Diversity, composition and potential roles of sedimentary microbial communities in different coastal substrates around subtropical Okinawa Island, Japan.

BACKGROUND: Marine benthic prokaryotic communities play crucial roles in material recycling within coastal environments, including coral reefs. Coastal sedimentary microbiomes are particularly important as potential reservoirs of symbiotic, beneficial, and pathogenic bacteria in coral reef environments, and therefore presumably play a core role in local ecosystem functioning. However, there is a lack of studies comparing different environments with multiple sites on the island scale, particularly studies focusing on prokaryotic communities, as previous investigations have focused mainly on a single site or on specific environmental conditions. In our study, we collected coastal sediments from seven sites around Okinawa Island, Japan, including three different benthic types; sandy bottoms, seagrass meadows, and hard substratum with living scleractinian corals. We then used metabarcoding to identify prokaryotic compositions and estimate enzymes encoded by genes to infer their functions. RESULTS: The results showed that the three substrata had significantly different prokaryotic compositions. Seagrass meadow sites exhibited significantly higher prokaryotic alpha-diversity compared to sandy bottom sites. ANCOM analysis revealed that multiple bacterial orders were differentially abundant within each substratum. At coral reef sites, putative disease- and thermal stress-related opportunistic bacteria such as Rhodobacterales, Verrucomicrobiales, and Cytophagales were comparatively abundant, while seagrass meadow sites abundantly harbored Desulfobacterales, Steroidobacterales and Chromatiales, which are common bacterial orders in seagrass meadows. According to our gene-coded enzyme analyses the numbers of differentially abundant enzymes were highest in coral reef sites. Notably, superoxide dismutase, an important enzyme for anti-oxidative stress in coral tissue, was abundant at coral sites. Our results provide a list of prokaryotes to look into in each substrate, and further emphasize the importance of considering the microbiome, especially when focusing on environmental conservation. CONCLUSION: Our findings prove that prokaryotic metabarcoding is capable of capturing compositional differences and the diversity of microbial communities in three different environments. Furthermore, several taxa were suggested to be differentially more abundant in specific environments, and gene-coded enzymic compositions also showed possible differences in ecological functions. Further study, in combination with field observations and temporal sampling, is key to achieving a better understanding of the interactions between the local microbiome and the surrounding benthic community.

Evaluation of Post-thrombolytic Events to Determine Appropriate ICU Monitoring Duration for Patients with Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND: Standard treatment for eligible patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activators alteplase or tenecteplase. Current guidelines recommend monitoring patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) for 24 h after thrombolytic therapy. However, recent studies have questioned the need for prolonged ICU monitoring. This retrospective cohort study aims to identify potential candidates for early transition to a lower level of care by assessing risk factors for neurological deterioration, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH), or need for ICU intervention within 24 h post-thrombolysis. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included adult patients 18 years and older with AIS who received thrombolysis. Patients were excluded if they were transferred to another facility, if they were transitioned to comfort care or hospice care within 24 h, or if they lacked imaging and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score data. The primary end point was incidence of sICH between 0-12 and 12-24 h. Secondary end points included the need for ICU intervention and rates of neurological deterioration. RESULTS: The analysis included 204 patients who received the full dose of alteplase. Among them, ten patients (4.9%) developed sICH, with the majority (n = 7) occurring within 12 h post-thrombolysis. Sixty-two patients required ICU interventions within 12 h compared with four patients after 12 h. Twenty-four patients had neurological deterioration within 12 h, and seven patients had neurological deterioration after 12 h. Multivariable analysis identified mechanical thrombectomy and increased blood pressure at presentation as predictors of ICU need beyond 12 h post-thrombolysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that sICH, neurological deterioration, and need for ICU intervention rarely occur beyond 12 h after thrombolytic administration. Patients presenting with blood pressures < 140/90 mm Hg, NIHSS scores < 10, and not undergoing mechanical thrombectomy may be best candidates for early de-escalation. Larger prospective studies are needed to more fully evaluate the safety, feasibility, and financial impact of early transition out of the ICU.

Anemonefish are better taxonomists than humans.

The symbiosis between giant sea anemones, algae of the family Symbiodiniaceae, and anemonefish is an iconic example of a mutualistic trio1,2. Molecular analyses have shown that giant sea anemones hosting anemonefish belong to three clades: Entacmaea, Stichodactyla, and Heteractis3,4,5 (Figure 1A). Associations among 28 species of anemonefish and 10 species of giant sea anemone hosts are complex. Some fish species are highly specialized to only one anemone species (e.g., Amphiprion frenatus with Entacmaea quadricolor), whereas others are more generalist (e.g., Amphiprion clarkii)1,2,6. Reasons for host preferences are obscured, among other things, by the lack of resolution in the giant sea anemone phylogeny. Here, we generated a transcriptomic dataset from 55 sea anemones collected from southern Japan to reconstruct these phylogenetic relationships. We observed that the bubble-tip sea anemone E. quadricolor, currently considered a single species, can be separated into at least four cryptic lineages (A-D). Surprisingly, these lineages can be precisely distinguished by observing their association with anemonefish: A. frenatus only associates with lineage D, whereas A. clarkii lives in the other three lineages.

Abundance and distribution of marine litter on the beaches of Okinawa Island, Japan.

This study evaluated the distribution and abundance of marine litter on 30 beaches around Okinawa Island, Japan. Beach quality indices and multivariate statistical analyses were used to assess the quality of the beaches and their pollution patterns. A total of 11,626 items weighing 513.49 kg with an average density of 0.13 ± 0.10 items/m2 were collected. Litter was dominated by plastics (81.72 %), broken glass (8.38 %), and cigarette butts (7.44 %), and 74.05 % of total litter was from land-based sources. Single-use plastics (SUPs) were present in all surveyed beaches and made up 30.54 % of the total litter. The clean coast index (CCI), plastic abundance index (PAI), and hazardous index (HI) were between 0.1 and 7.6, 0.1-4.0 and 0.01-1.42, respectively, indicating low to moderate levels of pollution of Okinawan beaches. This study should aid in the formation of strategies to deal with marine litter in Okinawa, other areas of Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.

HaviStat© v2.2: Application to estimate preference for habitat and resources / HaviStat© v2.2: Aplicación para estimar la preferencia por hábitat y recursos / HaviStat© v2.2: Aplicativo para estimar a preferência em habitats e recursos

HaviStat© v2.2 is available in Spanish and English. In this version reported errors and recommendations from v1.0 were fixed and implemented. HaviStat© allows users to perform the necessary mathematical, statistical and graphical procedures required to preliminarily infer use, selection, and preference for habitat/resources, and to estimate the niche breadth of species. In this new version radial diagrams, 22 indexes and 3 confidence intervals for animal preference evaluation, and 8 indexes for niche breadth estimation are available.

HaviStat© v2.2 está disponible en español e Inglés. En esta versión los errores y recomendaciones reportados para la versión v1.0 fueron corregidos e implementados. HaviStat© permite a los usuarios realizar los procedimientos matemáticos, estadísticos y gráficos para inferir de forma preliminar uso, selección and preferencia por hábitat/recursos, y estimar la amplitud de nicho de las especies. En esta nueva versión se incluyen diagramas radiales, 22 índices and 3 intervalos de confianza para evaluar preferencia animal, y 8 índices para estimar amplitud de nicho también están disponibles.

HaviStat© v2.2 está disponível em espanhol e inglês. Nesta versão os erros e as recomendações referenciados na versão v1.0 foram corrigidos e implementados. HaviStat© permite aos usuários realizar os procedimentos matemáticos, estatísticos e gráficos para inferir de forma preliminar o uso, seleção e preferência por hábitat/recursos e estimar a amplitude do nicho das espécies. Nesta nova versão, estão disponíveis, diagramas radiais, 22 índices e 3 intervalos de confiança para avaliar a preferencia animal, e 8 índices para estimar a amplitude do nicho.