Background: The global spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus has stimulated interest in a better understanding of the mechanisms of H5N1 dispersal, including the potential role of migratory birds as carriers. Although wild birds have been found dead during H5N1 outbreaks, evidence suggests that others have survived natural infections, and recent studies have shown several species of ducks capable of surviving experimental inoculations of H5N1 and shedding virus. To investigate the possibility of migratory birds as a means of H5N1 dispersal into North America, we monitored for the virus in a surveillance program based on the risk that wild birds may carry the virus from Asia.

Objective To identify characteristics associated with long-term survival forepithelial ovarian cancer patients using the California Cancer Registry. Methods A descriptive analysis of survival of all California residents diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer between 1994 and 2001 was conducted using patients identified through the cancer registry with follow up through 2011. Characteristics of the patients who survived more than 10 years (long-term survivors) were compared to three other cohorts: patients who survived less than 2 years, those who survived at least 2 but no more than 5 years, and those who survived at least 5 but no more than 10 years. Results A total of 3,582 out of 11,541 (31% CI=30.2%, 31.8%) of the patients survived more than 10 years. Younger age, early stage, low-grade, and non-serous histology were significant predictors of long-term survival, but long-term survivors also included women with high-risk cancer. Conclusion Long-term survival is not unusual in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, even in those with high-risk disease. Many of the prognostic factors are well known, but it remains to be determined why some patients with advanced stage high-grade cancers survive longer than others with the same histology. These findings are important for patient counseling.

Abstract. Genetic markers that differ in mode of inheritance and rate of evolution (a sex-linked Z-specific microsatellite locus, five biparentally inherited microsatellite loci, and maternally inherited mitochondrial [mtDNA] sequences) were used to evaluate the degree of spatial genetic structuring at macro-and microgeographic scales, among breeding regions and local nesting populations within each region, respectively, for a migratory sea duck species, the spectacled eider (Somateria fisheri). Disjunct and declining breeding populations coupled with sex-specific differences in seasonal migratory patterns and life history provide a series of hypotheses regarding rates and directionality of gene flow among breeding populations from the Indigirka River Delta, Russia, and the North Slope and YukonKuskokwim Delta, Alaska. The degree of differentiation in mtDNA haplotype frequency among breeding regions and populations within regions was high ( CT ϭ 0.189, P Ͻ 0.01; SC ϭ 0.059, P Ͻ 0.01, respectively). Eleven of 17 mtDNA haplotypes were restricted to a single breeding region. Genetic differences among regions were considerably lower for nuclear DNA loci (sex-linked: ST ϭ 0.001, P Ͼ 0.05; biparentally inherited microsatellites: mean ϭ 0.001, P Ͼ 0.05) than was observed for mtDNA. Using models explicitly designed for uniparental and biparentally inherited genes, estimates of spatial divergence based on nuclear and mtDNA data together with elements of the species' breeding ecology were used to estimate effective population size and degree of male and female gene flow. Differences in the magnitude and spatial patterns of gene correlations for maternally inherited and nuclear genes revealed that females exhibit greater natal philopatry than do males. Estimates of generational female and male rates of gene flow among breeding regions differed markedly (3.67 ϫ 10 Ϫ4 and 1.28 ϫ 10 Ϫ2 , respectively). Effective population size for mtDNA was estimated to be at least three times lower than that for biparental genes (30,671 and 101,528, respectively). Large disparities in population sizes among breeding areas greatly reduces the proportion of total genetic variance captured by dispersal, which may accelerate rates of inbreeding (i.e., promote higher coancestries) within populations due to nonrandom pairing of males with females from the same breeding population. Recent advances in molecular biology have greatly increased the number and accessibility of molecular techniques capable of resolving variation in genetic markers with contrasting modes of inheritance. Comparative analyses of spatial distributions and the depths of genealogical topologies across multiple markers have provided strong support linking contemporary population structure with historical processes (Wilson et al. 1985; Avise et al. 1987). Behavioral events linked to the timing of pair bonds, degree of philopatry, and dispersal strategies can also play significant roles in defining how genetic variation is partitioned within and among populations and may be rea...

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