Estuaries act as nurseries for a wide variety of fish species, potentially providing vital foraging opportunities and refuge from predation for their juvenile residents. Yet, these dynamic environments are comprised of a mosaic of habitat types that span gradients of both salinity and physical habitat structure. Here, we present a novel use of size-spectra analysis to infer nursery habitat function across the estuary habitat mosaic. Interpreting slope and intercept values of abundance against body mass size-spectra regressions as indicators of predation risk and production, we constructed spectra for six distinct habitat types across the entire tidal influence of an unindustrialized estuary in coastal British Columbia. Based on catches of >200,000 individual fish representing 30 different species from April through September, the estuary rockweed mudflat habitat had the lowest size-spectra slope and highest intercept, consistent with lower predation risk and higher production. Size-spectra coefficients varied seasonally across the ecotone, indicating spatio-temporal variation in key nursery functions. Size-spectra can provide insight into key ecological processes of productivity and predation risk across dynamic aquatic habitats.
To determine the effects of dialysis on postoperative and perioperative complications following rotator cuff repair (RCR) and knee arthroscopy (KA). Methods: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) was queried from 2006 to 2018. Groups were matched for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, preoperative functional status, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status. Chi-squared tests and Fisher's exact tests were used to analyze the comorbidities. Differences in occurrences of postoperative adverse events (AE), mortality within 30 days, reoperations with 30 days, extended hospital stay (!2 days), and readmissions within 30 days were analyzed using the Mantel-Haenszel test. Sign tests were used to evaluate differences in operative time, as well as length of hospital stay. Results: Dialysis patients in both the RCR and KA groups had greater odds of experiencing any AE (OR: 6.33 and 7.46, P value: .031 and <.001, respectively) and readmission within 30 days (OR: 10.5 and 4.1, P value: .015 and .014, respectively). They also had significantly greater operating times (P ¼ .049 for both). Dialysis patients undergoing KA had greater odds of staying in the hospital !2 days (OR: 10, P ¼ <.001) and being reoperated on within 30 days (OR: 3.78, P ¼ .033). The total hospital stay was significantly greater for dialysis patients in the KA group (P < .001) but not in the RCR group (P ¼ .088). None of the individual AE's significantly differed between the dialysis and non-dialysis patients in the RCR cohort; however, dialysis patients in the KA cohort had greater incidences of three AE's. Conclusion: This study identified significantly worse short-term complication rates in dialysis patients undergoing RCR and KA. Careful preoperative evaluation and postoperative surveillance are warranted in this high-risk patient group. Patients should be counseled appropriately on the increased complication risks associated with RCR and KA surgeries.
Cellular spheroids were studied to determine their use as “bioinks” in the biofabrication of tissue engineered constructs. Specifically, magnetic forces were used to mediate the cyclic longitudinal stretching of tissues composed of Janus magnetic cellular spheroids (JMCSs), as part of a post-processing method for enhancing the deposition and mechanical properties of an extracellular matrix (ECM). The purpose was to accelerate the conventional tissue maturation process via novel post-processing techniques that accelerate the functional, structural, and mechanical mimicking of native tissues. The results of a forty-day study of JMCSs indicated an expression of collagen I, collagen IV, elastin, and fibronectin, which are important vascular ECM proteins. Most notably, the subsequent exposure of fused tissue sheets composed of JMCSs to magnetic forces did not hinder the production of these key proteins. Quantitative results demonstrate that cyclic longitudinal stretching of the tissue sheets mediated by these magnetic forces increased the Young’s modulus and induced collagen fiber alignment over a seven day period, when compared to statically conditioned controls. Specifically, the elastin and collagen content of these dynamically-conditioned sheets were 35- and three-fold greater, respectively, at seven days compared to the statically-conditioned controls at three days. These findings indicate the potential of using magnetic forces in tissue maturation, specifically through the cyclic longitudinal stretching of tissues.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.