Trophic ecology of groundfishes in nearshore areas of the Gulf of Maine.

Ecosystem management requires an integrated understanding of ecological interactions. In the Gulf of Maine (GoM), trophic information pertaining to commercially important groundfishes and nearshore prey communities is lacking. We characterized nearshore communities and groundfish diets using data collected from nearshore surveys (864 bottom trawls and 3638 stomach samples of six groundfish species) conducted biannually (spring and fall) in Midcoast Maine and Penobscot Bay from 2012 to 2022.

Examining fish scale biomineral from Atlantic salmon populations.

Fish scale microchemistry can be used to make life-history inferences, although ecological studies examining scale composition are relatively rare. Salmon scales have an external layer of calcium phosphate hydroxyl apatite (HAP). The structure, hardness, and calcium content of this layer have been shown to vary within and between species.

A novel climate and health decision support platform: Approach, outputs, and policy considerations.

Background: The adverse health impacts of climate change are increasingly apparent and the need for adaptation activities is pressing. Risks, drivers, and decision contexts vary significantly by location, and high-resolution, place-based information is needed to support decision analysis and risk reduction efforts at scale.

Methods: Using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) risk framework, we developed a causal pathway linking heat with a composite outcome of heat-related morbidity and mortality.

Attractive serial dependence overcomes repulsive neuronal adaptation.

Sensory responses and behavior are strongly shaped by stimulus history. For example, perceptual reports are sometimes biased toward previously viewed stimuli (serial dependence). While behavioral studies have pointed to both perceptual and postperceptual origins of this phenomenon, neural data that could elucidate where these biases emerge is limited.

Redefining the oceanic distribution of Atlantic salmon.

Determining the mechanisms driving range-wide reductions in Atlantic salmon marine survival is hindered by an insufficient understanding of their oceanic ecology and distribution. We attached 204 pop-up satellite archival tags to post-spawned salmon when they migrated to the ocean from seven European areas and maiden North American salmon captured at sea at West Greenland. Individuals migrated further north and east than previously reported and displayed increased diving activity near oceanographic fronts, emphasizing the importance of these regions as feeding areas.

Date of marine annulus formation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and implications for retrospective growth analyses using scales.

Fish scales have increasingly been used to quantify annual and seasonal growth trends and in efforts to relate growth to environmental conditions. Understanding the timing of formation of an annulus (a group of narrowly spaced circuli) is critical when assessing the influence of marine ecosystem conditions on seasonal growth patterns of Atlantic salmon, yet the literature does not provide consistent answers regarding the timing or drivers of marine annulus formation. This study demonstrates a novel method for estimating stock-specific annulus formation timing based on marked individuals with known emigration and return/recovery dates.

Attention and executive function are impaired during active standing in postural tachycardia syndrome.

Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a chronic form of orthostatic intolerance associated with cognitive dysfunction. We hypothesized executive function and attention is impaired in POTS during active standing. Eighty-seven POTS participants and 39 healthy controls of similar age, sex, and education level completed executive function (Stroop word-color) and attention (CogState Identification) tests in supine and standing postures in a cross-sectional study.

Characterizing and predicting cortical evoked responses to direct electrical stimulation of the human brain.

Background: Direct electrical stimulation of the human brain has been used to successfully treat several neurological disorders, but the precise effects of stimulation on neural activity are poorly understood. Characterizing the neural response to stimulation, however, could allow clinicians and researchers to more accurately predict neural responses, which could in turn lead to more effective stimulation for treatment and to fundamental knowledge regarding neural function.

Objective: Here we use a linear systems approach in order to characterize the response to electrical stimulation across cortical locations and then to predict the responses to novel inputs.

Prevalence of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Despite well-established clinical associations between Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), the precise prevalence is unknown. We therefore evaluated for hEDS in 91 POTS participants using the 2017 hEDS diagnostic checklist, which has three major criteria: 1) generalized joint hypermobility (Beighton score), 2) systemic features, family history, and 3) absence of exclusion criteria. Overall, 28 out of 91 POTS participants (31%) met clinical criteria for hEDS.

Arterial Elasticity in Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS) are a group of heritable disorders of connective tissue (HDCT) characterized by joint hypermobility, skin hyperextensibility, and tissue fragility. Orthostatic intolerance (OI) is highly prevalent in EDS however mechanisms linking OI to EDS remain poorly understood. We hypothesize that impaired blood pressure (BP) and heart rate control is associated with lower arterial stiffness in people with EDS.

Spatial synchrony in the response of a long range migratory species (Salmo salar) to climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean.

A major challenge in understanding the response of populations to climate change is to separate the effects of local drivers acting independently on specific populations, from the effects of global drivers that impact multiple populations simultaneously and thereby synchronize their dynamics. We investigated the environmental drivers and the demographic mechanisms of the widespread decline in marine survival rates of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) over the last four decades. We developed a hierarchical Bayesian life cycle model to quantify the spatial synchrony in the marine survival of 13 large groups of populations (called stock units, SU) from two continental stock groups (CSG) in North America (NA) and Southern Europe (SE) over the period 1971-2014.

Changing temporal context in human temporal lobe promotes memory of distinct episodes.

Memories of experiences that occur around the same time are linked together by a shared temporal context, represented by shared patterns of neural activity. However, shared temporal context may be problematic for selective retrieval of specific memories. Here, we examine intracranial EEG (iEEG) in the human temporal lobe as participants perform a verbal paired associates memory task that requires the encoding of distinct word pairs in memory.

Demographic and genetic description of Greenland's only indigenous Atlantic salmon Salmo salar population.

A survey of the Kapisillit River system was conducted in 2005 and 2012 to study the only indigenous Atlantic salmon Salmo salar population in Greenland. Little is known about its characteristics or its relationship with other S. salar populations across the species range.

A neural data structure for novelty detection.

Novelty detection is a fundamental biological problem that organisms must solve to determine whether a given stimulus departs from those previously experienced. In computer science, this problem is solved efficiently using a data structure called a Bloom filter. We found that the fruit fly olfactory circuit evolved a variant of a Bloom filter to assess the novelty of odors.

Mapping future fire probability under climate change: Does vegetation matter?

Understanding where and how fire patterns may change is critical for management and policy decision-making. To map future fire patterns, statistical correlative models are typically developed, which associate observed fire locations with recent climate maps, and are then applied to maps of future climate projections. A potential source of uncertainty is the common omission of static or dynamic vegetation as predictor variables.

Signal Complexity of Human Intracranial EEG Tracks Successful Associative-Memory Formation across Individuals.

Memory performance is highly variable among individuals. Most studies examining human memory, however, have largely focused on the neural correlates of successful memory formation within individuals, rather than the differences among them. As such, what gives rise to this variability is poorly understood.

Principled Approaches to Direct Brain Stimulation for Cognitive Enhancement.

In this brief review, we identify key areas of research that inform a systematic and targeted approach for invasive brain stimulation with the goal of modulating higher cognitive functions such as memory. We outline several specific challenges that must be successfully navigated in order to achieve this goal. Specifically, using direct brain stimulation to support memory requires demonstrating that (1) there are reliable neural patterns corresponding to different events and memory states, (2) stimulation can be used to induce these target activity patterns, and (3) inducing such patterns modulates memory in the expected directions.

Near-infrared spectroscopic photoacoustic microscopy using a multi-color fiber laser source.

We demonstrate a simple multi-wavelength optical source suitable for spectroscopic optical resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) of lipid-rich tissue. 1064 nm laser pulses are converted to multiple wavelengths beyond 1300 nm via nonlinear optical propagation in a birefringent optical fiber. OR-PAM experiments with lipid phantoms clearly show the expected absorption peak near 1210 nm.

Projected carbon stocks in the conterminous USA with land use and variable fire regimes.

The dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM) MC2 was run over the conterminous USA at 30 arc sec (~800 m) to simulate the impacts of nine climate futures generated by 3GCMs (CSIRO, MIROC and CGCM3) using 3 emission scenarios (A2, A1B and B1) in the context of the LandCarbon national carbon sequestration assessment. It first simulated potential vegetation dynamics from coast to coast assuming no human impacts and naturally occurring wildfires. A moderate effect of increased atmospheric CO2 on water use efficiency and growth enhanced carbon sequestration but did not greatly influence woody encroachment.

Microbial ecology of the hive and pollination landscape: bacterial associates from floral nectar, the alimentary tract and stored food of honey bees (Apis mellifera).

Nearly all eukaryotes are host to beneficial or benign bacteria in their gut lumen, either vertically inherited, or acquired from the environment. While bacteria core to the honey bee gut are becoming evident, the influence of the hive and pollination environment on honey bee microbial health is largely unexplored. Here we compare bacteria from floral nectar in the immediate pollination environment, different segments of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) alimentary tract, and food stored in the hive (honey and packed pollen or "beebread").

Climate and ecosystem linkages explain widespread declines in North American Atlantic salmon populations.

North American Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations experienced substantial declines in the early 1990s, and many populations have persisted at low abundances in recent years. Abundance and productivity declined in a coherent manner across major regions of North America, and this coherence points toward a potential shift in marine survivorship, rather than local, river-specific factors. The major declines in Atlantic salmon populations occurred against a backdrop of physical and biological shifts in Northwest Atlantic ecosystems.

Development of a computed tomography method of scoring bone erosion in patients with gout: validation and clinical implications.

Objectives: To develop a method of scoring bone erosion in the feet of patients with gout using CT as an outcome measure for chronic gout studies, consistent with the components of the OMERACT filter.

Methods: Clinical assessment, plain radiographs and CT scans of both feet were obtained from 25 patients with chronic gout. CT scans were scored for bone erosion using a semi-quantitative method based on the Rheumatoid Arthritis MRI Scoring System (RAMRIS).

DMPS can reverse the features of severe mercury vapor-induced neurological damage.

Case Report: A 36-year-old jewelry producer presented with tremor, slurred speech, lethargy, headache, and incoordination. On examination he had a coarse tremor of the outstretched hands and protruded tongue, slurred speech, "Hatter's shakes" handwriting, impaired heel-toe walking and heel-shin coordination, mild dysdiadochokinesis, and constricted visual fields to confrontation. The patient received four 5-day courses of oral 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate (30 mg/kg/day), which was associated with substantial objective clinical improvement and the excretion of 99,406 microg mercury.

The impact of AA on professional treatment.

Several forces combined in the 1950s to profoundly change the way alcoholism was treated in the United States. Anderson, Bradley, and Hazelden staff combined strategies to revolutionize alcoholism treatment across the spectrum of social rehabilitation services and hospital-based care. Prevailing psychiatric services, heavily influenced by psychoanalytic practices, were abandoned in favor of an emphasis on patient education, therapeutic group process, peer interaction, and the development of life-long support systems through AA.