Oxygen depletion in coastal seas and the effective spawning stock biomass of an exploited fish species

Environmental conditions may have previously underappreciated effects on the reproductive processes of commercially exploited fish populations, for example eastern Baltic cod, that are living at the physiological limits of their distribution. In the Baltic Sea, salinity affects neutral egg buoyancy, which is positively correlated with egg survival, as only water layers away from the oxygen consumption-dominated sea bottom contain sufficient oxygen. Egg buoyancy is positively correlated to female spawner age/size. From observations in the Baltic Sea, a field-based relationship between egg diameter and buoyancy (floating depth) could be established. Hence, based on the age structure of the spawning stock, we quantify the number of effective spawners, which are able to reproduce under ambient hydrographic conditions. For the time period 1993-2010, our results revealed large variations in the horizontal extent of spawning habitat (1000-20 000 km(2)) and oxygen-dependent egg survival (10-80%). The novel concept of an effective spawning stock biomass takes into account offspring that survive depending on the spawning stock age/size structure, if reproductive success is related to egg buoyancy and the extent of hypoxic areas. Effective spawning stock biomass reflected the role of environmental conditions for Baltic cod recruitment better than the spawning stock biomass alone, highlighting the importance of including environmental information in ecosystem-based management approaches.

Genetic differentiation of brackish water populations of cod Gadus morhua in the southern Baltic, inferred from genotyping using SNP-arrays

The Baltic is a semi-enclosed sea characterised by decreasing salinity in the eastern and northern direction with only the deeper parts of the southern Baltic suitable as spawning grounds for marine species like cod. Baltic cod exhibits various adaptations to brackish water conditions, yet the inflow of salty North Sea water near the bottom remains an influence on the spawning success of the Baltic cod. The eastern Baltic population has been very weakly studied in comparison with the western population. The aim of this study is to demonstrate for the first time genetic differentiation by the use of a large number of SNPs between eastern and western Baltic populations existing in differentiated salinity conditions. Two cod samples were collected from the Bay of Gdańsk, Poland and one from the Kiel Bight, Germany. Samples were genotyped using a cod derived SNP-array (Illumina) with 10 913 SNPs. A selection of diagnostic SNPs was performed. A set of 7944 validated SNPs were analysed to assess the differentiation of three samples of cod. Results indicated a clear distinctness of the Kiel Bight from the populations of the eastern Baltic. FST comparison between both eastern samples was non-significant. Clustering analysis, principal coordinates analysis and assignment test clearly indicated that the eastern samples should be considered as one subpopulation, well differentiated from the western subpopulation. With the SNP approach, no differentiation between groups containing 'healthy' and 'non-healthy' cod individuals was observed.

[Is hyponatremia a prognostic marker of survival for lung cancer?]

Hyponatremia is frequently observed on the basis of syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone hypersecretion (SIADH) in patients suffering from lung cancer. This electrolyte imbalance is associated with higher mortality and morbidity. If hyponatremia influences survival of lung cancer remains controversial. In the current study we retrospectively analysed if survival is directly impacted by hyponatremia and evaluated if hyponatremia is a prognostic marker for lung cancer.

Diet composition and feeding of European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus in Kiel Bight, western Baltic Sea

Diet composition of the expanding southern species European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus in the western Baltic Sea was investigated. Results revealed an interesting case of bentho-pelagic coupling with potential implications for local fish species through competition for food resources.

Neuronal processing of behaviourally generated optic flow: experiments and model simulations

The stimuli traditionally used for analysing visual information processing are much simpler than what an animal sees when moving in its natural environment. Therefore, we analysed in a previous study the performance of an identified neuron in the optomotor system of the fly by using as visual stimuli image sequences that were experienced by the animal while walking in a structured environment. These electrophysiological experiments revealed that the fly visual system computes from behaviourally generated optic flow a rather unambiguous representation of the animal's self-motion. In contrast to conclusions based on simple stimuli, the directions of turns are represented by an interneuron, the HSE cell, quite independent of the spatial layout of the environment and its textural properties when the cell is stimulated with behaviourally generated optic flow. This conclusion is substantiated here by further experimental evidence. Moreover, it is shown that the largely unambiguous responses of the HSE cell to behaviourally generated optic flow can be replicated to a large extent by a network model of the fly's visual motion pathway. These results stress the significance of naturalistic stimuli for analysing what is encoded by neuronal circuits under natural operating conditions.

Neural processing of naturalistic optic flow

Stimuli traditionally used for analyzing visual information processing are much simpler than what an animal sees in normal life. When characterized with traditional stimuli, neuronal responses were found to depend on various parameters such as contrast, texture, or velocity of motion, and thus were highly ambiguous. In behavioral situations, all of these parameters change simultaneously and differently in different parts of the visual field. Thus it is hardly possible to predict from traditional analyses what information is encoded by neurons in behavioral situations. Therefore, we characterized an identified neuron in the optomotor system of the blowfly with image sequences as they were seen by animals walking in a structured environment. We conclude that during walking, the response of the neuron reflects the animal's turning direction nearly independently of the texture and spatial layout of the environment. Our findings stress the significance of analyzing the performance of neuronal circuits under their natural operating conditions.