Serum Prestin After Ototoxin Exposure Is Not Dependent on Outer Hair Cell Loss.

Hypothesis: Cyclodextrin (CDX)-induced serum prestin burst is not dependent on outer hair cell (OHC) loss.

Background: Serum prestin has been proposed as a biomarker for ototoxicity. We recently used an automated Western approach to quantify serum prestin changes in a newly introduced model of CDX ototoxicity.

Automated Western Blot Analysis of Ototoxin-Induced Prestin Burst in the Blood after Cyclodextrin Exposure.

Hypothesis: Ototoxin cyclodextrin (CDX) will induce a burst in serum prestin when quantified with automated Western blot analysis.

Background: In the clinical realm, we primarily rely on audiological measures for diagnosis and surveillance of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and have limited therapeutic options. We have proposed a blood-based biomarker approach to overcome this challenge by measuring the outer hair cell's (OHC) electromotile protein, prestin, in the blood.

Whooping crane use of riverine stopover sites.

Migratory birds like endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana) require suitable nocturnal roost sites during twice annual migrations. Whooping cranes primarily roost in shallow surface water wetlands, ponds, and rivers. All these features have been greatly impacted by human activities, which present threats to the continued recovery of the species.

Investigating whooping crane habitat in relation to hydrology, channel morphology and a water-centric management strategy on the central Platte River, Nebraska.

The Flow-Sediment-Mechanical approach is one of two management strategies presented in the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program's (Program) Adaptive Management Plan to create and maintain suitable riverine habitat (≥200 m wide unobstructed channels) for whooping cranes (). The Program's Flow-Sediment-Mechanical management strategy consists of sediment augmentation, mechanical vegetation clearing and channel widening, channel consolidation, and short duration high flow releases of 142-227 m/s for three to five days in two out of three years in order to increase the unvegetated width of the main channel and, by extension, create and maintain suitable habitat for whooping crane use. We examined the influence of a range of hydrologic and physical metrics on total unvegetated channel width (TUCW) and maximum unobstructed channel width (MUOCW) during the period of 2007-2015 and applied those findings to assess the performance of the Flow-Sediment-Mechanical management strategy for creating and maintaining whooping crane roosting habitat.

Integrating species-centric and geomorphic-centric views of interior least tern and piping plover habitat selection.

The Federally endangered interior least tern () and threatened piping plover () nest on emergent sandbars in several braided rivers in the USA. Previous habitat selection and geomorphic investigations identified a relationship between channel width and nesting incidence. Species-centric analyses indicate selection for the widest available channels whereas geomorphic-centric analyses indicate the probability of species occurrence was higher in narrow channels that better supported suitable sandbar habitat.

Reproductive ecology of interior least tern and piping plover in relation to Platte river hydrology and sandbar dynamics: Response to the letter to the editor.

This is a response to the Alexander, Jorgensen, and Bomberger-Brown (Ecology and Evolution, XX, 2018, XX; hereafter, AJB) Letter to the Editor critiquing Farnsworth et al. (Ecology and Evolution, 7, 2017, 3579; hereafter, our study), which investigates the reproductive ecology of interior least terns and piping plover in relation to Platte River hydrology and sandbar dynamics. Herein, we address each of AJBs' technical arguments, demonstrating that our technical approach and model assumptions were reasonable and provide a conservatively high estimate of the potential for reproductive success when compared to observed nest inundation events.

Reproductive ecology of interior least tern and piping plover in relation to Platte River hydrology and sandbar dynamics.

Investigations of breeding ecology of interior least tern () and piping plover () in the Platte River basin in Nebraska, USA, have embraced the idea that these species are physiologically adapted to begin nesting concurrent with the cessation of spring floods. Low use and productivity on contemporary Platte River sandbars have been attributed to anthropomorphically driven changes in basin hydrology and channel morphology or to unusually late annual runoff events. We examined distributions of least tern and piping plover nest initiation dates in relation to the hydrology of the historical central Platte River (CPR) and contemporary CPR and lower Platte River (LPR).