Secretive Marsh Bird Species Co-Occurrences and Habitat Associations Across the Midwest, USA

Because secretive marsh birds are difficult to detect, population status and habitat use for these birds are not well known. We conducted repeated surveys for secretive marsh birds across 264 sites in the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Joint Venture region to estimate abundance, occupancy, and detection probabilities during the 2008 and 2009 breeding seasons. We identified species groups based on observed species co-occurrences. Two species, least bittern Ixobrychus exilis and American bittern Botaurus lentiginosus, co-occurred with other species less often than expected by chance, and two species groups, rails (Virginia rail Rallus limicola and sora Porzana carolina) and openwater birds (pied-billed grebe Podilymbus podiceps, common moorhen Gallinula chloropus, and American coot Fulica americana; coots were only surveyed in 2009), co-occurred more often than expected by chance. These groupings were consistent between years. We then estimated the relation of these species and groups to landscape and local site characteristics by using zero-inflated abundance models that accounted for incomplete detection. At the landscape level (5-km radius), the amount of emergent herbaceous wetland was positively associated with least bittern occupancy, whereas the amount of woody wetland was negatively associated with least bittern, rail, and open-water bird occupancy. At the local level, habitat variables that were associated with abundance were not consistent among groups or between years, with the exception that both least bitterns and open-water birds had a strong positive association between abundance and water–vegetation interspersion. Land managers interested in marsh bird management or conservation may want to consider focusing efforts on landscapes with high amounts of emergent herbaceous wetland and low amounts of woody wetland, and managing for high amounts of water–vegetation interspersion within the wetland

Autism spectrum traits in normal individuals : a preliminary VBM analysis

In light of the new DSM-5 autism spectrum disorders diagnosis in which the autism spectrum reflects a group of neurodevelopmental disorders existing on a continuum from mild to severe expression of autistic traits, and recent empirical findings showing a continuous distribution of autistic traits in the general population, our voxel based morphometry study compares normal individuals with high autistic traits to normal individuals with low autistic traits. We hypothesize that normal individuals with high autistic traits in terms of empathizing and systemizing [high systemizing (HS)/low empathizing (LE)] share brain irregularities with individuals that fall within the clinical autism spectrum disorder. We find differences in several social brain network areas between our groups. Specifically, we find increased gray matter (GM) volume in the orbitofrontal cortex, the cuneus, the hippocampus and parahippocampus and reduced GM volume in the inferior temporal cortex, the insula, and the amygdala in our HS/LE individuals relative to our HE/LS (low autistic traits in terms of empathizing and systemizing) individuals

Paternity after microscopic inguinal surgery of varicocele in infertile males: A 5-years follow up

Objectives: Infertility affects about 15% of couples. One of the most common causes of male infertility is varicocele. In this study, the live birth rate after microscopic inguinal varicocelectomy and some related factors were studied in Northeast of Iran. Design and patients: In this cross-sectional study, 976 infertile males who underwent microscopic inguinal varicocelectomy (2004-2009) in an academic hospital were studied and 264 were randomly selected. Female factors were ruled out. Data regarding age, varicocele grade and live birth rate were recruited and entered into SPSS-14 software; T-test and χ2 were used to analyze the variables. Results: The mean (±SD) age was 29.09 (±4.80) years, 139 (52.7%) reported to have a successful result after a mean (±SD) duration of 21.74 (±6.24) months. Unilateral varicocelectomy had significantly more positive results (58.8%) than bilateral (20.9%) but the relationship with grade was not significant. Primary type had 54.5% live birth v.s. 31.8% in secondary type (P-value< 0.05). The mean duration between operation and live birth was significantly different in primary and secondary type (P-value<0.05). Conclusions: Surgery of primary infertility could reveal to a higher live birth rate in a much shorter duration; also unilateral varicoceles are better responders to the surgery

Pre-service teachers as designers in the context of advertising literacy education

The present study describes how teacher design teams (TDTs) in pre-service education were set up to create in-school programs about advertising. A multiple case-study design was employed to reveal what kinds of input-, process-, and output-related factors facilitate or hinder the collaboration of three voluntarily participating teams of pre-service teachers. By combining pre-TDT questionnaire data with an analysis of audiorecorded team design discussions and reflective data collected after the design process, we found that the participating student teachers (1) were unfamiliar with design assignments at the start of the project, but were all intrinsically motivated to take part; (2) especially express practical concerns when designing learning materials, and (3) argue that TDTs positively contribute to their professional development. As this study revealed both facilitating and hindering factors, recommendations for future organization of and research on TDTs in pre-service education are offered

The significance of local water resources captured in small reservoirs for crop production – A global-scale analysis

Rainwater harvesting, broadly defined as the collection and storage of surface runoff, has a long history in supplying water for agricultural purposes. Despite its significance, rainwater harvesting in small reservoirs has previously been overlooked in large-scale assessments of agricultural water supply and demand. We used a macroscale hydrological model, observed climate data and other physical datasets to explore the potential role of small, localized rainwater harvesting systems in supplying water for irrigated areas. We first estimated the potential contribution of local water harvesting to supply currently irrigated areas. We then explored the potential of supplemental irrigation applied to all cropland areas to increase crop evapotranspiration (or green water flow), using locally stored surface runoff in small reservoirs for different scenarios of installed reservoir capacity. The estimated increase in green water flow varied between 623 and 1122 km3 a1 . We assessed the implications of this increase in green water flows for cereal production by assuming a constant crop water productivity in areas where current levels of crop yield are below global averages. Globally, the supplemental irrigation of existing cropland areas could increase cereal production by 35% for a medium variant of reservoir capacity, with large potential increases in Africa and Asia. As small reservoirs can significantly impact the hydrological regime of river basins, we also assessed the impacts of small reservoirs on downstream river flow and quantified evaporation losses from small reservoirs

Altered functional and structural brain network organization in autism.

Structural and functional underconnectivity have been reported for multiple brain regions, functional systems, and white matter tracts in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although recent developments in complex network analysis have established that the brain is a modular network exhibiting small-world properties, network level organization has not been carefully examined in ASD. Here we used resting-state functional MRI (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;42 ASD, n&nbsp;=&nbsp;37 typically developing; TD) to show that children and adolescents with ASD display reduced short and long-range connectivity within functional systems (i.e., reduced functional integration) and stronger connectivity between functional systems (i.e., reduced functional segregation), particularly in default and higher-order visual regions. Using graph theoretical methods, we show that pairwise group differences in functional connectivity are reflected in network level reductions in modularity and clustering (local efficiency), but shorter characteristic path lengths (higher global efficiency). Structural networks, generated from diffusion tensor MRI derived fiber tracts (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;51 ASD, n&nbsp;=&nbsp;43 TD), displayed lower levels of white matter integrity yet higher numbers of fibers. TD and ASD individuals exhibited similar levels of correlation between raw measures of structural and functional connectivity (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;35 ASD, n&nbsp;=&nbsp;35 TD). However, a principal component analysis combining structural and functional network properties revealed that the balance of local and global efficiency between structural and functional networks was reduced in ASD, positively correlated with age, and inversely correlated with ASD symptom severity. Overall, our findings suggest that modeling the brain as a complex network will be highly informative in unraveling the biological basis of ASD and other neuropsychiatric disorders

Effective connectivity reveals strategy differences in an expert calculator

Mathematical reasoning is a core component of cognition and the study of experts defines the upper limits of human cognitive abilities, which is why we are fascinated by peak performers, such as chess masters and mental calculators. Here, we investigated the neural bases of calendrical skills, i.e. the ability to rapidly identify the weekday of a particular date, in a gifted mental calculator who does not fall in the autistic spectrum, using functional MRI. Graph-based mapping of effective connectivity, but not univariate analysis, revealed distinct anatomical location of “cortical hubs” supporting the processing of well-practiced close dates and less-practiced remote dates: the former engaged predominantly occipital and medial temporal areas, whereas the latter were associated mainly with prefrontal, orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate connectivity. These results point to the effect of extensive practice on the development of expertise and long term working memory, and demonstrate the role of frontal networks in supporting performance on less practiced calculations, which incur additional processing demands. Through the example of calendrical skills, our results demonstrate that the ability to perform complex calculations is initially supported by extensive attentional and strategic resources, which, as expertise develops, are gradually replaced by access to long term working memory for familiar material

Dinosaur footprints and other Ichnofauna from the Cretaceous Kem Kem Beds of Morocco

We describe an extensive ichnofossil assemblage from the likely Cenomanian-age 'lower' and 'upper' units of the 'Kem Kem beds' in southeastern Morocco. In the lower unit, trace fossils include narrow vertical burrows in cross-bedded sandstones and borings in dinosaur bone, with the latter identified as the insect ichnotaxon Cubiculum ornatus. In the upper unit, several horizons preserve abundant footprints from theropod dinosaurs. Sauropod and ornithischian footprints are much rarer, similar to the record for fossil bone and teeth in the Kem Kem assemblage. The upper unit also preserves a variety of invertebrate traces including Conichnus (the resting trace of a sea-anemone), Scolicia (a gastropod trace), Beaconites (a probable annelid burrow), and subvertical burrows likely created by crabs for residence and detrital feeding on a tidal flat. The ichnofossil assemblage from the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem beds contributes evidence for a transition from predominantly terrestrial to marine deposition. Body fossil and ichnofossil records together provide a detailed view of faunal diversity and local conditions within a fluvial and deltaic depositional setting on the northwestern coast of Africa toward the end of the Cretaceous

Therapeutic targeting of integrin αvβ6 in breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Integrin ?v?6 promotes migration, invasion, and survival of cancer cells; however, the relevance and role of ?v?6 has yet to be elucidated in breast cancer.METHODS: Protein expression of integrin subunit beta6 (?6) was measured in breast cancers by immunohistochemistry (n &gt; 2000) and ITGB6 mRNA expression measured in the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium dataset. Overall survival was assessed using Kaplan Meier curves, and bioinformatics statistical analyses were performed (Cox proportional hazards model, Wald test, and Chi-square test of association). Using antibody (264RAD) blockade and siRNA knockdown of ?6 in breast cell lines, the role of ?v?6 in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) biology (expression, proliferation, invasion, growth in vivo) was assessed by flow cytometry, MTT, Transwell invasion, proximity ligation assay, and xenografts (n ? 3), respectively. A student's t-test was used for two variables; three-plus variables used one-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni's Multiple Comparison Test. Xenograft growth was analyzed using linear mixed model analysis, followed by Wald testing and survival, analyzed using the Log-Rank test. All statistical tests were two sided.RESULTS: High expression of either the mRNA or protein for the integrin subunit ?6 was associated with very poor survival (HR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.19 to 2.15, P = .002) and increased metastases to distant sites. Co-expression of ?6 and HER2 was associated with worse prognosis (HR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.16 to 3.35, P = .01). Monotherapy with 264RAD or trastuzumab slowed growth of MCF-7/HER2-18 and BT-474 xenografts similarly (P &lt; .001), but combining 264RAD with trastuzumab effectively stopped tumor growth, even in trastuzumab-resistant MCF-7/HER2-18 xenografts.CONCLUSIONS: Targeting ?v?6 with 264RAD alone or in combination with trastuzumab may provide a novel therapy for treating high-risk and trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer patients.<br/