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Blueback herring is an anadromous fish endemic in the tidal Hudson River Estuary, USA. Twentieth-century improvements to a lock and canal system permitted the species to invade the Hudson’s main tributary, the Mohawk River, where it has been recorded since the 1930s. Moving westward over time, individuals were collected in Lake Ontario, approx. 275 km west of the Hudson, in 1997. However, the actual status (resident or marine anadromous) of adults there or in the Mohawk has not been determined. We collected adult blueback herring in the spring 1999 spawning run and analyzed their otoliths’ elemental composition with both electron (WDS) and nuclear (mu PIXE) microprobes. We measured strontium:calcium ratios along « life-history transects » (WDS) and mapped entire otoliths (mu PIXE), providing a detailed time series of data on the Sr:Ca, and thus habitat use history, of the fish. We also analyzed otoliths of Mohawk and Hudson River young-of-year (YOY). The Sr:Ca ratios of Mohawk YOY are slightly but significantly higher than those of Hudson YOY. Life history transects for 51 adults show complex patterns of Sr:Ca, indicating that many of the fish move into salt water at least for brief periods. However, many fish appear to spend extended parts of their post-YOY lives in fresh water, and at least two adults (caught in the Mohawk near Rome, NY) appear never to have changed habitats at all. This is thus the first demonstration of residency in Mohawk River herring.

Agroecosystem decision support systems typically rely on some types of weather data. Although many new digital weather and forecast datasets are gridded data, the current authors feel that evaluating previous methods with data of increased archive length is critical in aiding the transition to new datasets that lack extensive archives. To that end, the present paper reviews the improvements made to an artificial neural network for forecasting weather-based potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans) risk at 26 locations in the Great Lakes region. Accuracies of predictions made using an early model, developed in 2007, are compared with accuracies of predictions made using a new 10-year hourly optimized model. In nearly every comparison by month, forecast lead time and spatial region, the newly optimized model is more accurate, especially when the weather is conducive to high disease levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective.To describe recent developments in hospital–physician relationships in 12 metropolitan areas. Methods.We analyze qualitative data from a third round of biannual site visit interviews conducted in 12 randomly selected metropolitan areas from 1996 to 2001. The study interviewed 895 respondents during the third round of site visits, conducted in 2000 and 2001. Principal Findings.As HMO enrollment and capitation contracting has failed to grow in local markets, hospital executives have returned to a strategic focus on improving relationships with specialists in pursuit of fee–for–service revenue. Yet, 65 percent of hospitals interviewed in 2000 and 2001 continued to own primary care physician practices, with ownership more prevalent in highly concentrated hospital markets. A majority (55 percent) of hospitals have decreased the size of these practices in the past two years. Conclusions.Interest in forming integrated delivery systems haswaned. The potential for quality improvement through these organizations systems—by emphasizing primary care and coordinating hospital and physician services—has not been realized. The new emphasis on hospital–specialist partnerships may improve the financial status of hospitals and participating specialists in local markets, and may improve quality of care in selected service areas, but it may also increase health care costs incurred by employers and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transport system has been built whereby a printed wiring board (PWB) panel, 22×30 cm (9×12 in.) in size and up to 3 mm (0.12 in) thick, is moved in a vacuum deposition system at speeds of 1.5 to 150 cm/min (0.65 to 60 in./min). The deposition system consists of a series of sputter stations for depositing copper metal at rates of 0.1 to 1.0 μm/min (4 to 40 μin./min). The panel is suspended at the top from a bar that has wheels that roll along a support rail. The bottom of the panel is constrained within a slot defined by two guide rails. Metal shields protect the roller assembly from ‘‘line-of-sight’’ deposition such as is encountered in evaporation and sputtering. Smaller panels can be accommodated either by modifying the suspension system or by mounting them in a frame of the above dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlphaFold can accurately predict static protein structures but does not account for solvent conditions. Human leucine zipper EF-hand transmembrane protein-1 (LETM1) has one sequence-identifiable EF-hand but how calcium (Ca 2+ ) affects structure and function remains enigmatic. Here, we used highly confident AlphaFold Cα predictions to guide nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) assignments and structure calculation of the LETM1 EF-hand in the presence of Ca 2+ . The resultant NMR structure exposes pairing between a partial loop-helix and full helix-loop-helix, forming an unprecedented F-EF-hand with non-canonical Ca 2+ coordination but enhanced hydrophobicity for protein interactions compared to calmodulin. The structure also reveals the basis for pH sensing at the link between canonical and partial EF-hands. Functionally, mutations that augmented or weakened Ca 2+ binding increased or decreased matrix Ca 2+ , respectively, establishing F-EF as a two-way mitochondrial Ca 2+ regulator. Thus, we show how to synergize AI prediction with NMR data, elucidating a solution-specific and extraordinary LETM1 F-EF-hand., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic condition that requires regular visits and care continuity. Telehealth implementation has created multiple visit modalities for OUD care. There is limited knowledge of patients' and clinicians' perceptions and experiences related to multi-modality care and when different modalities might be best employed., Objective: To identify patients' and clinicians' experiences with multiple visit modalities for OUD treatment in primary care., Design: Comparative case study, using video- and telephone-based semi-structured interviews., Participants: Patients being treated for OUD (n = 19) and clinicians who provided OUD care (n = 15) from two primary care clinics within the same healthcare system., Approach: Using an inductive approach, interviews were analyzed to identify patients' and clinicians' experiences with receiving/delivering OUD care via different visit modalities. Clinicians' and patients' experiences were compared using a group analytical process., Key Results: Patients and clinicians valued having multiple modalities available for care, with flexibility identified as a key benefit. Patients highlighted the decreased burden of travel and less social anxiety with telehealth visits. Similarly, clinicians reported that telehealth decreased medical intrusion into the lives of patients stable in recovery. Patients and clinicians saw the value of in-person visits when establishing care and for patients needing additional support. In-person visits allowed the ability to conduct urine drug testing, and to foster relationships and trust building, which were more difficult, but not impossible via a telehealth visit. Patients preferred telephone over video visits, as these were more private and more convenient. Clinicians identified benefits of video, including being able to both hear and see the patient, but often deferred to patient preference., Conclusions: Considerations for utilization of visit modalities for OUD care were identified based on patients' needs and preferences, which often changed over the course of treatment. Continued research is needed determine how visit modalities impact patient outcomes., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.)

Mitochondrial magnesium (Mg 2+ ) is a crucial modulator of protein stability, enzymatic activity, ATP synthesis, and cell death. Mitochondrial RNA splicing protein 2 (MRS2) is the main Mg 2+ channel in the inner mitochondrial membrane that mediates influx into the matrix. Recent cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) human MRS2 structures exhibit minimal conformational changes at high and low Mg 2+ , yet the regulation of human MRS2 and orthologues by Mg 2+ binding to analogous matrix domains has been well established. Further, a missense variation at D216 has been identified associated with malignant melanoma and MRS2 expression and activity is implicated in gastric cancer. Thus, to gain more mechanistic and functional insight into Mg 2+ sensing by the human MRS2 matrix domain and the association with proliferative disease, we assessed the structural, biophysical, and functional effects of a D216Q mutant. We show that the D216Q mutation is sufficient to abrogate Mg 2+ -binding and associated conformational changes including increased α-helicity, stability, and monomerization. Further, we reveal that the MRS2 matrix domains interact with ~μM affinity, which is weakened by up to two orders of magnitude in the presence of Mg 2+ for wild-type but unaffected for D216Q. Finally, we demonstrate the importance of Mg 2+ sensing by MRS2 to prevent matrix Mg 2+ overload as HeLa cells overexpressing MRS2 show enhanced Mg 2+ uptake, cell migration, and resistance to apoptosis while MRS2 D216Q robustly potentiates these cancer phenotypes. Collectively, our findings further define the MRS2 matrix domain as a critical Mg 2+ sensor that undergoes conformational and assembly changes upon Mg 2+ interactions dependent on D216 to temper matrix Mg 2+ overload., (© 2024 The Author(s). Protein Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Protein Society.)