Recent declines in salmon body size impact ecosystems and fisheries

Declines in animal body sizes are widely reported and likely impact ecological interactions and ecosystem services. For harvested species subject to multiple stressors, limited understanding of the causes and consequences of size declines impedes prediction, prevention, and mitigation. We highlight widespread declines in Pacific salmon size based on 60 years of measurements from 12.5 million fish across Alaska, the last largely pristine North American salmon-producing region. Declines in salmon size, primarily resulting from shifting age structure, are associated with climate and competition at sea. Compared to salmon maturing before 1990, the reduced size of adult salmon after 2010 has potentially resulted in substantial losses to ecosystems and people; for Chinook salmon we estimated average per-fish reductions in egg production (-16%), nutrient transport (-28%), fisheries value (-21%), and meals for rural people (-26%). Downsizing of organisms is a global concern, and current trends may pose substantial risks for nature and people.

A qualitative analysis of physician humanism: women's experiences with hyperemesis gravidarum

OBJECTIVE

To explore the humanistic qualities of physicians deemed important to women who have experienced hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), thereby, contributing to patient satisfaction.

STUDY DESIGN

Semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with 96 women who had experienced HG. Content analysis was the qualitative method used to analyze and interpret the interview texts.

RESULTS

Patient satisfaction was associated with women's perceptions that physicians believed their accounts of their symptoms (i.e., that the woman is neither fabricating symptoms nor overreacting). The perception of being believed by doctors (and other health care providers) was important in terms of feeling validated that their illness was "real," and imperative to women seeking and receiving medical care. Perceived delays in diagnosing and/or instituting treatment were viewed as contributing to unnecessary exacerbations of the illness and hospitalizations, increased emotional strain, and psychological stress.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the importance of physicians "believing a patient's story" in contributing to patient satisfaction and possibly health outcomes.

Acquired Resistance in Barley (The Resistance Mechanism Induced by 2,6-Dichloroisonicotinic Acid Is a Phenocopy of a Genetically Based Mechanism Governing Race-Specific Powdery Mildew Resistance)

Treatment of susceptible barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings with 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid (DCINA) induces disease resistance against the powdery mildew fungus (Erysiphe graminis f. sp. hordei). A cytological analysis of the interaction reveals the hypersensitive cell collapse in attacked, short epidermal cells, along with the accumulation of fluorescent material in papillae, that appear at the time of fungal arrest. The cell-type-specific hypersensitive reaction occurs prior to formation of haustoria, reminiscent of the mechanism identified in genetically resistant barley plants containing the functionally active Mlg gene (R. Gorg, K. Hollricher, P. Schulze-Lefert [1993] Plant J 3: 857-866). This observation indicates that the mechanism of DCINA-induced resistance is a phenocopy of the mechanism governed by the Mlg locus. The onset of acquired resistance correlates with high-level transcript accumulation of barley defense-related genes encoding pathogenesis-related protein-1, peroxidase, and chitinase but not [beta]-1,3-glucanase. Subcellular localization of peroxidase activity shows an increase in enzyme activity in the epidermal cell layer and in the intercellular fluids of barley leaves. Four out of more than 10 identified extracellular isozymes are induced by DCINA. The epidermal cell layer contains a major constitutively formed isozyme, together with two isozymes specifically induced by DCINA. The data support the hypothesis that host cell death and high-level accumulation of defense-related gene transcripts are not only commonly controlled in certain types of race-specific resistance (A. Freialdenhoven, B. Scherag, K. Hollricher, D.B. Collinge, H. Thordal-Christensen, P. Schulze-Lefert [1994] Plant Cell 6: 983-994) but also in acquired resistance, which confers protection to a broad spectrum of different pathogens.