MODELING STREAMFLOW AND WATER QUALITY SENSITIVITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN 20 U.S. WATERSHEDS

Watershed modeling in 20 large, United States (U.S.) watersheds addresses gaps in our knowledge of streamflow, nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus), and sediment loading sensitivity to mid-21st Century climate change and urban/residential development scenarios. Use of a consistent methodology facilitates regional scale comparisons across the study watersheds. Simulations use the Soil and Water Assessment Tool. Climate change scenarios are from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program dynamically downscaled climate model output. Urban and residential development scenarios are from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios project. Simulations provide a plausible set of streamflow and water quality responses to mid-21st Century climate change across the U.S. Simulated changes show a general pattern of decreasing streamflow volume in the central Rockies and Southwest, and increases on the East Coast and Northern Plains. Changes in pollutant loads follow a similar pattern but with increased variability. Ensemble mean results suggest that by the mid-21st Century, statistically significant changes in streamflow and total suspended solids loads (relative to baseline conditions) are possible in roughly 30-40% of study watersheds. These proportions increase to around 60% for total phosphorus and total nitrogen loads. Projected urban/residential development, and watershed responses to development, are small at the large spatial scale of modeling in this study.

Evidence for Astrophysical Muon Neutrinos from the Northern Sky with IceCube

Results from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory have recently provided compelling evidence for the existence of a high energy astrophysical neutrino flux utilizing a dominantly Southern Hemisphere data set consisting primarily of ν(e) and ν(τ) charged-current and neutral-current (cascade) neutrino interactions. In the analysis presented here, a data sample of approximately 35,000 muon neutrinos from the Northern sky is extracted from data taken during 659.5 days of live time recorded between May 2010 and May 2012. While this sample is composed primarily of neutrinos produced by cosmic ray interactions in Earth's atmosphere, the highest energy events are inconsistent with a hypothesis of solely terrestrial origin at 3.7σ significance. These neutrinos can, however, be explained by an astrophysical flux per neutrino flavor at a level of Φ(E(ν))=9.9(-3.4)(+3.9)×10(-19)  GeV(-1) cm(-2) sr(-1) s(-1)(E(ν)/100  TeV(-2), consistent with IceCube's Southern-Hemisphere-dominated result. Additionally, a fit for an astrophysical flux with an arbitrary spectral index is performed. We find a spectral index of 2.2(-0.2)(+0.2), which is also in good agreement with the Southern Hemisphere result.

Exenatide once weekly improved glycaemic control, cardiometabolic risk factors and a composite index of an HbA1c < 7%, without weight gain or hypoglycaemia, over 52 weeks

AIMS

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is often associated with cardiovascular (CV) risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate potential effects of exenatide once weekly (ExQW), a GLP-1 receptor agonist, on glycaemic control and CV risk factors.

METHODS

This analysis included 675 Intent-to-Treat patients with T2DM [baseline (mean ± SD) HbA1c, 8.1 ± 1.2%; fasting blood glucose (FBG), 166 ± 48 mg/dl; weight, 94.3 ± 19.4 kg; systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP), 129 ± 15/78 ± 9 mm Hg; total cholesterol, 178.5 ± 41.9 mg/dl; low-density lipoprotein (LDL), 100.1 ± 35.0 mg/dl; high-density lipoprotein (HDL), 44.5 ± 11.6 mg/dl; triglycerides, 155.6 ± 3.3 mg/dl; alanine aminotransferase (ALT), 32.1 ± 19.5 U/l] treated with diet and exercise alone or in combination with metformin, sulfonylurea, and/or thiazolidinedione who received 52 weeks of ExQW in four clinical trials.

RESULTS

At 52 weeks, ExQW significantly improved HbA1c [mean (SE) change from baseline, -1.3 (0.05)%], FBG [-36.3 (2.02) mg/dl], body weight [-2.6 (0.19) kg], SBP/DBP [-3.6 (0.56) mm Hg/-1.2 (0.34) mm Hg], total cholesterol, -4.4 (1.33) mg/dl; LDL, -2.6 (1.08) mg/dl; HDL, 1.1 (0.31) mg/dl; triglycerides, -7 (1.6)%], and ALT [-4.3 (0.71) IU/l] concentrations, with greater improvements in patients with elevated analyte levels at baseline. Improvements were observed across a range of background antihyperglycaemia therapies. Of patients completing 52 weeks, 19% achieved the composite American Diabetes Association goal (HbA1c < 7.0%, BP < 130/80 mm Hg, LDL < 100 mg/dl), compared to 1% at baseline. Nearly half (48%) achieved HbA1c < 7.0% without weight gain or major/minor hypoglycaemia. Nausea was the most frequent adverse event and was predominantly mild. Hypoglycaemia was infrequent, and more common with a sulfonylurea.

CONCLUSIONS

With 52 weeks of ExQW, patients experienced sustained improvements in glycaemic control and CV risk factors, with an increased likelihood of achieving both a clinically relevant composite outcome (HbA1c < 7% without weight gain or increased risk of hypoglycaemia) and a composite of key therapeutic goals (HbA1c < 7%, BP < 130/80 mm Hg, LDL < 100 mg/dl).

Limits on neutrino emission from gamma-ray bursts with the 40 string IceCube detector

IceCube has become the first neutrino telescope with a sensitivity below the TeV neutrino flux predicted from gamma-ray bursts if gamma-ray bursts are responsible for the observed cosmic-ray flux above 10(18)  eV. Two separate analyses using the half-complete IceCube detector, one a dedicated search for neutrinos from pγ interactions in the prompt phase of the gamma-ray burst fireball and the other a generic search for any neutrino emission from these sources over a wide range of energies and emission times, produced no evidence for neutrino emission, excluding prevailing models at 90% confidence.

Expression analysis of loci associated with type 2 diabetes in human tissues

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS

Genetic mapping has identified over 20 loci contributing to genetic risk of type 2 diabetes. The next step is to identify the genes and mechanisms regulating the contributions of genetic risk to disease. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of age, height, weight and risk alleles on expression of candidate genes in diabetes-associated regions in three relevant human tissues.

METHODS

We measured transcript abundance for WFS1, KCNJ11, TCF2 (also known as HNF1B), PPARG, HHEX, IDE, CDKAL1, CDKN2A, CDKN2B, IGF2BP2, SLC30A8 and TCF7L2 by quantitative RT-PCR in human pancreas (n = 50), colon (n = 195) and liver (n = 50). Tissue samples were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with type 2 diabetes. The effects of age, height, weight, tissue and SNP on RNA expression were tested by linear modelling.

RESULTS

Expression of all genes exhibited tissue bias. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the findings for HHEX, IDE and SLC30A8, which showed strongest tissue-specific mRNA expression bias. Neither age, height nor weight were associated with gene expression. We found no evidence that type 2 diabetes-associated SNPs affect neighbouring gene expression (cis-expression quantitative trait loci) in colon, pancreas and liver.

CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION

This study provides new evidence that tissue-type, but not age, height, weight or SNPs in or near candidate genes associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes are strong contributors to differential gene expression in the genes and tissues examined.

Clinical and molecular characterization of individuals with recurrent genomic disorder at 10q22.3q23.2

The identification of genomic imbalances in young patients can affect medical management by allowing early intervention for developmental delay and by identifying patients at risk for unexpected medical complications. Using a 105K-feature oligonucleotide array, we identified a 7.25 Mb deletion at 10q22.3q23.2 in six unrelated patients. Deletions of this region have been described in individuals with cognitive and behavioral abnormalities, including autistic features, and may represent a recurring genetic syndrome. All four patients in this study for whom clinical information was available had mild dysmorphic features and three had developmental delay. Of note is the emerging clinical phenotype in these individuals with similar dysmorphic features such as macrocephaly, hypertelorism, and arachnodactyly, and neurodevelopmental delay that includes failure to thrive, hypotonia, and feeding difficulties in the neonatal period, and receptive and expressive language delay with global neurodevelopmental delay after the neonatal period. However, there is no pattern of abnormalities, craniofacial, behavioral, or otherwise, that would have aroused clinical suspicion of a specific syndrome. Finally, the patients' deletions encompass BMPR1A but not PTEN, and these patients may be at risk for colon cancer and should be referred for appropriate prophylactic care and surveillance. Of the two patients in this study who had colonoscopy following the array results, neither had polyps. Therefore, the magnitude of the increased risk for colon cancer is currently unknown.

A phase I-II study to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, and potential efficacy of intravenous SB-743921 on days 1 and 15 of a 28-day cycle in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma

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Background: Kinesin spindle protein (KSP) is required for mitotic spindle bipolarity and cell cycle progression. SB-743921 (SB- 921), a selective KSP inhibitor, blocks mitotic spindle assembly, causing cell cycle arrest in mitosis and subsequent cell death. Neutropenia was the dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) in the first-in-humans study of SB-921 given Q21 days. Methods: Cohort 1 of the Phase I portion of a study determining the safety, pharmacokinetics and MTD of SB-921 without prophylactic GCSF in patients (pts) with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) or Hodgkin’s Disease is reported. Pts with relapsed or refractory disease were eligible if they had received at least one prior chemotherapy regimen, had failed high-dose therapy with autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT), or were not candidates for ASCT. SB-921 is given to dose-escalating cohorts of 3 pts as a 1 hr IV infusion, Q14 days. Dosing began at 2 mg/m2 and escalated in 1 mg/m2 increments after 3 pts tolerated 1 cycle. Pts without dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) not completing Cycle 1 are replaced. Cohort expansion to 6 pts occurs if 1/3 pts experiences DLT, defined as any drug-related toxicity = grade 3 or drug-related grade 4 hematologic toxicity. Results: Cohort 1 (2 mg/m2) enrolled 6 NHL pts (5 indolent, 1 aggressive). 4 were female; median age = 59 (52–73); 5 Caucasian, 1 African-American; median no. of cycles = 2 (1–6). 5/6 pts were evaluable; 1 dropped out before dosing. The most common Grade 1–2 AEs, in decreasing order, were fatigue, dysgeusia, paresthesia, leukopenia, and diarrhea. Grade 3 AEs of note were 1 each of hemolytic anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and dyspnea; 1 Grade 4 anemia was reported. Conclusions: SB-921 was well tolerated without prophylactic GCSF in Cohort 1 of the Phase I portion of this study, which continues to dose-escalate. If neutropenia is the DLT, dose escalation will continue with prophylactic GCSF.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Personality measures in former heroin users receiving methadone or in protracted abstinence from opiates

OBJECTIVE

Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) and detoxification to abstinence are among the most common treatment options for opiate-dependent patients. This paper compares personality traits in detoxified former heroin users and those on MMT in order to assess their relevance to treatment selection.

METHOD

Twenty-six formerly heroin-dependent subjects receiving MMT (MM), 33 formerly heroin-dependent subjects withdrawn from MMT (MW), and 43 healthy controls were compared on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).

RESULTS

On the TCI, MM patients had higher novelty seeking and lower self-directedness scores than controls. Both MM and MW subjects scored higher than controls on multiple MCMI-II scales. MW but not MM subjects scored higher than controls on two Cluster A Scales and the delusional disorder scale.

CONCLUSION

Schizophrenia-spectrum pathology in former opiate users may be greater than previously recognized and could potentially be relevant to treatment selection.