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Sponges are a crucial component of Caribbean coral reef ecosystem structure and function. In the Caribbean, many sponges show a predictable increase in percent cover or abundance as depth increases from shallow (< 30 m) to mesophotic (30–150 m) depths. Given that sponge abundances are predicted to increase in the Caribbean as coral cover declines, understanding ecological factors that control their distribution is critical. Here we assess if sponge cover increases as depth increases into the mesophotic zone for three common Caribbean reef sponges, Xestospongia muta, Agelas tubulata, and Plakortis angulospiculatus, and use stable isotope analyses to determine whether shifts in trophic resource utilization along a shallow to mesophotic gradient occurred. Ecological surveys show that all target sponges significantly increase in percent cover as depth increases. Using bulk stable isotope analysis, we show that as depth increases there are increases in the δ13C and δ15N values, reflecting that all sponges consumed more heterotrophic picoplankton, with low C:N ratios in the mesophotic zone. However, compound‐specific isotope analysis of amino acids (CSIA‐AA) shows that there are species‐specific increases in δ13CAAand δ15NAAvalues. Xestospongia mutaand P. angulospiculatusshowed a reduced reliance on photoautotrophic resources as depth increased, while A. tubulataappears to rely on heterotrophy at all depths. The δ13CAAand δ15NAAvalues of these sponges also reflect species‐specific patterns of host utilization of both POM and dissolved organic matter (DOM), its subsequent re‐synthesis, and translocation, by their microbiomes.

Sponges are important ecological and functional components of coral reefs. Recently, a new hypothesis about the functional ecology of sponges in organic matter recycling pathways, the sponge‐loop hypothesis, in which dissolved and particulate organic matter is taken up by sponges and shunted to higher trophic levels as detritus, has been proposed and demonstrated for shallow (< 30 m) cryptic species. However, support for this hypothesis at mesophotic depths (∼ 30–150 m) is lacking. Here, we examined detritus production, a prerequisite of the sponge loop pathway, in a reciprocal transplant experiment, using Halisarca caeruleafrom water depths of 10 and 50 m. Detritus production was significantly lower in mesophotic sponges compared to shallow samples of H. caerulea. Additionally, detritus production rates in transplanted sponges moved in the direction of rates observed for resident conspecifics. The microbiome of these sponge populations was also significantly different between shallow and mesophotic depths, and the microbial communities of the transplanted sponges also shifted in the direction of their new depth in 10 d largely driven by changes in Oxyphotobacteria, Acidimicrobiia, Nitrososphaeria, Nitrospira, Deltaproteobacteria, and Dadabacteriia. This occurred in an environment where the availability of both dissolved and particulate trophic resources changed significantly across the shallow to mesophotic depth gradient where these sponge populations were found. These results suggest that changes in sponge detritus production are primarily driven by differential quality and quantity of trophic resources, as well as their utilization by the sponge host, and its microbiome, along the shallow to mesophotic depth gradient.

The softshell Mya arenaria is an ecologically and commercially important bivalve mollusc that develops a fatal cancer known as disseminated neoplasia or hemocyte leukemia. This cancer, like many human cancers, involves the master control gene of apoptosis, p53. This gene is also known to interact with retrotransposons, and a growing body of evidence suggests that p53 actually controls retrotransposon expression and subsequently oncogenesis. The recent description of a retrotransposon (i.e., Steamer) in adult M. arenaria and its potential involvement in the oncogenesis of hemocyte leukemia has been suggested. Juvenile clams, previously shown not to develop hemocyte leukemia, were exposed to climate-related changes in seawater temperature and pH predicted for the year 2100. All juvenile softshells do express the retrotransposon Steamer. When juvenile clams are exposed to predicted climate-related changes in temperature and pH in the Gulf of Maine, it significantly induces Steamer expression, specifically in treatments where clams were exposed to low pH. For juvenile individuals of M. arenaria and potentially other bivalves, Steamer may be a candidate biomarker for exposure to ocean acidification conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coral reefs around the world have been affected by a climate‐change induced phenomenon known as “coral bleaching,” which is caused by the interaction between high irradiance and elevated seawater temperatures, and involves the mass expulsion of Symbiodiniaceae from anemones, sponges, and corals. The primary drivers of this phenomenon are the inherent genetic variability in the Family Symbiodiniaceae, and the variability in the abiotic environment for variables such as irradiance and temperature. Recent experiments have either disregarded the important interactive role of irradiance or have suggested that photooxidative stress is not a prerequisite for coral bleaching because certain reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be produced in the dark. Here, fluorescent probes are used as proxies for the relative concentration of ROS in different genera of cultured Symbiodiniaceae under varying thermal and light conditions. The results show that taxon‐specific patterns of the concentration of ROS are observed but that all genera tested produced significantly greater amounts of superoxide radicals and hydrogen peroxide, compared to singlet oxygen, when exposed to high light and thermal stress. These results are contextualized in relation to the primary drivers of ROS production and the photo‐physiological basis for differences in ROS production that may then be correlated with symbiont driven coral bleaching.

Diazotrophs, both Bacteria and Archaea, capable of fixing nitrogen (N2), are present in the tissues and mucous, of corals and can supplement the coral holobiont nitrogen budget with fixed nitrogen (N) in the form of ammonia (NH3). Stylophora pistillatafrom Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef collected at 5 and 15 m, and experimentally manipulated in the laboratory, showed that the rates of net photosynthesis, steady state quantum yields of photosystem II (PSII) fluorescence (∆Fv/Fm′) and calcification varied based on irradiance as expected. Rates of N2fixation were, however, invariant across treatments while the amount of fixed N contributing to Symbiodiniumspp. N demand is irradiance dependent. Additionally, both the Symbiodiniumand diazotrophic communities are significantly different based on depth, and novel Cluster V nifHgene phylotypes, which are not known to fix nitrogen, were recovered. A functional analysis using PICRUSt also showed that shallow corals were enriched in genes involved in nitrogen metabolism, and N2fixation specifically. Corals have evolved a number of strategies to derive nitrogen from organic (e.g., heterotrophic feeding) and inorganic sources (e.g., N2fixation) to maintain critical pathways such as protein synthesis to succeed ecologically in nitrogen-limited habitats.

Diazotrophs, both Bacteria and Archaea, capable of fixing nitrogen (N2), are present in the tissues and mucous, of corals and can supplement the coral holobiont nitrogen budget with fixed nitrogen (N) in the form of ammonia (NH3). Stylophora pistillatafrom Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef collected at 5 and 15 m, and experimentally manipulated in the laboratory, showed that the rates of net photosynthesis, steady state quantum yields of photosystem II (PSII) fluorescence (?Fv/Fm') and calcification varied based on irradiance as expected. Rates of N2fixation were, however, invariant across treatments while the amount of fixed N contributing to Symbiodiniumspp. N demand is irradiance dependent. Additionally, both the Symbiodiniumand diazotrophic communities are significantly different based on depth, and novel Cluster V nifHgene phylotypes, which are not known to fix nitrogen, were recovered. A functional analysis using PICRUSt also showed that shallow corals were enriched in genes involved in nitrogen metabolism, and N2fixation specifically. Corals have evolved a number of strategies to derive nitrogen from organic (e.g., heterotrophic feeding) and inorganic sources (e.g., N2fixation) to maintain critical pathways such as protein synthesis to succeed ecologically in nitrogen-limited habitats.

In the Gulf of Maine the rocky intertidal blue mussel Mytilus edulis (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the most important ecosystem engineers in these communities and have been the subject of numerous physiological and ecological studies. There is now abundant support that global climate change is occurring at unprecedented rates in the GOM. In a world where multiple environmental factors vary simultaneously, we need to be able to quantify the underlying physiological, biochemical, and molecular changes that lead to emergent properties of the organism (e.g., growth, reproduction, mortality) in key species like intertidal mussels. Here, we provide transcriptomic resources for both the gill and adductor muscle of blue mussels from the GOM. Of the full complement of transcripts ( n = 57,718), 56,655 were expressed in the gill and 53,081 were expressed in the adductor muscle with 4,489 and 915 transcripts expressed uniquely in the gill and muscle, respectively. The putative transcripts for M. edulis were assigned to 617 genes for gill and 178 genes for adductor muscle and clustered into 12 functional categories, including those in well-known stress pathways. These transcriptomes can be used to test important hypotheses on gene regulation, phenotypic plasticity, mechanisms of physiological resilience, and local adaptation in response to climate change stressors (i.e., thermal stress and ocean acidification). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) have been the most common visible and nearultraviolet imaging sensors in astronomy since the 1980s. Almost all major astronomical instrumentation utilizes CCD imagers for both scientific observations and the more routine tasks such as telescope guiding. In this short review, we provide a brief history of CCDs in astronomy and then describe their operation as they are most commonly implemented for scientific imaging. We discuss specialized CCD sensors which have been developed and effectively utilized in modern astronomical instrumentation. We conclude with an overview of the characterization of CCDs as performed in detector laboratories and at telescopes and discuss anticipated future advances.

Absolute proper motions for ?7.7 million objects were derived based on data from the South Galactic Cap u-band Sky Survey (SCUSS) and astrometric data derived from uncompressed Digitized Sky Surveys that the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) created from the Palomar and UK Schmidt survey plates. We put a great deal of effort into correcting the position-, magnitude-, and color-dependent systematic errors in the derived absolute proper motions. The spectroscopically confirmed quasars were used to test the internal systematic and random error of the proper motions. The systematic errors of the overall proper motions in the SCUSS catalog are estimated as -0.08 and -0.06 mas/yr for ??cos ? and ??, respectively. The random errors of the proper motions in the SCUSS catalog are estimated independently as 4.2 and 4.4 mas/yr for ??cos ? and ??. There are no obvious position-, magnitude-, and color-dependent systematic errors of the SCUSS proper motions. The random error of the proper motions goes up with the magnitude from about 3 mas/yr at u= 18.0 mag to about 7 mas/yr at u= 22.0 mag. The proper motions of stars in SCUSS catalog are compared with those in the SDSS catalog, and they are highly consistent.

The South Galactic Cap u-band Sky Survey (SCUSS) provides a deep u-band imaging of about 5000 deg2in south Galactic cap. It is about 1.5 mag deeper than the SDSS u-band. In this article, we evaluate the capability of quasar selection using both SCUSS and SDSS data, based on considerations of the deep SCUSS u-band imaging and two-epoch u-band variability. We find that the combination of the SCUSS u-band and the SDSS griz-band allows us to select more faint quasars and more quasars at redshift around 2.2 than the selection that uses only the SDSS ugrizdata. Quasars have significant u-band variabilities. The fraction of quasars with large two-epoch variability is much higher than that of stars. The selection by variability can select both low-redshift quasars with ultraviolet excess and mid-redshift (2 < z< 3.5) quasars where quasar selection by optical colors is inefficient. The above two selections are complementary and make full use of the SCUSS u-band advantages.

The WIYN One Degree Imager (ODI) will provide a one degree field of view for the WIYN 3.5 m telescope located on Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona. Its focal plane consists of an 8x8 grid of Orthogonal Transfer Array (OTA) CCD detectors. These detectors are the STA2200 OTA CCDs designed and fabricated by Semiconductor Technology Associates, Inc. and backside processed at the University of Arizona Imaging Technology Laboratory. Several lot runs of the STA2200 detectors have been fabricated. We have backside processed devices from these different lots and provide detector performance characterization, including noise, CTE, cosmetics, quantum efficiency, and some orthogonal transfer characteristics. We discuss the performance differences for the devices with different silicon thickness and resistivity. A fully buttable custom detector package has been developed for this project which allows hybridization of the silicon detectors directly onto an aluminum nitride substrate with an embedded pin grid array. This package is mounted on a silicon-aluminum alloy which provides a flat imaging surface of less than 20 microns peakvalley at the -100 C operating temperature. Characterization of the package performance, including low temperature profilometry, is described in this paper.

The University of Arizona Imaging Technology Laboratory has processed several types of very large format (>4K × 4K pixel) charge coupled devices for low light level scientific applications. These back illuminated devices were produced from frontside die fabricated by or for Fairchild Imaging Systems, Semiconductor Technology Associates, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Kodak. A Philips 7K × 9K frontside device has also been processed using similar techniques. The backside sensors yield >90% quantum efficiency (QE). All devices show excellent charge transfer efficiency (CTE > 0.999997) at operating temperatures (typically –100 °C). Devices specifically designed for low signal applications have been demonstrated with less than 4 electrons read noise.

Anecdotal reports suggest that persons with a dual diagnosis (mental retardation and psychiatric illness) admitted to acute psychiatric hospitals stay longer and require more services than individuals without mental retardation. To test these hypotheses, a questionnaire was completed for 64 people with dual diagnosis admitted to 10 psychiatric hospitals over 3 months. Multivariate analysis revealed that a diagnosis of mental retardation was not a predictor of length of stay. Use of 1-to-1 staffing was more likely, while arrangement of different community placement at discharge was less likely for persons with than without dual diagnosis. Additionally, age, diagnosis, symtomatology, living arrangement, insurance status, and service use distinguished the patient groups. Implications are discussed in the context of a need for further examination and training focused toward this population.

The enzymes Superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase, which provide protection against toxic forms of oxygen, consistently show a positive correlation between specific activities and irradiance zooxantellae freshly isolated from several symbiotic cnidarians in Bermuda. This evidence shows that photoadaptive changes in spectral quantity and quality also involve the protection of photosynthetic components from potentially damaging forms of active oxygen produced photodynamically in the presence of high oxygen concentrations and chlorophyll, a potent photosensitizing agent. Additionally, a reversal in the level of enzyme activities occurs when individuals of the sea anemone Aiptasia pallida(Verrill) (Anthozo: Actiniaria) from bright and dim areas are reciprocally transplanted, showing considerable plasticity in the regulation of these enzymes when exposed to different irradiances. The population genetics of A. pallidain Walsingham Pond, Bermuda, suggests that several asexually reproducing clones are resident in the pond. The chlorophyll content of zooxanthellae from nontransplanted bright and dim individuals of A. pallidais not significantly different while the enzymes Superoxide dismutase and catalase but not ascorbate peroxidase do differ significantly. Maintaining higher activities of Superoxide dismutase and catalase may be a result of the temporally variable levels of short-term changes in irradiance, known as “sunflecks”, produced by the mangrove canopy of the pond. These short-term exposures to high irradiance would likely cause an increase in the production of active forms of oxygen against which protection must be provided for the continuation of maximum photosynthetic capacity.

Quantitative ultrastructural studies on the effects of visible and ultraviolet radiation on zooxanthellae in culture and in situ showed an inverse relationship between the volume fraction of chloroplast and irridiance. An independent effect of ultraviolet radiation was detected in cultured zooxanthellae only. The volume fraction of chloroplasts in cultured zooxanthellae and zooxanthellae in situ were the same, while the surface density of thylakoid lamellae relative to chloroplast volume in cultured zooxanthellae was less than in zooxanthellae in situ for all irradiances. Additionally, zooxanthellae in situ showed an effect of ultraviolet radiation on surface density of thylakoid lamellae. The response to different irradiances suggests a limit to photoadaptation by means of changing chloroplast volume, and that changes in thylakoid density are responsible for the continued photoadaptive plasticity observed. Flow cytometry and stereological studies show that the volume fraction of accumulation bodies within zooxanthellae increases with irradiance and ultraviolet radiation. Ultrastructurally, accumulation bodies do not resemble plant peroxisomes or glyoxysomes, while other inclusions observed in this stydy are suggestive of peroxisomes. This evidence suggests that accumulation bodies are not peroxisomes, but does support the previous assumptions concerning their role in autophagic processes.

Major strides in both computer hardware and software with respect to costs, reliability and user friendliness have made computer systems more and more popular for information management. Although the acquisition and maintenance of patient medical records lend themselves extremely well to computerization, there are few, if any, descriptions of successful implementations of computerized medical records in a private clinical practice. This article examines the basic fundamentals of the medical record, compares paper and computerized records and describes a specific computerized office system installed in a private cardiovascular/internal medicine practice with specific emphasis on patient medical records.

The Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) is a wide-field two-band photometric survey of the northern Galactic Cap using the 90Prime imager on the 2.3 m Bok telescope at Kitt Peak. It is a four-year collaboration between the National Astronomical Observatory of China and Steward Observatory, the University of Arizona, serving as one of the three imaging surveys to provide photometric input catalogs for target selection of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project. BASS will take up to 240 dark/gray nights to cover an area of about 5400 deg2in the gand rbands. The 5?limiting AB magnitudes for point sources in the two bands, corrected for the Galactic extinction, are 24.0 and 23.4 mag, respectively. BASS, together with other DESI imaging surveys, will provide unique science opportunities that cover a wide range of topics in both Galactic and extragalactic astronomy.

TO THE EDITOR. — We would like to elaborate on one point of the excellent article "Therapeutic Strategies Against Tardive Dyskinesia" by Jeste and Wyatt (Archives 1982;39:803-816). The authors classified bromocriptine mesylate as a treatment of dopamine (DA) antagonism, ie, decreasing DA neurotransmission. This may not be entirely accurate for the three studies cited.1-3 Although the use of an "autoreceptor strategy" in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia (TD) with DA agonists has been described,1 in the case of bromocriptine this probably was never effected. This strategy was based on the belief that bromocriptine binds preferentially at different DA receptor sites in different concentrations.1,4 However, in view of the fact that multiple classes of DA receptors exist in the nigrostriatal system, which is believed to be the critical neuroanatomic area in TD, and that the oral dosage of bromocriptine required to obtain precisely the desired pharmacodynamic effect

Based on the results of two preliminary studies, we concluded that late-developing persistent drug-induced movement disorders are pharmacologically heterogeneous, and this heterogeneity is seen between individual patients (and groups of patients) as well as within body areas of individual patients; dystonic pathology has a distinct and more consistent response to pharmacologic stimulation than does nondystonic tardive dyskinesia (TD); and, although disturbances in dopamine and acetylcholine appear to be involved in these disorders, they do not in all cases exist in functionally opposite relationships. The observed pharmacologic heterogeneity in TD response reflects the limitations of the dopamine/acetylcholine model of TD, which oversimplifies the neuroanatomy of the basal ganglia and the pathophysiology of TD. The chemical and anatomical complexity of this region suggests that other neurotransmitter systems and neuronal circuits within and extending from the basal ganglia may be disturbed in the pathogenesis of TD.

Information about operational risk discipline in Middle East discussed by a range of regulators and experts at the first annual OpRisk Middle East conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November 2007 is presented. Topics include the momentum of operational risk discipline in Middle East, the role of the regulators to instill the concept of risk culture on the region's firms, and the need to change firms' views on risk management function. Another is the importance of mindset in business.