Killer whales Orcinus orca (center) that are undergoing a northward range shift are feeding on marine mammals in Greenlandic waters.Photo: Richard Hebhardt data suggest that superficial blubber sampling through biopsy darting may not capture fine-scale and/or short-term variation in diet, and therefore the sampling approach should be carefully considered in research using fatty acids to evaluate feeding ecology of killer whales and other cetaceans.
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea (SB) subpopulation have traditionally fed predominantly upon ice‐seals; however, as the proportion of the subpopulation using onshore habitat has recently increased, foraging on land‐based resources, including remains of subsistence‐harvested bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and colonial nesting seabirds has been observed. Adipose tissue samples were collected from this subpopulation during the springs of 2013–2016 and analyzed for fatty acid signatures. Diet estimates were generated for the proportional consumption of ringed seal (Pusa hispida), bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus), and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), relative to onshore foods, including bowhead whale remains and seabird, as represented by black guillemot (Cepphus grylle mandtii) nestlings and eggs. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) estimated that the ice‐obligate prey, ringed seal, remained the predominant prey species of SB polar bears (46.4 ± 1.8%), with much lower consumption of bearded seal (19.6 ± 2.0%), seabird (17.0 ± 1.2%), bowhead whale (15.0 ± 1.4%), and hardly any beluga whale (2.0 ± 0.5%). Adult and subadult females appeared to depend more on the traditional ringed seal prey than adult and subadult males. Diet estimates of SB polar bears showed significant interannual variability for all prey (F12, 456 = 3.17, p < .001). Longer‐term estimates suggested that both types of onshore prey, bowhead whale remains and seabird, have represented a moderate proportion of the food resources used by SB polar bears since at least the start of the 21st Century.
The ability to monitor for general drug-induced tissue injury (DITI) or systemic inflammation in any tissue using blood-based accessible biomarkers would provide a valuable tool in early exploratory animal studies to understand potential drug liabilities. Here we describe the evaluation of four biomarkers of tissue remodeling and inflammation [α2-macroglobin (A2M), α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP-1)] as well as the traditional serum parameter albumin as potential blood-based biomarkers of DITI and systemic inflammatory response (SIR). Biomarker performance was assessed in 51 short-term rat in vivo studies with various end-organ toxicities or SIR and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to compare relative performances. All four biomarkers performed well in their ability to detect DITI and SIR with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.82 - 0.78, however TIMP-1 achieved the best sensitivity (at 95% specificity) of 61%; AGP, NGAL, and A2M sensitivity was 51-52%. AUC for albumin was 0.72 with sensitivity of 39%. A2M was the best performer in studies with only SIR (AUC 0.91). In the subset of studies with drug-induced vascular injury, TIMP-1 performed best with an AUC of 0.96. Poor performance of all tested biomarkers was observed in samples with CNS toxicity. In summary, TIMP-1, A2M, AGP and NGAL demonstrated performance as sensitive accessible biomarkers of DITI and SIR, supporting their potential application as universal accessible tissue toxicity biomarkers to quickly identify dose levels associated with drug-induced injury in early exploratory rat safety and other studies.
Having followed Angelica's reasoning early in the book (personhood and its corollary, genuinely human care) and understood her insights into improvisational theater and spirituality, the reader might assume that the basic question has long since been dismissed: Is there really any point-other than human kindness or self-sacrifice-in caring Alzheimer's patients? Yet this question haunts author and reader throughout. And it gets answered in multiple ways in chapter after chapter for reasons that point in two directions. On the one hand, loving care will have a powerful effect on the patient. Citing Dr. Allen Power, "Even people with advanced dementia can experience well-being and growth." On the other hand, persons with Alzheimer's give back to those who care for them: "In these places of loss and suffering-places where we don't expect to find anything of value or of beauty-springs the possibility that we will open ourselves to meeting our loved ones with Alzheimer's in mutuality, to receiving grace, and to experiencing gratefulness."The final section on "Forgetting, Forgiving, Reconciling" will remind some readers of Dr. Ira Byock's Four Things That Matter Most. But, once again, they will find here a candid, first-person narrative in which the author shares her story. They who feel similarly "trapped" may discover a path to their own mental and spiritual health. Some readers may be distracted by the number of quotations and authorities cited. (I counted as many as five on two pages.) Personally, I found the sayings thought-provoking, and the references helpful. The academically-inclined reader will want to refer to the copious footnotes tucked away at the end. Those seeking to do more reading or research on the topic of Alzheimer 's disease will appreciate the extensive bibliography.Whether, by the end of this book and despite the arguments and authoritative sources, the reader remains skeptical of the "value" of Alzheimer's, most will agree having encountered in Angelica a dynamic writer who challenges the way Alzheimer's Disease is generally perceived-and feared it like the plague. A sense of admiration surfaced in me in reading Angelica's final statement. Having lived the painful experience of a carepartner, she can still say: "I see how and why caring for Mom was, indeed, an especially good fortune in my life. There is perhaps no greater gift than the opportunity to alleviate another human being' suffering though compassionate caring." The book is called Where Two Worlds Touch. A Spiritual Journey Through Alzheimer's Disease by Jade C. Angelica.
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