Age and Growth of Elasmobranchs and Applications to Fisheries Management and Conservation in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.

In addition to being an academic endeavour, the practical purpose of conducting age and growth studies on fishes is to provide biological data to stock assessment scientists and fisheries managers so they may better understand population demographics and manage exploitation rates. Age and size data are used to build growth models, which are a critical component of stock assessments. Though age determination of elasmobranchs in the northeast Pacific Ocean (NEP) began in the 1930s, the field has evolved substantially in recent years, allowing scientists to incorporate age data into assessments for more species than ever before.

First Implantation of Silicon Nanopore Membrane Hemofilters.

An implantable hemofilter for the treatment of kidney failure depends critically on the transport characteristics of the membrane and the biocompatibility of the membrane, cartridge, and blood conduits. A novel membrane with slit-shaped pores optimizes the trade-off between permeability and selectivity, enabling implanted therapy. Sustained (3-8) day function of an implanted parallel-plate hemofilter with minimal anticoagulation was achieved by considering biocompatibility at the subnanometer scale of chemical interactions and the millimeter scale of blood fluid dynamics.

Comparative analyses of animal-tracking data reveal ecological significance of endothermy in fishes.

Despite long evolutionary separations, several sharks and tunas share the ability to maintain slow-twitch, aerobic red muscle (RM) warmer than ambient water. Proximate causes of RM endothermy are well understood, but ultimate causes are unclear. Two advantages often proposed are thermal niche expansion and elevated cruising speeds.

Stable isotope analysis of vertebrae reveals ontogenetic changes in habitat in an endothermic pelagic shark.

Ontogenetic changes in habitat are driven by shifting life-history requirements and play an important role in population dynamics. However, large portions of the life history of many pelagic species are still poorly understood or unknown. We used a novel combination of stable isotope analysis of vertebral annuli, Bayesian mixing models, isoscapes and electronic tag data to reconstruct ontogenetic patterns of habitat and resource use in a pelagic apex predator, the salmon shark (Lamna ditropis).

A re-evaluation of the size of the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) population off California, USA.

White sharks are highly migratory and segregate by sex, age and size. Unlike marine mammals, they neither surface to breathe nor frequent haul-out sites, hindering generation of abundance data required to estimate population size. A recent tag-recapture study used photographic identifications of white sharks at two aggregation sites to estimate abundance in "central California" at 219 mature and sub-adult individuals.

White shark offshore habitat: a behavioral and environmental characterization of the eastern Pacific shared offshore foraging area.

Background: Although much is known about the behavior of white sharks in coastal regions, very little is known about their vertical movements offshore in the eastern Pacific where they spend up to five months. We provide the first detailed description of the offshore habitat use of white sharks in the eastern North Pacific.

Methodology/principal Findings: This study uses 2-min data from four recovered pop-up satellite archival tags deployed at Guadalupe Island (2002 and 2005).

Satellite tagging and cardiac physiology reveal niche expansion in salmon sharks.

Shark populations are declining globally, yet the movements and habitats of most species are unknown. We used a satellite tag attached to the dorsal fin to track salmon sharks (Lamna ditropis) for up to 3.2 years.

High dose rate brachytherapy as prostate cancer monotherapy reduces toxicity compared to low dose rate palladium seeds.

Purpose: We evaluated the potential for differing acute and chronic toxicities between 2 monotherapy methods of image guided conformal brachytherapy, high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy alone and low dose rate (LDR) permanent palladium seeds.

Materials And Methods: A total of 149 patients with biopsy proven, early stage prostate cancer were consecutively treated with interstitial brachytherapy as the sole method of treatment at William Beaumont Hospital between 1999 and 2001. Of the 149, 65 patients were treated with HDR using 192 iridium (192Ir), and 84 patients were treated with LDR using 103 palladium (103Pd).