Risk‐sensitive planning for conserving coral reefs under rapid climate change

Coral reef ecosystems are seriously threatened by changing conditions in the ocean. Although many factors are implicated, climate change has emerged as a dominant and rapidly growing threat. Developing a long‐term strategic plan for the conservation of coral reefs is urgently needed yet is complicated by significant uncertainty associated with climate change impacts on coral reef ecosystems. We use Modern Portfolio Theory to identify coral reef locations globally that, in the absence of other impacts, are likely to have a heightened chance of surviving projected climate changes relative to other reefs. Long‐term planning that is robust to uncertainty in future conditions provides an objective and transparent framework for guiding conservation action and strategic investment. These locations constitute important opportunities for novel conservation investments to secure less vulnerable yet well‐connected coral reefs that may, in turn, help to repopulate degraded areas in the event that the climate has stabilized

Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection in psychiatric inpatients in a northern Mexican city

BACKGROUND: Patients with psychiatric disorders were found to show a high seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection. There is scarce information about the epidemiology of T. gondii infection in psychiatric patients in Mexico. Therefore, we sought to determine the prevalence of T. gondii infection and associated socio-demographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics in a population of psychiatric patients in Durango City, Mexico. Seroprevalence in patients was compared with that obtained in a control population. METHODS: One hundred and thirty seven inpatients of a public psychiatric hospital and 180 controls were examined for the presence of IgG and IgM antibodies against T. gondii by enzyme-linked immunoassay (Diagnostic Automation Inc., Calabasas, CA, USA). The control population consisted of blood donors of a public blood bank and elderly persons attending a senior center in the same city. Age in controls (42 years +/- 20.2) was comparable with that of the psychiatric patients (43.7 years +/-13.8) (p = 0.42). Socio-demographic, clinical and behavioral characteristics from the patients were also obtained. RESULTS: Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies indicating latent infection with T. gondii was found in 25 (18.2%) of 137 psychiatric inpatients and 16 (8.9%) of 180 controls (p = 0.02). Ten (26.3%) of 38 schizophrenic patients had latent infection and this prevalence was also significantly higher than that observed in controls (p = 0.005). Prevalence of anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies was comparable among patients and controls (4.4% vs 2.2%, respectively, p = 0.22). Multivariate analysis showed that T. gondii infection in inpatients was positively associated with sexual promiscuity (adjusted OR = 15.8; 95% CI: 3.8–64.8), unwashed raw fruit consumption (adjusted OR = 5.19; 95% CI: 2.3–11.3), and a history of surgery (adjusted OR = 6.5; 95% CI: 2.6–16), and negatively associated with lamb meat consumption (adjusted OR = 0.26; 95% CI: 0.10–0.63). CONCLUSION: In the present study, psychiatric inpatients in Durango, Mexico, in general and schizophrenia inpatients in particular had a significantly higher prevalence of T. gondii infection than the control group. Results suggest that unwashed raw fruit consumption might be the most important route of T. gondii transmission in our psychiatric inpatients while lamb meat consumption the less important. Additional studies will have to elucidate the causative relation between infection with T. gondii and psychiatric disorders

Molecular pathways involved in the synergistic interaction of the PKCβ inhibitor enzastaurin with the antifolate pemetrexed in non-small cell lung cancer cells

Conventional regimens have limited impact against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Current research is focusing on multiple pathways as potential targets, and this study investigated molecular mechanisms underlying the combination of the PKCβ inhibitor enzastaurin with the multitargeted antifolate pemetrexed in the NSCLC cells SW1573 and A549. Pharmacologic interaction was studied using the combination-index method, while cell cycle, apoptosis induction, VEGF secretion and ERK1/2 and Akt phosphorylation were studied by flow cytometry and ELISAs. Reverse transcription–PCR, western blot and activity assays were performed to assess whether enzastaurin influenced thymidylate synthase (TS) and the expression of multiple targets involved in cancer signaling and cell cycle distribution. Enzastaurin-pemetrexed combination was highly synergistic and significantly increased apoptosis. Enzastaurin reduced both phosphoCdc25C, resulting in G2/M checkpoint abrogation and apoptosis induction in pemetrexed-damaged cells, and GSK3β and Akt phosphorylation, which was additionally reduced by drug combination (−58% in A549). Enzastaurin also significantly reduced pemetrexed-induced upregulation of TS expression, possibly through E2F-1 reduction, whereas the combination decreased TS in situ activity (>50% in both cell lines) and VEGF secretion. The effects of enzastaurin on signaling pathways involved in cell cycle control, apoptosis and angiogenesis, as well as on the expression of genes involved in pemetrexed activity provide a strong experimental basis to their evaluation as pharmacodynamic markers in clinical trials of enzastaurin-pemetrexed combination in NSCLC patients

Marine Biodiversity in the Caribbean: Regional Estimates and Distribution Patterns

This paper provides an analysis of the distribution patterns of marine biodiversity and summarizes the major activities of the Census of Marine Life program in the Caribbean region. The coastal Caribbean region is a large marine ecosystem (LME) characterized by coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses, but including other environments, such as sandy beaches and rocky shores. These tropical ecosystems incorporate a high diversity of associated flora and fauna, and the nations that border the Caribbean collectively encompass a major global marine biodiversity hot spot. We analyze the state of knowledge of marine biodiversity based on the geographic distribution of georeferenced species records and regional taxonomic lists. A total of 12,046 marine species are reported in this paper for the Caribbean region. These include representatives from 31 animal phyla, two plant phyla, one group of Chromista, and three groups of Protoctista. Sampling effort has been greatest in shallow, nearshore waters, where there is relatively good coverage of species records; offshore and deep environments have been less studied. Additionally, we found that the currently accepted classification of marine ecoregions of the Caribbean did not apply for the benthic distributions of five relatively well known taxonomic groups. Coastal species richness tends to concentrate along the Antillean arc (Cuba to the southernmost Antilles) and the northern coast of South America (Venezuela – Colombia), while no pattern can be observed in the deep sea with the available data. Several factors make it impossible to determine the extent to which these distribution patterns accurately reflect the true situation for marine biodiversity in general: (1) highly localized concentrations of collecting effort and a lack of collecting in many areas and ecosystems, (2) high variability among collecting methods, (3) limited taxonomic expertise for many groups, and (4) differing levels of activity in the study of different taxa

Diffractive Dijet Production at s = 630 and 1800 GeV at the Fermilab Tevatron

We report a measurement of the diffractive structure function F-jj(D) of the antiproton obtained from a study of dijet events produced in association with a leading antiproton in (p) over barp collisions at roots = 630 GeV at the Fermilab Tevatron. The ratio of F-jj(D) at roots = 630 GeV to F-jj(D) obtained from a similar measurement at roots = 1800 GeV is compared with expectations from QCD factorization and other theoretical predictions. We also report a measurement of the xi (x-Pomeron) and beta (x of parton in Pomeron) dependence of F-jj(D) at roots = 1800 GeV . In the region 0.035 < &xi; < 0.095 , \t\ < 1 GeV2 , and &beta; < 0.5 , F-jj(D)(beta, xi) is found to be of the form beta(-1.0+/-0.1) xi(-0.9+/-0. 1) , which obeys beta-xi factorization

Measurement of the average time-integrated mixing probability of b-flavored hadrons produced at the Fermilab Tevatron

We have measured the number of like-sign (LS) and opposite-sign (OS) lepton pairs arising from double semileptonic decays of b and (b) over bar hadrons, pair produced at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The data samples were collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab during the 1992-1995 collider run by triggering on the existence of mumu or emu candidates in an event. The observed ratio of LS to OS dileptons leads to a measurement of the average time-integrated mixing probability of all produced b-flavored hadrons which decay weakly, (χ) over bar =0.152+/-0.007 (stat)+/-0.011 (syst), that is significantly larger than the world average (χ) over bar =0.118+/-0.005

Measurement of the Ratio of b Quark Production Cross Sections in Antiproton-Proton Collisions at 630 GeV and 1800 GeV

We report a measurement of the ratio of the bottom quark production cross section in antiproton-proton collisions at 630 GeV to 1800 GeV using bottom quarks with transverse momenta greater than 10.75 GeV identified through their semileptonic decays and long lifetimes. The measured ratio sigma(630)/sigma(1800) = 0.171 +/- .024 +/- .012 is in good agreement with next-to-leading order (NLO) quantum chromodynamics (QCD)

Observation of the narrow state X(3872)-\u3e J/psi pi(+)pi(-) in (p)over-barp collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

We report the observation of a narrow state decaying into J/psipi(+)pi(-) and produced in 220 pb(-1) of (p) over barp collisions at roots=1.96 TeV in the CDF II experiment. We observe 730+/-90 decays. The mass is measured to be 3871.3+/-0.7(stat)+/-0.4(syst) MeV/c(2), with an observed width consistent with the detector resolution. This is in agreement with the recent observation by the Belle Collaboration of the X(3872) meson