorph rodents, cenolestoid marsupials, interatheriid notoungulates, xenarthrans, fish, lizards and invertebrates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBased on existing laboratory research on the visual physiology of walleye Sander vitreus, we tested colours of known spectral sensitivity (i.e., green and orange) using constant and strobing (5 Hz) illumination with an LED-based light guidance device (LGD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiple stressors are commonly encountered by wild animals, but their cumulative effects are poorly understood, especially regarding infection development. We conducted a holding study with repeated gill and blood sampling to characterize the effects of cumulative stressors on infection development in adult coho salmon. Treatments included chronic thermal stress (15°C vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Oncol (R Coll Radiol)
January 2020
It is reasonable to expect that hydro-morphodynamic processes in fluvial systems can affect fish habitat availability, but the impacts of morphological changes in fluvial systems on fish habitat are not well studied. Herein we investigate the impact of morphological development of a cohesive meandering stream on the quality of fish habitat available for juvenile yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and white sucker (Catostomus commersonii). A three-dimensional (3D) morphodynamic model was first developed to simulate the hydro-morphodynamics of the study creek.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActivation of cell cycle regulated transcription during the G1-to-S transition initiates S phase entry and cell cycle commitment. The molecular mechanisms involving G1/S transcriptional regulation are well established and have been shown to be evolutionary conserved from yeast to humans. Previous work has suggested that changes to the chromatin state, specifically through histone acetylation, has an important role in the regulation of G1/S transcription in both yeast and human cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute elevation of cortisol via activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis aids the fish in dealing with a stressor. However, chronic elevation of cortisol has detrimental effects and has been studied extensively in lab settings. However, data pertaining to wild teleosts are lacking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe compared baseline and maximal cortisol concentrations between predator exposure and prey blood samples in pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus, captured using a standardised fishing event underneath osprey Pandion haliaetus nests and away from osprey nests. We did not detect differences in cortisol or glucose between sites. These findings suggest that predictable sources of predation risk may not confer stress-related costs in teleosts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnadromous fishes such as steelhead trout, , are exposed to a suite of infectious agents and migratory challenges during their freshwater migrations. We assessed infectious agent load and richness and immune system gene expression in gill tissue of Bulkley River (British Columbia, CA) steelhead captured at and upstream of a migratory barrier to evaluate whether infectious burdens impacted migration success. We further considered the potential influences of water temperature, sex and fish size on host infectious agents and transcription profiles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAquatic telemetry technology generates new knowledge about the underwater world that can inform decision-making processes and thus can improve conservation and natural resource management. Still, there is lack of evidence on how telemetry-derived knowledge can or has informed management, and what factors facilitate or deter its use. We present one of the first quantitative studies related to the science-action gap and evaluate factors that influence the uptake of fish telemetry findings into policies and practices, as well as social acceptance of these findings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep abnormalities are prevalent in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Moreover, the severity of ASD symptoms are correlated with the degree of disturbed sleep. We asked if disturbed sleep during brain development itself could lead to ASD-like symptoms, particularly behavioral manifestations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Question: Can a deep learning model predict the probability of pregnancy with fetal heart (FH) from time-lapse videos?
Summary Answer: We created a deep learning model named IVY, which was an objective and fully automated system that predicts the probability of FH pregnancy directly from raw time-lapse videos without the need for any manual morphokinetic annotation or blastocyst morphology assessment.
What Is Known Already: The contribution of time-lapse imaging in effective embryo selection is promising. Existing algorithms for the analysis of time-lapse imaging are based on morphology and morphokinetic parameters that require subjective human annotation and thus have intrinsic inter-reader and intra-reader variability.
Airguns used for offshore seismic exploration by the oil and gas industry contribute to globally increasing anthropogenic noise levels in the marine environment. There is concern that the omnidirectional, high intensity sound pulses created by airguns may alter fish physiology and behaviour. A controlled short-term field experiment was performed to investigate the effects of sound exposure from a seismic airgun on the physiology and behaviour of two socioeconomically and ecologically important marine fishes: the Atlantic cod () and saithe ().
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNext-generation sequencing is enabling molecularly guided therapy for many cancer types, yet failure rates remain relatively high in pancreatic cancer (PC). The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of genomic profiling using endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) biopsy samples to facilitate personalised therapy for PC. Ninty-five patients underwent additional research biopsies at the time of diagnostic EUS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStressed fish have been shown to have higher predator-induced mortality than unstressed conspecifics, suggesting a role for the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal axis in modifying risk-taking behaviors. Yet, there is also evidence of behavioral resiliency in the face of chronic stressors. Here, we tested the behavioral resiliency hypothesis, which posits that animals can maintain consistent behavioral phenotypes in the face of significant physiological challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch in a variety of vertebrate taxa has found that cardiac function is a major limiting factor in the ability of animals to cope with physiological challenges, and thus is suggested to play an important role in mediating fitness-related behaviors in the wild. Yet, there remains a paucity of empirical assessments of the relationships between physiological performance and biological fitness in wild animals, partially due to challenges in measuring these metrics remotely. Using male smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) as a model, we tested for relationships between cardiac performance (measured using heart rate biologgers) and fitness-related behaviors (assessed using videography and snorkeler observations) in the wild during the parental care period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArguments for the need to conserve aquatic predator (AP) populations often focus on the ecological and socioeconomic roles they play. Here, we summarize the diverse ecosystem functions and services connected to APs, including regulating food webs, cycling nutrients, engineering habitats, transmitting diseases/parasites, mediating ecological invasions, affecting climate, supporting fisheries, generating tourism, and providing bioinspiration. In some cases, human-driven declines and increases in AP populations have altered these ecosystem functions and services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKelts - individuals of anadromous fish species which have successfully spawned and may return to sea to repeat the cycle - are perhaps the least studied life stage of iteroparous fish species. To date, our understanding of what makes them successful in their return migration to sea is limited. We investigated the relationship between three physiological parameters (baseline cortisol, baseline glucose and low molecular weight antioxidants) and the timing and success of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and sea trout (Salmo trutta) kelt migration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecreational fisheries that use rod and reel (i.e., angling) operate around the globe in diverse freshwater and marine habitats, targeting many different gamefish species and engaging at least 220 million participants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) or stress axis in teleost fishes produces their primary glucocorticoid, cortisol. Although generally an adaptive response, prolonged HPI axis stimulation can impair organismal performance. Previous work has shown that stressed teleosts have higher mortality to predation than unstressed conspecifics, suggesting a role for HPI axis in modulating predator-prey interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFShortly before he died in October 2017, John Lisman submitted an invited review to Molecular Brain on 'Criteria for identifying the molecular basis of the engram (CaMKII, PKMζ)'. John had no opportunity to read the referees' comments, and as a mark of the regard in which he was held by the neuroscience community the Editors decided to publish his review as submitted. This obituary takes the form of a series of commentaries on Lisman's review.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF