Publications by authors named "Tyler B Smith"

Background: People with aphasia have an increased risk of developing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and chronic stress - all of which interfere with rehabilitation and limit functional outcomes. Interventions addressing the mental health needs of people with aphasia are critically important and rapidly emerging. Most self-rated questionnaires are highly language-dependent.

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The low-latitude habitats of the South American reef system have a high endemism and represent important stepping-stones due to the connectivity with Amazon and Caribbean reefs. We provide the first seabed mapping, and analyze the benthic cover and fish assemblages of these extreme reefs. Fleshy macroalgae (2-66% of cover), algal turfs (0-47%), and sponges (3-25%) are the dominant benthic groups.

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Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of alternating magnetic fields (AMF) combined with antibiotics in reducing Staphylococcus aureus biofilm on metal implants in a large animal model, compared to antibiotics alone.

Methods: Metal plates were inoculated with a clinical MRSA strain and then implanted into thirty-three ewes divided into three groups: positive control, linezolid only, and a combination of linezolid and AMF. Animals had either titanium or cobalt-chrome plates and were sacrificed at 5 or 21 days post-implantation.

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  • The CONNECT-TBI study is examining how noninvasive neuromodulation can enhance cognitive training for military personnel with mild traumatic brain injury, specifically using the Attention Process Training-III (APT-III) program.
  • A review of ten studies highlighted areas needing standardization in the APT-III administration to ensure reliable and uniform implementation across various sites and participants.
  • Key areas requiring attention include dosage, adaptation of training, metacognitive strategy instruction, and goal attainment scaling, with the authors working towards creating a standardized process for these aspects.
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The function and stability of mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) have been extensively studied in recent years. These deep reefs are characterized by local physical processes, particularly the steep gradient in irradiance with increasing depth, and their impact on trophic resources. Mesophotic reefs exhibit distinct zonation patterns that segregate shallow reef biodiversity from ecologically unique deeper communities of endemic species.

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  • Ciguatera Poisoning (CP) is caused by eating fish or invertebrates contaminated with ciguatoxins produced by certain dinoflagellates, creating a complex poisoning syndrome that's not fully understood.
  • Research has advanced knowledge of toxic species (referred to as "superbugs") and their role in toxin production within coral reef ecosystems.
  • The study used innovative molecular techniques to analyze Gambierdiscus species in St. Thomas and the Florida Keys, revealing different community structures and highlighting the need for better monitoring of toxic species in relation to ciguatoxin prevalence in fish.
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  • Ciguatera poisoning (CP) is a widespread seafood poisoning caused by ciguatoxins (CTXs) from dinoflagellates consumed by reef fish, impacting thousands annually.
  • Several challenges hinder effective monitoring and surveillance of CP, including the low concentration of toxins in seafood, limited knowledge on their toxicity, and a shortage of standard reference materials.
  • A new conceptual model suggests effective monitoring strategies by focusing on specific macrophytes for toxin measurement and adapting these strategies seasonally and regionally, potentially creating an "early warning" system for CP outbreaks.
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Anthropogenic marine debris and invasive species are pervasive in the ocean. However, research on the mechanisms and dynamics controlling their distribution in marine systems (e.g.

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Implementation of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) as a standard of care has proven efficacious in reducing both the healing time and likelihood of nosocomial infection among pressure ulcers and traumatic, combat-related injuries. However, current formulations may not target or dramatically reduce bacterial biofilm burden following therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the antibiofilm efficacy of an open-cell polyurethane (PU) foam (V.

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  • * The study investigates how various coral species and their algal symbionts respond to SCTLD by analyzing gene expression profiles from a transmission experiment.
  • * Key findings show that SCTLD infection increases expression of specific genes linked to the breakdown of algal symbionts and that the disease's severity varies depending on the type of symbiotic algae present.
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  • Global phase shifts to alternate marine communities, particularly green macroalgal mats, can alter ecosystem functions and services significantly.
  • Observations from reefs in the Eastern Tropical Pacific showed that persistent algal mats supported diverse macroalgal species while reducing herbivory and possibly enhancing nutrients.
  • These findings highlight a shift in reef community control and emphasize the need for further research on community changes, especially as they become more common due to human impacts.
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Climate change is radically altering coral reef ecosystems, mainly through increasingly frequent and severe bleaching events. Yet, some reefs have exhibited higher thermal tolerance after bleaching severely the first time. To understand changes in thermal tolerance in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP), we compiled four decades of temperature, coral cover, coral bleaching, and mortality data, including three mass bleaching events during the 1982 to 1983, 1997 to 1998 and 2015 to 2016 El Niño heatwaves.

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Limited dispersal of individuals between generations results in isolation by distance, in which individuals further apart in space tend to be less related. Classic models of isolation by distance assume that dispersal distances are drawn from a thin-tailed distribution and predict that the proportion of the genome that is identical by descent between a pair of individuals should decrease exponentially with the spatial separation between them. However, in many natural populations, individuals occasionally disperse over very long distances.

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Large gaps in reef distribution may hinder the dispersal of marine organisms, interrupting processes vital to the maintenance of biodiversity. Here we show the presence and location of extensive reef habitats on the continental shelf between the Amazon Reef System (ARS) and the Eastern Brazilian Reef System (ERS), two reef complexes off eastern South America. Formations located 20-50 m deep include both biogenic and geogenic structures.

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  • Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is a severe illness affecting about 50% of Caribbean coral species, prompting a study on its microbial community response in US Virgin Islands (USVI) corals.
  • The researchers tested six coral species with varying susceptibility to SCTLD and analyzed the microbial communities in their mucus and tissue layers before and after disease exposure.
  • Findings revealed that while the microbiomes were similar among species post-disease acquisition, distinct patterns emerged based on species and habitat, with mucus potentially serving as an early indicator of disease presence.
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Ciguatera poisoning (CP) poses a significant threat to ecosystem services and fishery resources in coastal communities. The CP-causative ciguatoxins (CTXs) are produced by benthic dinoflagellates including and spp., and enter reef food webs via grazing on macroalgal substrates.

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  • Anchored mesh screens could help monitor epiphytic dinoflagellates like Gambierdiscus, which can cause ciguatera poisoning.
  • A 30-month study tested these screens alongside traditional methods of measuring cell counts in the Florida Keys and St. Thomas.
  • While the study found that certain regression models performed better, the overall correlation was weak, and the screens often underestimated cell abundances, suggesting they may not be reliable for consistent monitoring across different environments.
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Background: Understanding trends in surgical volumes can help Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) prevent clinician burnout and provide adequate staffing while maintaining the quality of patient care throughout the year. Health insurance deductibles reset in January each year and may contribute to an annual rhythm where the levee of year-end deductibles is breached in the last few months of every year, resulting in a flood of cases and several accompanying challenges. This study aims to identify and analyze monthly and yearly surgical volume patterns in ASCs and explore a relationship with the deductible reset.

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Ciguatera poisoning (CP) is a syndrome caused by the bioaccumulation of lipophilic ciguatoxins in coral reef fish and invertebrates, and their subsequent consumption by humans. These phycotoxins are produced by Gambierdiscus spp., tropical epiphytic dinoflagellates that live on a variety of macrophytes, as well as on dead corals and sand.

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  • Coral reef ecosystems are experiencing decline due to various stress factors, leading to the development of a bioassessment framework that organizes ecological information for conservation efforts.
  • The Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) model was adapted from freshwater systems to assess fish communities in U.S. Caribbean coral reefs, illustrating how biological conditions change with increasing human impact.
  • This study involves collaboration among scientists to create decision rules defining six levels of coral reef health, making the BCG a valuable tool for identifying the status of coral reefs and facilitating global conservation efforts.
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Purpose: Trapeziectomy with suture button suspensionplasty (SBS) to treat thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) arthritis has been proposed as an alternative to ligament reconstruction tendon interposition. There have been limited large-scale or long-term reports regarding SBS outcomes. Single-surgeon intermediate follow-up is reported.

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The genus is a recognized group of marine epiphytic-benthic dinoflagellates that produce the toxins that cause ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP). To date, thirteen species and six ribotypes of have been identified, and multiple species commonly co-occur within a single site or epiphyte community. Toxicity can vary by species, thus it is important to be able to differentiate among species for research and monitoring purposes.

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Coral populations and structural coral reefs have undergone severe reductions and losses respectively over large parts of the Galápagos Islands during and following the 1982-83 El Niño event. Coral tissue loss amounted to 95% across the Archipelago. Also at that time, all coral reefs in the central and southern islands disappeared following severe degradation and eventual collapse due primarily to intense bioerosion and low recruitment.

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Bioerosion, the removal of calcium carbonate from coral frameworks by living organisms, influences a variety of reef features, from their topographic complexity to the net balance of carbonate budgets. Little is known, however, about how macroborers, which bore into reef substrates leaving traces greater than 0.1 mm diameter, are distributed across coral reefs, particularly reef systems with high (>50%) stony coral cover or at mesophotic depths (≥30 m).

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Ciguatera fish poisoning is a seafood-toxin illness resulting from consumption of fish contaminated with ciguatoxins. Managing ciguatera fish poisoning is complex. It is made easier, however, by local fishers from endemic areas reporting regional predictability for local fish species' ciguatera fish poisoning risk, which the present study then tested.

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