Development Of Life Stages Research Articles

Impacts of oceanographic factors on interannual variability of the winter-spring cohort of neon flying squid abundance in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

The neon flying squid Ommastrephes bartramii is an economically important species in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. The life cycle of O. bartramii is highly susceptible to climatic and oceanic factors. In this study, we have examined the impacts of climate variability and local biophysical environments on the interannual variability of the abundance of the western winter-spring cohort of O. bartramii over the period of 1995–2011. The results showed that the squid had experienced alternant positive and negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) over the past 17 years during which five El Nino and eight La Nina events occurred. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) was positively correlated with the PDO index (PDOI) at a one-year time lag. An abnormally warm temperature during the La Nina years over the positive PDO phase provided favorable oceanographic conditions for the habitats of O. bartramii, whereas a lower temperature on the fishing ground during the El Nino years over the negative PDO phase generally corresponded to a low CPUE. The same correlation was also found between CPUE and Chl a concentration anomaly. A possible explanation was proposed that the CPUE was likely related to the climateinduced variability of the large-scale circulation in the Northwest Pacific Ocean: high squid abundance often occurred in a year with a significant northward meander of the Kuroshio Current. The Kuroshio Current advected the warmer and food-rich waters into the fishing ground, and multiple meso-scale eddies arising from current instability enhanced the food retention on the fishing ground, all of which were favorable for the life stage development of the western squid stocks. Our results help better understand the potential process that the climatic and oceanographic factors affect the abundance of the winter-spring cohort of O. bartramii in the Northwest Pacific Ocean.

Early pregnancy intrauterine fetal exposure to maternal smoking and impact on fetal telomere length

BackgroundReduced telomere length, or its accelerated attrition, has been implicated in aging, mortality, and several human diseases, including respiratory diseases. Age dependent manifestation of telomere-mediated disease during life span indicates the role of developmental stage in these diseases and highlights the importance of fetal developmental process in utero and at earlier life stages. Environmental determinants during developmental and later stages of life could affect telomere length. Smoke exposure as one of these significant determinants have been investigated in association with telomere length in neonates at time of delivery, children and adults. ObjectiveWe sought to investigate whether intrauterine fetal exposure to tobacco smoking characterized by placenta cotinine levels during early weeks of pregnancy might be associated with shorter relative telomere length (T/S ratio) as compared to fetuses without exposure to tobacco smoking. Study design207 Human placenta and epithelial lung samples were used for both fetal lung telomere length assessment and measurement of placental cotinine levels. Tissues were obtained from two NICHD–supported tissue retrieval programs with registries for elective abortions, the University of Washington Center for Birth Defects Research (Seattle, WA) and the University of Maryland Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disorders (Baltimore, MD). Cotinine levels (ng/g total placental tissue) were determined in whole cell extracts prepared from human placenta samples to characterize and confirm the cotinine exposure status associated with maternal smoking. Relative telomere length (T/S ratio) in genomic DNA extracted from fetal lung tissue was measured by use of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Multivariable linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between fetal Telomere-to-Single Copy (T/S) ratio and tobacco exposure. ResultsThe estimated post-conception ages for included samples in the study ranged from 54 to 137days (7–19 weeks of gestation); 47.37% of fetal samples had female sex. Of the samples included in the analysis 96 and 111 fetal samples with and without intrauterine tobacco smoking exposure were distinguished. While T/S ratio was not different between those with and without smoking exposure (1.24±0.41 and 1.27±0.48, respectively; P=0.70), a significant effect modification of post-conception age on the relationship of intrauterine smoke exposure on fetal T/S ratio was observed (adjusted coefficient=−0.008, 95% CI: −0.016, −0.0004). The smoke exposure status was associated with T/S ratio after 93-day post conception (adjusted coefficient=−0.29, 95% CI: −0.53, −0.052). ConclusionsOur results demonstrate a significant association of smoke exposure in utero at early pregnancy with shortened fetal relative telomere length in the developing lung and suggest that the detrimental effect of smoking exposure on future disease sequelae may start at the early stages of pregnancy.

Combined effects of arsenic, salinity and temperature on Crassostrea gigas embryotoxicity

The combined effects of different salinity and temperature levels on the toxicity of Arsenic (As) were studied on the embryonic development of the oyster Crassostrea gigas. A standardized embryotoxicity test was performed to assess the interactive effects of these stressors, in a full factorial design experiment including a range of salinities (15, 19, 24, 28 and 32), temperatures (16, 20, 24, 28 and 32°C) and As concentrations (100, 300, 600, 1200, 2400µgL−1). The embryotoxicity endpoint was about the determination of normal larvae development rates at various conditions, and median effect concentration (EC50) determination for each As exposure condition. Results showed that toxicity induced by As was characterized by retardation of embryonic development observing toxic effects at lower concentrations than previously reported studies. The presence of As in seawater resulted in a narrower range of tolerance to both salinity and temperature. These findings bring new insights on the impacts of a common contaminant on an important shellfish species having a planktonic early life stage development, with potential implications for population survival and ecosystem functioning in a changing environment.

Recruitment and Habitat Use of Early Life Stage Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) in South Carolina Estuaries

Our study was designed to examine early life stage tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) recruitment, habitat use, and residency in coastal environments near the northern limit of their distribution in the western Atlantic Ocean. We employed a multi-faceted approach to (1) collect ingressing larval tarpon on nighttime flood tides at multiple sites, (2) document larval and juvenile tarpon use of natural high marsh pools, and (3) examine juvenile tarpon movement and behavior in managed marsh impoundments, all in the North Inlet-Winyah Bay estuarine system of South Carolina, USA. The timing of recruitment (June through November) and size of larvae (mean ± standard deviation = 23 ± 3 mm standard length [SL]) during estuarine ingress was similar to that reported from other subtropical locations in the region. Soon after recruiting into the system, larval and small juvenile tarpon (47 ± 25 mm SL) co-occurred in high marsh pools from July to November, and large juveniles (201 ± 34 mm SL) were also present in marsh impoundments during this same time period. An increase in tarpon length over time during their residency in high marsh pools and the relatively large size they attain in marsh impoundments indicate these environments may function as favorable nursery habitats. As water temperatures decreased during October and November, juvenile tarpon emigrated from these estuarine habitats. Tarpon appear to use a variety of estuarine habitats in coastal South Carolina from summer through late fall during their early life stage development. The fate of these individuals after they leave estuarine habitats at the onset of winter in this region is currently unknown.

Effects of chronic crude oil exposure on early developmental stages of the Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica)

ABSTRACTRising oil and gas activities in northern high latitudes have led to an increased risk of petroleum pollution in these ecosystems. Further, seasonal high UV radiation at high latitudes may elevate photo-enhanced toxicity of petroleum pollution to marine organisms. Zooplanktons are a key ecological component of northern ecosystems; therefore, it is important to assess their sensitivity to potential pollutants of oil and gas activity. As ontogenetic development may be particularly sensitive, the aim of this study was to examine the impact of chronic exposure to oil water dispersion (OWD) on development and feeding of early life stages of the Northern krill, Meganyctiphanes norvegica. In a range of experiments, embryonic, nonfeeding, and feeding larval stages were exposed to concentrations of between 0.01 and 0.1 mg/L of oil or photo-modified oil for 19 and 21 d. No significant effects on egg respiration, hatching success, development, length and larval survival were observed from these treatments. Similarly, evolution of fatty acid composition patterns during ontogenetic development was unaffected. The results indicates a high degree of resilience of these early developmental stages to such types and concentrations of pollutants. However, feeding and motility in later calyptopis-stage larvae were significantly impaired at exposure of 0.1 mg/L oil. Data indicate that feeding larval stage of krill was more sensitive to OWD than early nonfeeding life stages. This might be attributed to the narcotic effects of oil pollutants, their direct ingestion, or accumulated adverse effects over early development.

Fate and effects of silver nanoparticles on early life-stage development of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in comparison to silver nitrate

The use of silver nanomaterials in everyday products, such as cosmetics, textiles, certain types of packaging, etc. is increasing, leading to their release into the environment, including aquatic ecosystems. This last point initiated this investigation on the toxicological effects of Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in the aquatic model organism Danio rerio. For this purpose, zebrafish larvae were exposed to 20nm bare Ag NPs at different concentrations and AgNO3, used as a positive control for Ag+ ions toxicity, at the beginning of their foraging behaviour to determine adverse effects on fitness parameters. We used secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to determine the localization of Ag and transcriptomics (microarray) to determine the toxicity at the level of gene expression in fish larvae. Exposure to Ag NPs did not result in adverse effects on survival and growth of the fish. However, SIMS analysis showed that Ag NPs mainly concentrate around liver blood vessels and in the interstitial tissue between the intestine and the liver. Gene expression profiles revealed that AgNO3 and Ag NPs impacted common pathways, suggesting similar targets, such as the phototransduction system. However, the Ag NPs showed a broader set of genes impacted following the exposure, including the circadian clock regulation and the photoreception, suggesting specific particle-related effects in addition to those induced by ions.

Does age matter? Comparing post-treatment psychosocial outcomes in young adult and older adult cancer survivors with their cancer-free peers.

Adolescents and young adult cancer survivors (AYA) are a unique subpopulation with high levels of distress and unmet need. To date, studies have not disentangled distress due to developmental life stage from distress due to cancer survivorship. This population-based study allowed a direct comparison between AYA cancer survivors, older adult (OA) cancer survivors, and their cancer-free peers. We combined 4 annual cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS, 2007-2010) to obtain a final sample of 239316 respondents. We dichotomized the total sample into AYA (15-39years, n=83770) and OA (40+, n=155546). Two standardized questions identified cancer survivors (n=14592). The self-reported outcomes of interest included self-perceived health and mental health, and health care professional diagnosed mood and anxiety disorders. We used weighted logistic regression models to examine for associations, including an interaction term to assess for effect modification by age. After adjusting for confounders, cancer survivorship in AYAs was strongly associated with higher prevalence of both mood (OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.44-2.77) and anxiety (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.70-2.86) disorders as compared to their cancer-free peers. OA survivors had a weaker association in the same direction (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.21 and OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.02-1.30, respectively). AYA cancer survivors reported higher levels of poor self-perceived mental health than their cancer-free peers (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.03-2.14), while there was no significant difference from cancer-free peers for OAs (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.92-1.15). AYA cancer survivors experience a significantly higher risk of psychosocial distress than both their cancer-free peers and OA survivors.

Microbiome dynamics in early life stages of the scleractinian coral Acropora gemmifera in response to elevated pCO2.

Reef-building corals are complex holobionts, harbouring diverse microorganisms that play essential roles in maintaining coral health. However, microbiome development in early life stages of corals remains poorly understood. Here, microbiomes of Acropora gemmifera were analysed during spawning and early developmental stages, and also under different seawater partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2 ) conditions, using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA gene for bacteria and archaea and of ITS2 for Symbiodinium. No remarkable microbiome shift was observed in adults before and after spawning. Moreover, microbiomes in eggs were highly similar to those in spawned adults, possibly suggesting a vertical transmission from parents to offspring. However, significant stage-specific changes were found in coral microbiome during development, indicating that host development played a dominant role in shaping coral microbiome. Specifically, Cyanobacteria were particularly abundant in 6-day-old juveniles, but decreased largely in 31-day-old juveniles with a possible subclade shift in Symbiodinium dominance from C2r to D17. Larval microbiome showed changes in elevatedpCO2 , while juvenile microbiomes remained ratherstable in response to higher pCO2 . This study provides novel insights into the microbiome development during the critical life stages of coral.

ADAPTING SEXUAL SCRIPTS FOR OLDER ADULT INTIMACY AND RELATIONSHIP INITIATION: A FEMINIST FRAMEWORK

Sexual intimacy plays a significant role throughout every developmental life stage, and is incredibly important in the later stages of life when relationships with loved ones are vital, and there is increased risk of social isolation, loneliness and high rates of depression. The desire for sexual expression is often ignored or even actively discouraged in older adults. This avoidance could be partially caused by sexual scripts about sexual intimacy that deter intimacy in older people. Practitioners must recognize individual factors that impact the interest, need, or desire for sexual expression in later life stages. Sexual intimacy is beneficial in older adults, nevertheless, barriers can exist to intimate and sexual expression for some older adults due to scripts about sexuality that deter physical intimacy and sexual encounters in later life. A theoretically-based conceptualization of sexual intimacy and aging is useful to inform practitioners and researchers where support and advocacy may be implemented to foster health intimacy for older adults. Understanding the sexual scripts within the levels of cultural/historical, social/ interactive, and personal/intra-psychic provides a unique opportunity for clinicians to assess the experience of sexuality as social and learned interactions. The experience of relationship initiation can be deconstructed to examine how relationships evolve to be sexually intimate. These learned scripts can then be re-constructed to aid older clients to increase the level of sexual intimacy to their desired level.

Hybridization and polyploidy enable genomic plasticity without sex in the most devastating plant-parasitic nematodes.

Root-knot nematodes (genus Meloidogyne) exhibit a diversity of reproductive modes ranging from obligatory sexual to fully asexual reproduction. Intriguingly, the most widespread and devastating species to global agriculture are those that reproduce asexually, without meiosis. To disentangle this surprising parasitic success despite the absence of sex and genetic exchanges, we have sequenced and assembled the genomes of three obligatory ameiotic and asexual Meloidogyne. We have compared them to those of relatives able to perform meiosis and sexual reproduction. We show that the genomes of ameiotic asexual Meloidogyne are large, polyploid and made of duplicated regions with a high within-species average nucleotide divergence of ~8%. Phylogenomic analysis of the genes present in these duplicated regions suggests that they originated from multiple hybridization events and are thus homoeologs. We found that up to 22% of homoeologous gene pairs were under positive selection and these genes covered a wide spectrum of predicted functional categories. To biologically assess functional divergence, we compared expression patterns of homoeologous gene pairs across developmental life stages using an RNAseq approach in the most economically important asexually-reproducing nematode. We showed that >60% of homoeologous gene pairs display diverged expression patterns. These results suggest a substantial functional impact of the genome structure. Contrasting with high within-species nuclear genome divergence, mitochondrial genome divergence between the three ameiotic asexuals was very low, signifying that these putative hybrids share a recent common maternal ancestor. Transposable elements (TE) cover a ~1.7 times higher proportion of the genomes of the ameiotic asexual Meloidogyne compared to the sexual relative and might also participate in their plasticity. The intriguing parasitic success of asexually-reproducing Meloidogyne species could be partly explained by their TE-rich composite genomes, resulting from allopolyploidization events, and promoting plasticity and functional divergence between gene copies in the absence of sex and meiosis.

Post‐harvest disinfestation of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in mango using hot‐water treatments

AbstractMango, Mangifera indica L. (Anacardiaceae), is one of the most important fruits in Africa, providing household nutrition and economic development opportunities for millions of growers across the continent. In Kenya, over 80% of mango production is carried out by smallholders who produce this crop for both the domestic and the export markets. Despite its importance, mango production is hampered by several constraints, including infestation by fruit flies, especially the exotic Bactrocera dorsalis. In addition to its direct damage to fruits, the high quarantine status of the pest restricts the export of fruits and limits access to lucrative markets, impacting negatively on export earnings. To facilitate access to export markets, post‐harvest management measures such as hot‐water treatment are required to ensure quarantine security. Internationally, this level has been set as either 99.99% (Probit 8.7) or 99.9968% (Probit 9). In developing a protocol, the development of immature life stages of B. dorsalis in ‘Apple’ mango was established. Using this information, infested mangoes harbouring the different immature life stages were subjected to a hot‐water treatment of 46.1°C for four different times, and the egg mortality and larval mortality were determined. The third‐instar life stage was the most heat tolerant, followed by second‐ and first‐instar larvae and the egg stage, respectively. The immersion time of 81.47 min (95% CL 75.77–87.18) was established as the time required to achieve 99.99% security level. In the validation experiment, there were no survivors from the 51,101 third‐instar individuals treated in ‘Apple’ mango weighing 400–500 g. Furthermore, there were no survivors from the 44,651 third instars exposed to 46.1°C for 68 min. These results provide sound evidence that the shorter treatment duration is an effective post‐harvest disinfestations treatment against B. dorsalis, and should facilitate access to export markets for mango fruits from Africa.

Service user engagement: A co-created interview schedule exploring mental health recovery in young adults.

The aim of this study was to co-create of an interview schedule exploring mental health recovery in collaboration with young adult service users. Service user involvement in research has been increasingly recognized as providing a vital authentic insight into mental health recovery. Engagement and collaboration with service users have facilitated the exploration of inaccessible or under-investigated aspects of the lived experience of mental health recovery, not only directing the trajectory of research, but making it relevant to their own contextual experience. A qualitative content analysis framework was employed in the co-creation of a semi-structured interview schedule through an engagement process with service users. Two separate engagement groups took place at the premises of the service user organizations, between January - February 2014. Miles and Huberman's analysis framework was chosen for this phase as it enabled the visual presentation of factors, concepts or variables and the established relationship between them. The lived experience of mental ill health in young adulthood and how this was understood by others was a particularly relevant theme for participants. Further themes were identified between the impact of painful experiences at this developmental life stage leading to a deeper understanding of others through finding meaning in their own mental health recovery journey. Our findings identified that suffering painful experiences is an integral aspect in the process of mental health recovery. This understanding has particular relevance to mental health nursing practice, ensuring the care delivered is cognizant of the suffering or painful experiences that young adults are encountering.

Spatial and temporal expression patterns of genes around nine neuroticism-associated loci

Neuroticism is a high-order personality trait. Individuals with higher neuroticism have increased risks of various psychiatric disorders and physical health outcomes. Neuroticism is related to physiological differences in the brain. A recent genome-wide association study identified nine distinct genomic loci that contribute to neuroticism. Brain development and function depend on the precise regulation of gene expression, which is differentially regulated across brain regions and developmental stages. Using multiple publicly available human post-mortem databases, we investigated, in brain and non-brain tissues and across several developmental life stages, the spatial and temporal expression patterns of genes arising from nine neuroticism-associated loci. Functional gene-network analysis for neuroticism-associated genes was performed. The spatial expression analysis revealed that the nearest genes (GRIK3, SRP9, KLHL2, PTPRD, ELAVL2, CRHR1 and CELF4) from index single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the nine loci were intensively enriched in the brain compared with their representation in non-brain tissues (p<1.56×10−3). The nearest genes associated with the glutamate receptor activity network consisted mainly of GRIK3 (FDR q=4.25×10−2). The temporal expression analysis revealed that the neuroticism-associated genes were divided into three expression patterns: KLHL2, CELF4 and CRHR1 were preferentially expressed during postnatal stages; PTPRD, ELAVL2 and MFHAS1 were expressed during prenatal stages; and the other three genes were not expressed during specific life stages. These findings suggest that the glutamate network might be a target for investigating the neurobiological mechanisms underlying susceptibilities to higher neuroticism and several psychiatric disorders and that neuroticism is mediated by genes specifically expressed in the brain during several developmental stages.

High pCO2 and elevated temperature reduce survival and alter development in early life stages of the tropical sea hare Stylocheilus striatus

Elevated temperature (ocean warming) and reduced oceanic pH (ocean acidification) are products of increased atmospheric pCO2, and have been shown in many marine taxa to alter morphology, impede development, and reduce fitness. Here, we investigated the effects of high pCO2 and elevated temperature on developmental rate, hatching success, and veliger morphology of embryos of the tropical sea hare, Stylocheilus striatus. Exposure to high pCO2 resulted in significant developmental delays, postponing hatching by nearly 24 h, whereas exposure to elevated temperature (in isolation or in combination with high pCO2) resulted in accelerated development, with larvae reaching several developmental stages approximately 48 h in advance of controls. Hatching success was reduced by ~20 and 55% under high pCO2 and warming, respectively, while simultaneous exposure to both conditions resulted in a nearly additive 70% reduction in hatching. In addition to these ontological and lethal effects, exposure of embryos to climate change stressors resulted in significant morphological effects. Larval shells were nearly 40% smaller under high pCO2 and warming in isolation and up to 53% smaller under multi-stressor conditions. In general, elevated temperature had the largest impact on development, with temperature-effects nearly 3.5-times the magnitude of high pCO2-effects. These results indicate that oceanic conditions congruent with climate change predictions for the end of the twenty-first century suppress successful development in S. striatus embryos, potentially reducing their viability as pelagic larvae.

Thermal Preference Increases During Larval Development of Pure and Hybrid Abalone

Temperature is one of the main factors influencing biological processes of ectothermic species. An optimum temperature of 16–18°C has been suggested for the development of early life stages of temperate Australian abalone, yet there are little physiological or behavioral data to support this suggestion. This study examines the acute thermal preferences (Tpref), swimming speeds (U), and oxygen consumption rates (ṀO2) of veliger larvae of blacklip abalone [Haliotis rubra (Leach, 1814)], greenlip abalone [Haliotis laevigata (Donovan, 1808)], and their interspecies hybrid. Thermal preference and U were measured in a thermal gradient with temperatures ranging from 12°C to 25°C, and ṀO2 was measured at 4–7 temperatures between 12°C and 32°C. Thermal preference increased in all three groups of abalone during development from a Tpref of 16°C in 1-day-old early veligers to a Tpref of 20°C in 3-day-old late veligers. Swimming speed increased with temperature in all three groups of abalone and increased with age in H. rubra and hybrids but not in H. laevigata. Veliger ṀO2 increased throughout the ecologically relevant temperature range in all three abalone groups. Higher temperatures were examined in hybrids, and it was found that ṀO2 reached a peak at 25°C and declined thereafter. These results align with the temperatures that veligers may experience in their natural habitat and provide support that current temperatures maintained at Australian aquaculture hatcheries are within optimal ranges for larval performance.

Ocorrência e identificação de larvas de Istiophoridae e ovos de Xiphiidae na Costa Sudeste Brasileira

O presente estudo teve como objetivo identificar e relatar a ocorrência de larvas e ovos de peixes-de-bico na costa sudeste do Brasil. Durante duas temporadas no verão (2012/2013 e 2013/2014), 74 arrastos de superfí­­cie foram feitos utilizando rede de ictioplí­¢ncton na costa de Vitória-ES, Rio de Janeiro-RJ e Ilhabela-SP, de modo que 391 larvas de peixes foram coletadas. A identificação das larvas de peixes-de-bico foi feita por biologia molecular utilizando o método do DNA barcode (gene COI). Durante a temporada de 2012/2013 foram identificadas cinco larvas de agulhões-vela e duas de agulhão-branco. Na temporada de 2013/2014, duas larvas de agulhões-branco e duas de agulhões-vela, além de dois ovos de espadarte foram identificados. A ocorrência de larvas de peixes-de-bico deve ser detalhadamente estudada para que inferências sobre a área e perí­­odo de desova e desenvolvimento das fases iniciais de vida destes peixes possam ser feitas com mais precisão.

Alumni of National Civic Service: Comparing the experience of at-risk and mainstream volunteers

This article describes the perspectives of alumni of National Civic Service (NCS) in Israel on its impact at the individual level. We compared 250 young women who were identified as youth at risk with 295 mainstream volunteers. Overall, the two groups show similar outcomes that are typical to this developmental stage of life. Yet youth at risk experience more difficulties. While NCS aims at increasing equality between groups, it seems that it is not enough to bridge the gaps between the groups. The findings imply a need for a continued intervention to accompany the at-risk alumni that would leverage the progress made during the NCS period.

Restoring: How older adults manage their recovery from hip fracture

Aims and objectivesTo generate a substantive theory that explained recovery from hip fracture from the perspective of older adults and find out how they managed it. BackgroundHip fracture is a well-researched phenomenon. The perspective of how older adults recover from hip fracture has been examined least of all. Patients spend less time in hospital following injury and generally recover in their home setting. DesignA Glaserian grounded theory approach was used for this study. MethodsSemi-structured interviews (n-21) were conducted with older adult's post discharge following hip fracture. Data were collected, analysed and theorised using the grounded theory methodology. ResultsOlder adults recovering from hip fracture were restored back to normal through a process in which they continuously balanced regaining of physical and social functioning against reasserting usual psycho-social behaviours within different contexts. Importantly, the older adult's personal recovery process starts within the acute setting once the person regains physical functioning, especially regaining mobility. From this point onwards, older adults will respond to health professionals, instructions and interventions in many ways. The responses will be based on their developmental life stage to enable them to counter the diverse expectations placed on them by health professionals, social networks and their self-beliefs. ConclusionNurses need to understand that older adults will recover in their own way following discharge, often re-interpreting health information to fit their own situations.

Developmental toxicity and molecular responses of marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) embryos to ciguatoxin P-CTX-1 exposure

Ciguatoxins are produced by toxic benthic dinoflagellates and cause ciguatera fish poisoning worldwide, but the toxic effects on developing marine fish have not been well investigated. The Pacific ciguatoxin (P-CTX-1), is a potent sodium channel agonist, which is one of the most toxic members among all CTXs. This study evaluated the toxic effects of microinjecting purified Pacific ciguatoxin-1 (P-CTX-1) on embryonic development of marine medaka Oryzias melastigma. A lower 96h-LD50 value was estimated for eleuthero-embryos (1.32ngg−1) than that for embryos (1.71ngg−1), indicating that P-CTX-1 is more lethal to newly hatched medaka larvae. P-CTX-1 induced detrimental effects during embryonic development, including hatching failure, abnormalities in physical development (caudal fin malformation and spinal deformities), internal damage (green coloration of the gall bladder and hemorrhaging), immune dysfunction, and altered muscle physiology (bradycardia and hyperkinetic twitching). The results of a transcriptional expression analysis of genes related to the stress/immune responses, cardiac and bone development, and apoptosis supported the observed developmental abnormalities. This study advanced the understanding of P-CTX-1 mediated toxic mechanisms in the development of early life stages of a fish, and thus contributed to the toxicity assessment of CTXs in marine ecosystems.

Radiation dose to the Malaysian populace via the consumption of bottled mineral water

Due to the geological makeup of the various water bodies, mineral- and groundwater can be expected to contain levels of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) exceeding that of tap and surface water. Acknowledging mineral water to form a vital component of the intake in maintaining the healthy life of an individual, it nevertheless remains important to study the associated radiological implications of NORM content, especially in regard to the consumption of bottled mineral water, the presence of which is prevalent in modern urban society. In present study, various brands of bottled mineral waters that are commonly available in Malaysia were obtained from local markets, the presence of NORM subsequently being assessed by HPGe γ-ray spectrometry. The activity concentrations of the radionuclides of particular interest, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K, were found to be within the respective ranges of 1.45±0.28‒3.30±0.43, 0.65±0.18‒3.39±0.38 and 21.12±1.74‒25.31±1.84Bq/L. The concentrations of 226Ra, of central importance in radiological risk assessment, exceed the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2011) recommended maximum permissible limit of 1.0Bq/L; for all three radionuclides taken together, the annual effective doses are greater than the WHO recommended limit of 0.1mSv/y, a matter of especial concern for those in the developmental stages of life.