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We examined spatial patterns in diet, trophic niche width and niche overlap for chum, pink and sockeye salmon across the North Pacific during 1959–1969. This is a baseline period before major hatchery enhancement occurred coinciding with a negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Large-scale (between regions) and fine-scale (within regions) spatial and interspecies differences were apparent. In the Western Subarctic, all species tended to consume zooplankton. In the Bering Sea, chum consumed zooplankton, while sockeye and pink alternated between zooplankton and micronekton. In the Gulf of Alaska/Eastern Subarctic, chum and sockeye specialized on gelatinous zooplankton and cephalopod prey, respectively, while pink consumed a mixture of zooplankton and micronekton. The highest diet overlap across the North Pacific was between pink and sockeye (46.6%), followed by chum and pink (31.8%), and chum and sockeye (30.9%). Greater diet specialization was evident in the Gulf of Alaska/Eastern Subarctic compared to the Western Pacific. Generally, species had higher niche width and overlap in areas of high prey availability, and this was particularly evident for chum salmon. In addition to the large-scale trophic patterns, our data revealed novel fine-scale spatial patterns, including latitudinal, onshore-offshore, and cross-gyre gradients. Our results showed that pink tended to be more generalist consumers, and their diets may be a better reflection of overall prey presence and abundance in the environment. Conversely, chum and sockeye tended to be more specialist consumers, and their diets may provide a better reflection of interspecies dynamics or prey availability. This study provides a baseline for comparison with current and future changes in salmon marine ecology and North Pacific ecosystems. Finally, we identify two important data gaps that need addressing, that of improved taxonomic resolution diet data for Pacific salmon and focused research on sub-mesoscale oceanographic features that may play an important role in salmon health and productivity.

Abstract Background Myotonic Dystrophy is the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults, affecting an estimated 10 per 100,000 people. It is a multisystemic disorder affecting multiple generations with increasing severity. There are currently no licenced therapies to reverse, slow down or cure its symptoms. In 2009 TREAT-NMD (a global alliance with the mission of improving trial readiness for neuromuscular diseases) and the Marigold Foundation held a workshop of key opinion leaders to agree a minimal dataset for patient registries in myotonic dystrophy. Eight years after this workshop, we surveyed 22 registries collecting information on myotonic dystrophy patients to assess the proliferation and utility the dataset agreed in 2009. These registries represent over 10,000 myotonic dystrophy patients worldwide (Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania). Results The registries use a variety of data collection methods (e.g. online patient surveys or clinician led) and have a variety of budgets (from being run by volunteers to annual budgets over €200,000). All registries collect at least some of the originally agreed data items, and a number of additional items have been suggested in particular items on cognitive impact. Conclusions The community should consider how to maximise this collective resource in future therapeutic programmes.

Changes in maternal innate immunity during healthy human pregnancy are not well understood. Whether basal immune status in vivo is largely unaffected by pregnancy, is constitutively biased towards an inflammatory phenotype (transiently enhancing host defense) or exhibits anti-inflammatory bias (reducing potential responsiveness to the fetus) is unclear. Here, in a longitudinal study of healthy women who gave birth to healthy infants following uncomplicated pregnancies within the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) cohort, we test the hypothesis that a progressively altered bias in resting innate immune status develops. Women were examined during pregnancy and again, one and/or three years postpartum. Most pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, including CCL2, CXCL10, IL-18 and TNFα, was reduced in vivo during pregnancy (20-57%, p

The original version of this article [1] unfortunately included an error to an author’s name. Author Jordi Díaz-Manera was erroneously presented as Jorge Alberto Diaz Manera. The correct author name has been included in the author list of this Correction article.

Abstract Geological disposal of radioactive waste is being planned by many countries. Bentonite clay is often included in facility design, providing a barrier to radionuclide migration. Gas, generated by the waste or corrosion of waste canisters, may disrupt the properties of the bentonite. Robust prediction of this interaction is, therefore, necessary to demonstrate safe facility evolution. In some cases, gas may deform the clay, resulting in localised flow; however, the nature of this deformation has been widely debated. Accurate numerical representation of this behaviour has been limited by a shortage of information on the degree/distribution of deformation. Using experimental data from gas injection tests in bentonite, we show that first order fluctuations in the stress field can provide this information. We show that hundreds of microdeformation events can be detected, with similar characteristics to established fracturing phenomena, including earthquakes and acoustic emissions. We also demonstrate that stress field disruption (i) is spatially localised and (ii) has characteristics consistent with gas pathway ‘opening’ and ‘closure’ as gas enters and exits the clay, respectively. This new methodology offers fundamental insight and a new opportunity to parameterise and constrain gas advection models in clays and shales, substantially improving our capacity for safe facility design.

'The Australian government has become an apologist for Israeli war crimes and a wrecker of sacred international humanitarian law principles.' Professor Ben Saul, Challis Chair of International Law, University of [...]

In December 2017, the Craft Beverage and Modernization Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) lowered federal beer excise taxes for a period of 2 years, and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Act of 2020 made the reduction permanent. We evaluate the ramifications of the CBMTRA on producers, consumers, and tax receipts and quantify potential differential effects among the microbrewing, regional brewing, and macrobrewing sectors. Although the excise tax reduction was supposed to primarily support the microbrewing sector, we find that the CBMTRA provided a larger combined benefit to the regional brewing and macrobrewing sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]