Publications

Biologging has significantly advanced ecological biology by enabling the collection of data from free-roaming animals in their natural habitats. Traditionally, these measurements have largely been limited to temperature, pressure, and movement. Incorporating physiological data of animal biomarkers could yield valuable orthogonal data sets, providing a more nuanced understanding of organisms in the context of their environments and behaviors. Despite this potential, successful collection of such biochemical information remains absent and thus motivates new sensor platforms. Toward this end, we explore the hardware and nanosensor optimization of animal implantable sensors for tracking hormone levels in marine animals. The transducer element is based on polymer-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes that act as nanosensors embedded within a biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate hydrogel. This work investigates the performance of the nanosensor hydrogel under various temperatures, illumination conditions, and nanoparticle concentrations in the hydrogel. We further prototype a miniaturized fluorescent system for integration into existing, commercially available acoustic tags widely used in marine biology studies. We demonstrate a baseline of 100 nM for the detection limit of progesterone as an example of an important hormone in marine animals using the integrated nanosensor hydrogel in this platform. Further improvement is possible with optimization of the signal-to-noise ratio via hardware development. This developed form-factor will complement the presently collected data by providing insights into the physiological state of the animals in the context of their behavior and environments.

Additional file 2. Includes all Supplementary Tables.

The management of breast cancer is classically interdisciplinary, involving surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Hormone therapy is a treatment modality that has been in long use for hormone-sensitive breast cancers. Around 75% of patients exhibit hormone receptors in the tumor; thus, the standard therapy has been the anti-estrogens, principally tamoxifen, an agent that has been in use for more than 25 years with solid evidence of good results; prospective clinical studies have shown good response with improvement in disease-free survival and total survival, both in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. New agents have been developed that are free of the side effects of tamoxifen over the endometrium and the coagulations mechanisms: the aromatase inhibitors, that have demonstrated superiority over tamoxifen in patients with metastatic diseases, as well as in adjuvant therapeutic schemes. The better results are manifested by longer disease-free survivals and freedom of the endometrial and thrombotic side effects. However, their prolonged use may augment the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. The use of aromatase inhibitors remains restricted to postmenopausal women. Premenopausal women require some type of concomitant ovarian blockade. In this paper the authors present a review of the current trends, including both neoajuvant therapy and chemoprevention. It is now considered that every patient with mammary cancer that exhibits any expression of hormonal receptors (more than 1% demonstrated by immunochemistry) will benefit from hormone therapy; tamoxifen given for a period of 5 years is an excellent drug to be used in cases with very good prognosis, but when contraindicated or when there exist risk factors of local or systemic recurrence, postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive tumors will rather benefit from the use aromatase inhibitors as primary adjuvant therapy or in exchange after 2, 3, or 5 years of tamoxifen. Current evidence indicates that the treatment may be prescribed for more than 5 or 10 years. This article is a review of hormone therapy in breast cancer, from its start many years ago until the current recommendations in the different clinical scenarios.

Our ability to assess biodiversity at relevant spatial and temporal scales for informing management is of increasing importance given this is foundational to identify and mitigate the impacts of global change. Collecting baseline information and tracking ecological changes are particularly important for areas experiencing rapid changes and representing data gaps such as Arctic marine ecosystems. Environmental DNA has the potential to provide such data. We extracted environmental DNA from 90 surface sediment samples to assess eukaryote diversity around Greenland and Svalbard using two separate primer pairs amplifying different sections of the 18S rRNA gene. We detected 27 different phyla and 99 different orders and found that temperature and the change in temperature explained the most variation in the community in a single linear model, while latitude, sea ice cover and change in temperature explained the most variation in the community when assessed by individual non-linear models. We identified potential indicator taxa for Arctic climate change, including a terebellid annelid worm. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that environmental DNA offers a feasible method to assess biodiversity and identifies warming as a key driver of differences in biodiversity across these remote ecosystems.

Climate change and human activity pose increasing challenges to endangered sea turtles, which are key species in many marine ecosystems worldwide. Among these challenges are the flooding and erosion of nesting beaches. In this perspective, we argue that existing methods and tools from coastal science and management hold significant, yet underused, potential for sea turtle conservation. We introduce a stepwise framework for integrating sea turtle ecology and coastal management to address these coastal threats. The framework follows an Observe–Understand–Predict–Intervene cycle and links ecological thresholds, coastal processes, and management interventions across scales, from Regional Management Units (RMUs) to individual beaches. We illustrate how state-of-the-art monitoring, modeling, and nature-based solutions (NBS) can be embedded within this framework to inform when and how to intervene. Increased in-situ data collection and interdisciplinary collaboration will be critical to apply and refine this approach, thereby enhancing the long-term resilience of nesting habitats.

Strong decreases in greenhouse gas emissions are required to meet the reduction trajectory resolved within the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, even these decreases will not avert serious stress and damage to life on Earth, and additional steps are needed to boost the resilience of ecosystems, safeguard their wildlife, and protect their capacity to supply vital goods and services. We discuss how well-managed marine reserves may help marine ecosystems and people adapt to five prominent impacts of climate change: acidification, sea-level rise, intensification of storms, shifts in species distribution, and decreased productivity and oxygen availability, as well as their cumulative effects. We explore the role of managed ecosystems in mitigating climate change by promoting carbon sequestration and storage and by buffering against uncertainty in management, environmental fluctuations, directional change, and extreme events. We highlight both strengths and limitations and conclude that marine reserves are a viable low-tech, cost-effective adaptation strategy that would yield multiple cobenefits from local to global scales, improving the outlook for the environment and people into the future.

Evolutionary relationships between species are usually represented in phylogenies, i.e. evolutionary trees, which are a type of networks. The terminal nodes of these trees represent species, which are made of individuals and populations among which gene flow occurs. This flow can also be represented as a network. In this paper we briefly show some properties of these complex networks of evolutionary and ecological relationships. First, we characterize large scale evolutionary relationships in the Tree of Life by a degree distribution. Second, we represent genetic relationships between individuals of a Mediterranean marine plant, Posidonia oceanica, in terms of a Minimum Spanning Tree. Finally, relationships among plant shoots inside populations are represented as networks of genetic similarity.

Abstract The pattern of colonization by microorganisms on root surfaces from three species of seagrass belonging to the genus Posidonia was assessed. Microbial abundance on roots was measured by two electronic microscope techniques. Trends in microbial colonization between species and root order were defined. In addition, eutrophication status of the sampling sites and physiological status of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile roots have been taken into account. Our results show high microbial abundance in the Mediterranean species P. oceanica, in comparison with the low rates of colonization found in the Australian species P. australis Hook f. and P. sinuosa Cambridge et Kuo. Microbial density tended to decrease as root order increased, and living roots always showed higher microbial abundance than dead ones. Colonization of P. oceanica roots at the three sites with different environmental status follows different trends according to root order. It is suggested that root age influences the rate of microbial colonization of seagrass roots and that colonization of root surface by microorganisms is associated with organic exudates from the roots rather than with decaying root tissues.