Spatial Overlap and Habitat Selection of Corvid Species in European Cities

Understanding habitat and spatial overlap in sympatric species of urban areas would aid in predicting species and community modifications in response to global change. Habitat overlap has been widely investigated for specialist species but neglected for generalists living in urban settings. Many corvid species are generalists and are adapted to urban areas. This work aimed to determine the urban habitat requirements and spatial overlap of five corvid species in sixteen European cities during the breeding season. All five studied corvid species had high overlap in their habitat selection while still having particular tendencies. We found three species, the Carrion/Hooded Crow, Rook, and Eurasian Magpie, selected open habitats. TheWestern Jackdaw avoided areas with bare soil cover, and the Eurasian Jay chose more forested areas. The species with similar habitat selection also had congruent spatial distributions. Our results indicate that although the corvids had some tendencies regarding habitat selection, as generalists, they still tolerated a wide range of urban habitats, which resulted in high overlap in their habitat niches and spatial distributions.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2019-107423GA-I00/SRA (State Research Agency/10.13039/501100011033)

Epidemiology of Methicillin-resistant and Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus infections in Lebanon

Background. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a prevalent pathogen associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In Lebanon, MRSA rates have recently started to rise. We aimed to determine risk factors for acquiring MRSA and Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) infections and identify independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality among patients with S. aureus infection. Methods. We used a case-case-control study design that included patients with infections and compared them to uninfected controls. Two multivariable regression models were constructed to determine variables associated with acquiring MRSA and MSSA infections. We explored independent predictors of mortality in the overall population compared with the MRSA subgroup. Results. 356 patients with S. aureus infections were identified and compared to 208 uninfected controls. A recent history of surgery and underlying diabetes were independent risk factors for acquiring both infections. Having a urinary catheter for more than 6 days and steroid therapy were unique risk factors for MRSA infection (aOR 28.1, 95% CI 3.5-223.6 and 3.7, 95% CI 1.6-8.7, respectively). Risk factors exclusively associated with MRSA infection included ICU admission, acute renal failure, and malignancy. Conclusions. Risk factors associated with MRSA infection are distinct from those associated with MSSA infection. This can be used to risk stratify patients and will aid in choosing empirical antibiotic therapy

Flight initiation distance and refuge in urban birds

Risk-taking in birds is often measured as the flight initiation distance (FID), the distance at which individuals take flight when approached by a potential predator (typically a human). The ecological factors that affect avian FID have received great attention over the past decades and meta-analyses and comparative analyses have shown that FID is correlated with body mass, flock size, starting distance of the approaching human, density of potential predators, as well as varying along rural to urban gradients. However, surprisingly, only few studies (mainly on reptiles and mammals) have explored effects of different types of refugia and their availability on animal escape decisions. We used Bayesian regression models (controlling for the phylogenetic relatedness of bird species) to explore changes in escape behaviour recorded in European cities in relationship to the birds' distance to the nearest refuge and distance fled to the refuge. In our analyses, we also included information on the type of refuge, built-up and vegetation cover, starting distance, flock size, urbanization level, and type of urban habitat. We found that birds preferred tree refuges over artificial and bush refuges. Birds escaped earlier if the distance to the nearest refuge of any type was longer and if birds fled longer distances to the refuge. FID was shorter when birds used bushes as refugia or landed on the ground after flushing compared to using artificial refugia. Similarly, the distance fled to a refuge was shortest when using bushes, and increased when escaping to artificial substrates and trees. Birds were more timid in suburban than core areas of cities, cemeteries than parks, and in areas with higher bush cover but lower cover of built-up areas and trees. Our findings provide novel information regarding the importance of refuge proximity and type as factors affecting the escape behaviour of urban birds.MD was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 to the project URBILAND (PID2019-107423GA-I00).Peer reviewe

Spatial Overlap and Habitat Selection of Corvid Species in European Cities

Understanding habitat and spatial overlap in sympatric species of urban areas would aid in predicting species and community modifications in response to global change. Habitat overlap has been widely investigated for specialist species but neglected for generalists living in urban settings. Many corvid species are generalists and are adapted to urban areas. This work aimed to determine the urban habitat requirements and spatial overlap of five corvid species in sixteen European cities during the breeding season. All five studied corvid species had high overlap in their habitat selection while still having particular tendencies. We found three species, the Carrion/Hooded Crow, Rook, and Eurasian Magpie, selected open habitats. The Western Jackdaw avoided areas with bare soil cover, and the Eurasian Jay chose more forested areas. The species with similar habitat selection also had congruent spatial distributions. Our results indicate that although the corvids had some tendencies regarding habitat selection, as generalists, they still tolerated a wide range of urban habitats, which resulted in high overlap in their habitat niches and spatial distributions

EVI and NDVI as proxies for multifaceted avian diversity in urban areas

Most ecological studies use remote sensing to analyze broad-scale biodiversity patterns, focusing mainly on taxonomic diversity in natural landscapes. One of the most important effects of high levels of urbanization is species loss (i.e., biotic homogenization). Therefore, cost-effective and more efficient methods to monitor biological communities' distribution are essential. This study explores whether the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) can predict multifaceted avian diversity, urban tolerance, and specialization in urban landscapes. We sampled bird communities among 15 European cities and extracted Landsat 30-meter resolution EVI and NDVI values of the pixels within a 50-m buffer of bird sample points using Google Earth Engine (32-day Landsat 8 Collection Tier 1). Mixed models were used to find the best associations of EVI and NDVI, predicting multiple avian diversity facets: Taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, specialization levels, and urban tolerance. A total of 113 bird species across 15 cities from 10 different European countries were detected. EVI mean was the best predictor for foraging substrate specialization. NDVI mean was the best predictor for most avian diversity facets: taxonomic diversity, functional richness and evenness, phylogenetic diversity, phylogenetic species variability, community evolutionary distinctiveness, urban tolerance, diet foraging behavior, and habitat richness specialists. Finally, EVI and NDVI standard deviation were not the best predictors for any avian diversity facets studied. Our findings expand previous knowledge about EVI and NDVI as surrogates of avian diversity at a continental scale. Considering the European Commission's proposal for a Nature Restoration Law calling for expanding green urban space areas by 2050, we propose NDVI as a proxy of multiple facets of avian diversity to efficiently monitor bird community responses to land use changes in the cities.Peer reviewe

An open letter in support of transformative biotechnology and social innovation: SANKO University Innovation Summit in Medicine and Integrative Biology, Gaziantep, Turkey, May 5-7, 2016

No abstract availabl

Production of Functional Milk-Based Beverages

The interest of consumers in preserving health and increasing life quality through an appropriate diet has grown steadily since the turn of the century. A considerable corpus of research has focused on new functional foods. Among them, fermented milk-based beverages were the first developed and most marketable. Milk based fermented beverages are valuable and versatile due to their safety, shelf-stability, nutritional value and sensory properties, and they certainly offer a delivery system for a diversity of functional principles. New generation products have been successfully developed through intervention in the traditional fermentation or manufacture processes to include live microorganisms, such as probiotics, and bioactive compounds such as prebiotics, lipids, peptides, or antioxidants. This chapter reports the current knowledge on the technological approaches applied to obtain functional milk based beverages, with special emphasis in the more recent technologies and focus on the quality and functional properties of the products. Results obtained by our research group are included.Fil: Perotti, Maria Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Lactología Industrial. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Instituto de Lactología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Bergamini, Carina Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Lactología Industrial. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Instituto de Lactología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Vénica, Claudia Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Lactología Industrial. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Instituto de Lactología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Vélez, María Ayelén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Lactología Industrial. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Instituto de Lactología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Wolf, Irma Veronica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Lactología Industrial. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Instituto de Lactología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Hynes, Erica Rut. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Lactología Industrial. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería Química. Instituto de Lactología Industrial; Argentin