Diverse Microvirus Genomes Identified in the Stomach of a Sharp-Spined Notothen (Trematomus pennellii) from the Ross Sea (East Antarctica).

Sharp-spined notothen (Trematomus pennellii) is an icefish endemic to the southern ocean. From the stomach of an individual, we identified the genomes of 51 microviruses (family ). The major capsid proteins of most of these share the closest similarities to those identified in other marine organisms.

A method for measuring meaningful physiological variables in fish blood without surgical cannulation.

Gaining meaningful blood samples from water-breathing fish is a significant challenge. Two main methods typically used are grab 'n' stab and surgical cannulation. Both methods have benefits, but also significant limitations under various scenarios.

Fish feeds supplemented with calcium-based buffering minerals decrease stomach acidity, increase the blood alkaline tide and cost more to digest.

Predatory fish in the wild consume whole prey including hard skeletal parts like shell and bone. Shell and bone are made up of the buffering minerals calcium carbonate (CaCO) and calcium phosphate (Ca(PO)). These minerals resist changes in pH, meaning they could have physiological consequences for gastric acidity, digestion and metabolism in fish.

Rapid blood acid-base regulation by European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in response to sudden exposure to high environmental CO2.

Fish in coastal ecosystems can be exposed to acute variations in CO2 of between 0.2 and 1 kPa CO2 (2000-10,000 µatm). Coping with this environmental challenge will depend on the ability to rapidly compensate for the internal acid-base disturbance caused by sudden exposure to high environmental CO2 (blood and tissue acidosis); however, studies about the speed of acid-base regulatory responses in marine fish are scarce.

Discovery of novel fish papillomaviruses: From the Antarctic to the commercial fish market.

Fish papillomaviruses form a newly discovered group broadly recognized as the Secondpapillomavirinae subfamily. This study expands the documented genomes of the fish papillomaviruses from six to 16, including one from the Antarctic emerald notothen, seven from commercial market fishes, one from data mining of sea bream sequence data, and one from a western gull cloacal swab that is likely diet derived. The genomes of secondpapillomaviruses are ∼6 kilobasepairs (kb), which is substantially smaller than the ∼8 kb of terrestrial vertebrate papillomaviruses.

Increasing Blood Pressure Variability Predicts Poor Functional Outcome Following Acute Stroke.

Introduction: Increasing blood pressure variability has been reported following acute stroke, but there is uncertainty about how best to measure it and about the impact on prognosis following acute ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack.

Methods: Enhanced casual blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were completed at baseline (≤48 h post symptom onset). Blood pressure variability was defined by standard deviation and coefficient of variation of systolic, diastolic, mean arterial pressure, and pulse pressure.

Advances in Understanding Mobilization Processes of Trace Metals in Marine Sediments.

Different mobilization mechanisms control the metal distribution in surface sediments of the Belgium coastal zone (BCZ) and the anoxic Gotland basin (GB). This mobilization was studied using DGT (diffusive gradients in thin films): vertical one-dimensional (1D) profiles of Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn were measured at 5 mm intervals, while two-dimensional (2D) high-resolution (100 μm) images of smaller zones of the sediment profile were obtained on separate DGT probes. Removal of dissolved Cd, Cu, and Pb in BCZ sediments caused steep vertical gradients at the sediment-water interface that were well replicated in 1D profiles and 2D images.

Can cardiovascular risk management be improved by shared care with general practice to prevent cognitive decline following stroke/TIA? A feasibility randomised controlled trial (SERVED memory).

Background: Cognitive impairment and dementia following cerebrovascular disease are increasingly common in the UK. One potential strategy to prevent post-stroke cognitive decline is multimodal vascular risk factor management. However, its efficacy remains uncertain and its application in vulnerable patients with incident cerebrovascular disease and early cognitive impairment has not been assessed.

A calcium channel or angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker regime to reduced blood pressure variability in acute ischaemic stroke (CAARBS): A feasibility trial.

Background: Trials of lowering blood pressure in patients with acute ischaemic stroke not undergoing thrombolysis have not demonstrated improved outcomes with intervention. Rather than absolute levels, it may be that blood pressure variability is important. However, there are no prospective randomised trials investigating the benefit of reducing blood pressure variability in this patient group.

Understanding the gastrointestinal physiology and responses to feeding in air-breathing Anabantiform fishes.

The Mekong Delta is host to a large number of freshwater species, including a unique group of facultative air-breathing Anabantiforms. Of these, the striped snakehead (Channa striata), the climbing perch (Anabas testudineus), the giant gourami (Osphronemus goramy) and the snakeskin gourami (Trichogaster pectoralis) are major contributors to aquaculture production in Vietnam. The gastrointestinal responses to feeding in these four species are detailed here.

Self-Monitoring and Management of Blood Pressure in Patients with Stroke or TIA: An Economic Evaluation of TEST-BP, A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Background: Prevention of secondary stroke following initial ictus is an important focus of after-stroke care. Blood pressure (BP) is a key risk factor, so usual care following stroke or transient ischaemic attack includes regular BP checks and monitoring of anti-hypertensive medication. This is traditionally carried out in primary care, but the evidence supporting self-monitoring and self-guided management of BP in the general population with hypertension is growing.

The effect of temperature and meal size on the aerobic scope and specific dynamic action of two temperate New Zealand finfish Chrysophrys auratus and Aldrichetta forsteri.

Shallow coastal and estuarine habitats function as nurseries for many juvenile fish. In this comparative study, metabolic profiles of two New Zealand finfish, snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) and yellow-eyed mullet-YEM (Aldrichetta forsteri) that as juveniles share the same temperate coastal environments, were examined. Metabolic parameters (routine and maximum metabolic rates, and specific dynamic action-SDA) were investigated at a set of temperatures (13, 17, 21 °C) within the range juveniles both species experience annually.

Randomised controlled trial of a Calcium Channel or Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor/Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Regime to Reduce Blood Pressure Variability following Ischaemic Stroke (CAARBS): a protocol for a feasibility study.

Introduction: Raised blood pressure (BP) is common after stroke and is associated with a poor prognosis, yet trials of BP lowering in the immediate poststroke period have not demonstrated a benefit. One possible explanation for this may be that BP variability (BPV) rather than absolute levels predicts outcome, as BPV is increased after stroke and is associated with poor outcomes. Furthermore, there is evidence of distinct antihypertensive class effects on BPV despite similar BP-lowering effects.

Blood pressure differences between home monitoring and daytime ambulatory values and their reproducibility in treated hypertensive stroke and TIA patients.

Background: Guidelines recommend ambulatory or home blood pressure monitoring to improve hypertension diagnosis and monitoring. Both these methods are ascribed the same threshold values, but whether they produce similar results has not been established in certain patient groups.

Methods: Adults with mild/moderate stroke or transient ischemic attack (N = 80) completed 2 sets of ambulatory and home blood pressure monitoring.

In situ measurements of micronutrient dynamics in open seawater show that complex dissociation rates may limit diatom growth.

In this first in situ study of the dynamic availability of phytoplankton micronutrients, a SeaExplorer glider was combined with Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films and deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. On the basis of their labile metal complex pools, we discovered that Fe and Co can be potentially limiting and Cu co-limiting to diatom growth, contrary to the generally accepted view that phosphorus (phosphate) is the growth limiting element in the Mediterranean Sea. For flagellates and picoplankton, phosphorus remains the main element limiting growth.

Does self-monitoring and self-management of blood pressure after stroke or transient ischemic attack improve control? TEST-BP, a randomized controlled trial.

The therapeutic benefit of self-monitoring blood pressure in stroke patients is uncertain. We investigated the effect of self-monitoring with or without guided antihypertensive management compared with usual care in patients with a recent cerebrovascular event. No between-group differences in blood pressure at outcome were found, but blood pressure self-monitoring and management was well tolerated.

In situ measurement of perfluoroalkyl substances in aquatic systems using diffusive gradients in thin-films technique.

To better understand the environmental impact of ubiquitous perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in waters, reliable and robust measurement techniques are needed. As one of the most widely used passive sampling approaches, diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) is not only easy to handle but also provides time-weighted analyte concentrations. Based on DGT with XAD18 as a binding agent, we developed a new methodology to measure two frequently detected PFASs in surface waters and wastewaters, i.

Plant Induced Changes to Rhizosphere Characteristics Affecting Supply of Cd to Noccaea caerulescens and Ni to Thlaspi goesingense.

Changes in soil rhizosphere properties after growing the Cd hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens and the Ni hyperaccumulator Thlaspi goesingense were investigated. Dissolved organic carbon content increased in the rhizosphere, but there were no significant changes in the solution concentrations of Cd and Ni. Concentrations of these metals extracted by NHCl and EDTA decreased in the rhizosphere, as did DGT-measured concentrations, indicating a depletion of labile metal in the solid phase.

Fish polyomaviruses belong to two distinct evolutionary lineages.

The Polyomaviridae is a diverse family of circular double-stranded DNA viruses. Polyomaviruses have been isolated from a wide array of animal hosts. An understanding of the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of these viruses is essential to understanding the pathogenicity of polyomaviruses.

Protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial of Screening and Enhanced Risk management for Vascular Event-related Decline in Memory (SERVED Memory).

Introduction: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability. The development of dementia after stroke is common. Vascular risk factors (VRF) which contribute to stroke risk can also contribute to cognitive decline, especially in vascular dementia (VaD).

A mesocosm study of oxygen and trace metal dynamics in sediment microniches of reactive organic material.

Deposition of particulate organic matter (POM) induces diagenetic hot spots at the sediment-water interface (SWI). Here we explore the effects of intensive POM degradation for metal mobilization at the SWI. By using a combined planar optode-DGT (diffusive gradient in thin-films) sensor we obtained simultaneous measurements of dissolved O and trace metal dynamics around an aggregate of reactive organic matter placed on the SWI of a sediment mesocosm.

Coupling biological assays with diffusive gradients in thin-films technique to study the biological responses of Eisenia fetida to cadmium in soil.

This work sets out to investigate biological responses of Eisenia fetida to Cd, based on the bioavailable rather than total concentration of Cd, in soils. E. fetida was cultured for 14d in three selected Chinese soils amended with 0.

Morphology and hydro-sensory role of superficial neuromasts in schooling behaviour of yellow-eyed mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri).

The lateral line system is a mechanosensory organ found in all fish species and located on the skin or in subdermal canals. The basic functional units are superficial and canal neuromasts, which are involved in hydrodynamic sensing and cohesion in schooling fish. Yellow-eyed mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri) are an obligate schooling species found commonly in shallow coastal areas of New Zealand and Australia.

Extending the Use of Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films (DGT) to Solutions Where Competition, Saturation, and Kinetic Effects Are Not Negligible.

DGT (Diffusion Gradients in Thin films) was designed to sample trace metals in situ at their natural concentrations. The setup and the experimental deployment conditions were established to allow interpretation of a linear accumulation of metal with time, using a simple expression based on a steady-state flux under perfect sink conditions. However, the extension of DGT to a wide range of analytes and its use under varied conditions has shown that, in some situations, these conditions are not fulfilled, so that accumulations with time are nonlinear.

A diffusive gradients in thin-films technique for the assessment of bisphenols desorption from soils.

Desorption/adsorption of bisphenols (BPs) in soils affects their mobility and availability. However, the kinetics of these processes have not been well studied, due to the lack of appropriate means of measurement. Diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) technique can assess kinetic processes in soils and have recently been developed for measuring three BPs (BPA, BPB and BPF).