Aromatic Plants in Eurasian Blue Tit Nests: The ‘Nest

The ‘Nest Protection Hypothesis’ suggests that some birds add aromatic plants to their nests to repel or kill ectoparasites. This behavior has been described for several species, including the Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). We studied the reproductive performance, based on 26 nests (in nest boxes), of this species in mixed forested areas of Quercus spp. and Pinus pinea in the Parque Florestal de Monsanto, the largest park of Lisbon, Portugal. The frequency of aromatic plants in nests was compared with frequency of these plants in the study area. The three most frequent aromatic plants (Dittrichia viscosa, Lavandula dentata, Calamintha baetica) in nests were used more than expected from their availability in the study area. We could not reject the null hypothesis that nest survival rate is independent of the presence of aromatic plants in the nest

Sylvia melanocephala Sardinian Warbler

The EBBA2 project was carried out by the EBCC network of partner organisations from 48 countries. In total, around 120,000 fieldworkers contributed data to the atlas, the great majority of them on a voluntary basis. As such this project constitutes one of the biggest citizen science projects on biodiversity ever. Data collection and analysis followed a rigorous scientific protocol, led by a team of researchers from ornithological institutes with many years of experience in atlas work. The huge fieldwork effort resulted in unprecedented geographical coverage for a biodiversity atlas in Europe, including all areas up to the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea that were not well covered for EBBA1. These data were mainly collected for the period lasting from 2013 to 2017.Main sponsor: MAVA - Fondation pour la Natur

Protective role of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on human sperm exposed to etoposide

Background: Although recent progress in cancer treatment has increased patient survival and improved quality of life, reproductive side effects are still for concern. One way to decrease gonadal impairment is to use cytoprotectors. In testicular cancer, etoposide is generally used in combination with other agents, but there are no in-vitro studies of sperm exposure to etoposide and cytoprotectors, namely N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Methods: Twenty semen samples were individually divided into five groups: control, incubation with NAC alone, incubation with etoposide alone, sequential exposure of NAC followed by etoposide (pre-treatment) and sequential exposure of etoposide followed by NAC (post-treatment). Sperm characteristics, chromatin condensation (aniline blue), DNA fragmentation (TUNEL), oxidative stress (OxyDNA labelling) and glutathione quantification were used to evaluate the capabilities of NAC as a prophylactic (pre-treatment) or ameliorator (post-treatment) agent over the effects caused in sperm during in-vitro exposure to etoposide. Results: No deleterious effects were observed on sperm motility or sperm membrane integrity. Results revealed that prophylactic use of NAC (pre-treatment) increased rates of immature sperm chromatin as compared to ameliorator use of NAC (post-treatment), and increased rates of sperm DNA fragmentation in relation to controls. Pre and post-treatment with NAC increased oxidative levels in comparison to controls, but also increased levels of cellular antioxidant glutathione. Conclusions: The results indicate that NAC has the ability to counteract etoposide-induced toxicity rather than preventing the etoposide cytotoxic effects over sperm DNA, suggesting that the administration of NAC to cells formerly exposed to etoposide is preferable to its prophylactic use. As the results evidenced that NAC seems to be more efficient in attenuating sperm etoposide cytotoxic effects instead of being used as a chemoprophylactic agent, this reinforces the idea that there might be a new NAC mechanism over DNA.UMIB (Pest-OE/SAU/UI0215/2014) is funded by National Funds through FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology

Songbirds promote connectivity between riparian galleries and adjacent habitats

Riparian galleries are among the most vulnerable habitats in the world and are well known for their importance to the most specialized riparian bird species. In this study, we analyzed songbird composition, songbird diet, trophic ecology and seed dispersal in riparian galleries and adjacent Montado matrices in southern Portugal to address the importance of birds in promoting the connectivity between riparian galleries and adjacent habitats. We used fecal samples to compare diet, and blood samples to compare nitrogen stable isotopes from birds in these two habitats. The seasonal variation in the abundance of arthropods and fruits was evaluated in both habitats and seed movement between both habitats was assessed from fruits marked with fluorescence. Abundance of food resources for birds (arthropods and fruits) declined throughout the season in a similar way for both habitats, and there were strong similarities in the diet and trophic ecology of songbirds in the riparian gallery and adjacent habitat. In both habitats, birds preyed heavily on Hymenoptera and Coleoptera but birds more abundant in the Montado fed more on Araneae and Hymenoptera. Seeds were moved significantly more frequently from the riparian gallery into the adjacent Montado than vice-versa. Our results suggest that birds from the adjacent habitat move frequently to the riparian gallery to forage and disperse seeds into the adjacent habitat as they depart. This study shows that birds play an important role in promoting connectivity between riparian galleries and adjacent habitats

Citologia cervical: o exame que lhe pode salvar a vida

Introdução: A citologia cervical faz parte de um conjunto de exames que visam a promoção e vigilância da saúde da mulher, ao longo de todo o seu ciclo de vida. É de suma importância que, cada mulher tenha conhecimento da utilidade da citologia na prevenção do cancro do colo do útero. Objectivos: Explicar em que consiste a citologia ao colo do útero Expor a importância da realização regular da citologia na saúde da mulher Informar acerca da atitude a tomar no caso de apresentar uma citologia alterada. Alertar para o papel da citologia cervical na prevenção do cancro do colo do útero e lesões pré-cancerígenas. Explicar o agente etiológico percursor do cancro do colo do útero Desenvolvimento: O aparelho reprodutor feminino é composto por diversas estruturas anatómicas, das quais o útero toma parte, dividindo-se este em corpo e colo. A citologia cervical consiste na colheita de células diretamente do colo do útero, da junção dos epitélios dos quais o exocolo e endocolo são compostos. É uma colheita que é habitualmente realizada no decorrer de um exame ginecológico normal, sendo indolor e demorando apenas alguns segundos. A colheita de citologia está preconizada, segundo as mais recentes diretrizes internacionais, entre os 20 e os 30 anos de idade ou 2 a 3 anos após o início da vida sexual, devendo ser realizada mesmo em mulheres que tenham realizado vacina do Papiloma Virus Humano. É um exame seguro e eficaz, desde que realizado com a regularidade recomendada, ou seja, anualmente ou, após 2 citologias negativas consecutivas, de 3 em 3 anos. A análise das células permite identificar as lesões do colo do útero que podem ser: pré malignas ou malignas Sabe-se, hoje em dia, que as lesões do colo do útero têm anos de evolução e que podem ser detetadas a qualquer altura com o recurso à citologia, podendo assim travar-se o processo de degeneração e a caminhada até ao cancro. O agente etiológico responsável pelas lesões do colo é o papiloma vírus humano (HPV). Sabe-se que este vírus é responsável pela alteração e transformação das células do colo. Quando essa alteração se identifica na citologia, a mulher deve ser encaminhada para a realização de uma colposcopia. A colposcopia é um exame ginecológico comum, não é mais invasivo e realiza-se com colposcópio, que permite aumentar e visualizar alterações no colo do útero Neste exame, procede-se à caracterização da lesão e, consoante a mesma, assim será decidido o tratamento tendo em vista travar a evolução da lesão do colo. Conclusão: A citologia é um exame rápido, simples e indolor que apresenta uma enorme utilidade na prevenção de lesões percursoras do cancro do colo do útero. Uma comunidade informada acerca da importância deste exame promoverá a prevenção da doença através da realização da citologia bem com a promoção da saúde da mulher, de uma maneira geral. A citologia é um exame que deteta precocemente as lesões provocadas pelo HPV, podendo salvar vidas

Barn owl feathers as biomonitors of mercury: sources of variation in sampling procedures.

Given their central role in mercury (Hg) excretion and suitability as reservoirs, bird feathers are useful Hg biomonitors. Nevertheless, the interpretation of Hg concentrations is still questioned as a result of a poor knowledge of feather physiology and mechanisms affecting Hg deposition. Given the constraints of feather availability to ecotoxicological studies, we tested the effect of intra-individual differences in Hg concentrations according to feather type (body vs. flight feathers), position in the wing and size (mass and length) in order to understand how these factors could affect Hg estimates. We measured Hg concentration of 154 feathers from 28 un-moulted barn owls (Tyto alba), collected dead on roadsides. Median Hg concentration was 0.45 (0.076-4.5) mg kg(-1) in body feathers, 0.44 (0.040-4.9) mg kg(-1) in primary and 0.60 (0.042-4.7) mg kg(-1) in secondary feathers, and we found a poor effect of feather type on intra-individual Hg levels. We also found a negative effect of wing feather mass on Hg concentration but not of feather length and of its position in the wing. We hypothesize that differences in feather growth rate may be the main driver of between-feather differences in Hg concentrations, which can have implications in the interpretation of Hg concentrations in feathers. Finally, we recommend that, whenever possible, several feathers from the same individual should be analysed. The five innermost primaries have lowest mean deviations to both between-feather and intra-individual mean Hg concentration and thus should be selected under restrictive sampling scenarios

Multispecies lanscape functional connectivity enhances local bird species' diversity in a highly fragmented landscape

Local species assemblages are likely the result of habitat and landscape filtering. However, there is still limited knowledge on how landscape functional connectivity complements habitat attributes in mediating local species assemblages in real-world fragmented landscapes. In this study, we set up a non-manipulative experimental design in a standard production forest to demonstrate how functional connectivity determines the spatial distribution of a bird community. We test single- and multispecies spatially explicit, landscape functional connectivity models framed within the circuit theory, considering also patch attributes describing habitat size and quality, to weight their effects on species occurrence and community assemblage. We found that single-species functional connectivity effects contributed positively for occurrence of each species. However, they rarely provided competing alternatives in predicting community parameters when compared to multispecies connectivity models. Incorporating multispecies connectivity showed more consistent effects for all community parameters, than single-species models, since the overlap between species’ dispersal abilities in the landscape shows poor agreement. Habitat size and quality, though less important, were also determinant in explaining community parameters while possibly relating to the provision of suitable nesting and foraging conditions. Both habitat and landscape filters concur to govern community assembly, though likely influencing different processes: while landscape connectivity determines which species can reach a patch, habitat quality determines which species settle in the patch. Our results also suggest that surrogating multispecies connectivity from single species has potential to source bias by assuming species perceive landscape and its barriers similarly. Inference on this issue must be gathered from as much species as possible

DT-TTF Salts with [Cu(dcdmp)2]−: The Richness of Different Stoichiometries

(DT-TTF)[Cu(dcdmp)(2)] (1), (DT-TTF)(2)[Cu(dcdmp)(2)] (2), and (DT-TTF)(3)[Cu(dcdmp)(2)](2) (3) are three new charge transfer salts obtained by electrocrystallization of the donor DT-TTF (dithiophene-tetrathiafulvalene) with the diamagnetic copper complex [Cu(dcdmp)(2)](-) (dcdmp = 2,3-dicyano-5,6-dimercaptopyrazine). Compounds 1 and 3 crystallize in the triclinic system and consist of out-of-registry layers of mixed stacks of donor and acceptor molecules. (DT-TTF)(2)[Cu(dcdmp)(2)] presents a structure similar to the parent spin-ladder systems with donor stacks arranged in pairs; however, a magnetic spin-ladder behavior is not observed probably due to strong interactions between pairs. Compound 3, despite the mixed nature of the stacks, displays relatively high conductivity (7 S/cm) due to a one-dimensional network of interactions between donors.This work was supported by FCT (Portugal) through contracts PTDC/QEQ-SUP/1413/2012 and UID/Multi/04349/2013 and by DGI, Spain (CTQ2013-40480), the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014SGR0017), the CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), promoted by ISCIII, Spain. R. A. L. S. is thankful to FCT for the PhD grant SFRH/BD/86131/2012.Peer reviewe

Improving the identification of high-risk non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients in clinical practice

Non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC) represents a challenging disease state in prostate cancer care. nmCRPC patients with a high risk of progression to metastatic disease who are identified by a prostate-specific antigen doubling time (PSADT) ≤10 months are eligible for treatment with the novel androgen receptor inhibitors (ARIs), shown to delay disease progression and extend survival. However, nmCRPC is often unexploited in clinical practice due to a lack of standardization in the methodology and in the tools used for its identification. In this article, a group of Urology and Oncology specialists with acknowledged expertise in prostate cancer reviews the state of the art in the management of high-risk nmCRPC patients, identifies gaps and unmet needs, and proposes strategies to optimize the identification of this patient subgroup in the clinical practice and improve their health outcomes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Global biogeographical patterns in the diet of a cosmopolitan avian predator

Aim: The investigation of biogeographical patterns in the diet of widely distributed predators is essential to understand their ecology, life history traits and local adaptations. However, it is particularly challenging because of their wide distribution, broad trophic spectra and high ecological plasticity. Here, we described patterns of trophic ecology in a cosmopolitan nocturnal raptor, the common barn owl group, from a biogeographical perspective. We then compared variation in diet between barn owls living in the Americas (T. furcata), and those inhabiting Europe, Middle-East and Africa (T. alba), thus hunting on different assemblages of prey types. Location: World. Taxon: Barn owl species complex. Methods: We reviewed 790 studies reporting diet information of 971 locations (3,733,902 individual vertebrate prey), and investigated the variation in different diet parameters, reflecting taxonomic diversity, size of the prey and frequency of certain prey types according to geographical and climatic variables. Results: While confirming that the barn owl is a selective mammal hunter with variable taxa constituting its staple food in different regions, we also found significant geographical and climatic trends in several diet parameters. Although prey composition differed among continents, most of the patterns, including an increase in proportion of mammal prey in cold environments, an increase in diet diversity with elevation, a decrease in small prey consumption from high to low latitudes and at increasing temperature, and a decrease in rodent predation in humid habitats, were similar between T. furcata and T. alba. A strong island effect was observed for all diet parameters. Main conclusion: Our results indicate a generalized pattern of variation in barn owl diet across biogeographical regions, suggesting that similar prey communities occur in habitats with comparable ecological conditions and/or that different barn owl populations living in similar climate convergently evolved similar food preferences and hunting strategies