Salt-Enrichment Impact on Biomass Production in a Natural Population of Peatland Dwelling Arcellinida and Euglyphida (Testate Amoebae)

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this recordUnicellular free-living microbial eukaryotes of the order Arcellinida (Tubulinea; Amoebozoa) and Euglyphida (Cercozoa; SAR), commonly termed testate amoebae, colonise almost every freshwater ecosystem on Earth. Patterns in the distribution and productivity of these organisms are strongly linked to abiotic conditions—particularly moisture availability and temperature—however, the ecological impacts of changes in salinity remain poorly documented. Here, we examine how variable salt concentrations affect a natural community of Arcellinida and Euglyphida on a freshwater sub-Antarctic peatland. We principally report that deposition of wind-blown oceanic salt-spray aerosols onto the peatland surface corresponds to a strong reduction in biomass and to an alteration in the taxonomic composition of communities in favour of generalist taxa. Our results suggest novel applications of this response as a sensitive tool to monitor salinisation of coastal soils and to detect salinity changes within peatland palaeoclimate archives. Specifically, we suggest that these relationships could be used to reconstruct millennial scale variability in salt-spray deposition—a proxy for changes in wind-conditions—from sub-fossil communities of Arcellinida and Euglyphida preserved in exposed coastal peatlands.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Brucellosis remains a neglected disease inthe developing world: a call forinterdisciplinary action

Brucellosis places significant burdens on the human healthcare system and limits the economic growth of individuals, communities, and nations where such development is especially important to diminish the prevalence of poverty. The implementation of public policy focused on mitigating the socioeconomic effects of brucellosis in human and animal populations is desperately needed. When developing a plan to mitigate the associated consequences, it is vital to consider both the abstract and quantifiable effects. This requires an interdisciplinary and collaborative, or One Health, approach that consists of public education, the development of an infrastructure for disease surveillance and reporting in both veterinary and medical fields, and campaigns for control in livestock and wildlife species

Surfactant status and respiratory outcome in premature infants receiving late surfactant treatment.

BACKGROUND:Many premature infants with respiratory failure are deficient in surfactant, but the relationship to occurrence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is uncertain. METHODS:Tracheal aspirates were collected from 209 treated and control infants enrolled at 7-14 days in the Trial of Late Surfactant. The content of phospholipid, surfactant protein B, and total protein were determined in large aggregate (active) surfactant. RESULTS:At 24 h, surfactant treatment transiently increased surfactant protein B content (70%, p < 0.01), but did not affect recovered airway surfactant or total protein/phospholipid. The level of recovered surfactant during dosing was directly associated with content of surfactant protein B (r = 0.50, p < 0.00001) and inversely related to total protein (r = 0.39, p < 0.0001). For all infants, occurrence of BPD was associated with lower levels of recovered large aggregate surfactant, higher protein content, and lower SP-B levels. Tracheal aspirates with lower amounts of recovered surfactant had an increased proportion of small vesicle (inactive) surfactant. CONCLUSIONS:We conclude that many intubated premature infants are deficient in active surfactant, in part due to increased intra-alveolar metabolism, low SP-B content, and protein inhibition, and that the severity of this deficit is predictive of BPD. Late surfactant treatment at the frequency used did not provide a sustained increase in airway surfactant

Regional block versus general anaesthesia for caesarean section and neonatal outcomes: a population-based study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anaesthesia guidelines recommend regional anaesthesia for most caesarean sections due to the risk of failed intubation and aspiration with general anaesthesia. However, general anaesthesia is considered to be safe for the foetus, based on limited evidence, and is still used for caesarean sections.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cohorts of caesarean sections by indication (that is, planned repeat caesarean section, failure to progress, foetal distress) were selected from the period 1998 to 2004 (<it>N </it>= 50,806). Deliveries performed under general anaesthesia were compared with those performed under spinal or epidural, for the outcomes of neonatal intubation and 5-minute Apgar (Apgar5) <7.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The risk of adverse outcomes was increased for caesarean sections under general anaesthesia for all three indications and across all levels of hospital. The relative risks were largest for low-risk planned repeat caesarean deliveries: resuscitation with intubation relative risk was 12.8 (95% confidence interval 7.6, 21.7), and Apgar5 <7 relative risk was 13.4 (95% confidence interval 9.2, 19.4). The largest absolute increase in risk was for unplanned caesareans due to foetal distress: there were five extra intubations per 100 deliveries and six extra Apgar5 <7 per 100 deliveries.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The infants most affected by general anaesthesia were those already compromised <it>in utero</it>, as evidenced by foetal distress. The increased rate of adverse neonatal outcomes should be weighed up when general anaesthesia is under consideration.</p

Captive reptile mortality rates in the home and implications for the wildlife trade

The trade in wildlife and keeping of exotic pets is subject to varying levels of national and international regulation and is a topic often attracting controversy. Reptiles are popular exotic pets and comprise a substantial component of the live animal trade. High mortality of traded animals raises welfare concerns, and also has implications for conservation if collection from the wild is required to meet demand. Mortality of reptiles can occur at any stage of the trade chain from collector to consumer. However, there is limited information on mortality rates of reptiles across trade chains, particularly amongst final consumers in the home. We investigated mortality rates of reptiles amongst consumers using a specialised technique for asking sensitive questions, additive Randomised Response Technique (aRRT), as well as direct questioning (DQ). Overall, 3.6% of snakes, chelonians and lizards died within one year of acquisition. Boas and pythons had the lowest reported mortality rates of 1.9% and chameleons had the highest at 28.2%. More than 97% of snakes, 87% of lizards and 69% of chelonians acquired by respondents over five years were reported to be captive bred and results suggest that mortality rates may be lowest for captive bred individuals. Estimates of mortality from aRRT and DQ did not differ significantly which is in line with our findings that respondents did not find questions about reptile mortality to be sensitive. This research suggests that captive reptile mortality in the home is rather low, and identifies those taxa where further effort could be made to reduce mortality rate

Efficacy of EGFR Inhibition Is Modulated by Model, Sex, Genetic Background and Diet: Implications for Preclinical Cancer Prevention and Therapy Trials

Molecule-targeted therapies are being widely developed and deployed, but they are frequently less effective in clinical trials than predicted based upon preclinical studies. Frequently, only a single model or genetic background is utilized using diets that are not relevant to that consumed by most cancer patients, which may contribute to the lack of predictability of many preclinical therapeutic studies. Inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in colorectal cancer was used to investigate potential causes for low predictive values of many preclinical studies. The efficacy of the small molecule EGFR inhibitor AG1478 was evaluated using two mouse models, ApcMin/+ and azoxymethane (AOM), both sexes on three genetic backgrounds, C57BL/6J (B6) and A/J (A) inbred strains and AB6F1 hybrids, and two diets, standard chow (STD) or Western-style diet (WD). AG1478 has significant anti-tumor activity in the B6-ApcMin/+ model with STD but only moderately on the WD and in the AOM model on an A background with a WD but not STD. On the F1 hybrid background AG1478 is effective in the ApcMin/+ model with either STD or WD, but has only moderate efficacy in the AOM model with either diet. Sex differences were also observed. Unexpectedly, the level of liver EGFR phosphorylation inhibition by AG1478 was not positively correlated with inhibition of tumor growth in the AOM model. Model-dependent interactions between genetic background and diet can dramatically impact preclinical results, and indicate that low predictive values of preclinical studies can be attributed to study designs that do not account for the heterogeneous patient population or the diets they consume. Better-designed preclinical studies should lead to more accurate predictions of therapeutic response in the clinic

Recommendations for conducting the rodent erythrocyte Pig-a assay: A report from the HESI GTTC Pig-a Workgroup.

The rodent Pig-a assay is a flow cytometric, phenotype-based method used to measure in vivo somatic cell mutation. An Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) test guideline is currently being developed to support routine use of the assay for regulatory purposes (OECD project number 4.93). This article provides advice on best practices for designing and conducting rodent Pig-a studies in support of evaluating test substance safety, with a focus on the rat model. Various aspects of assay conduct, including laboratory proficiency, minimum number of animals per dose group, preferred treatment and blood sampling schedule, and statistical analysis are described

Metal-macrofauna interactions determine microbial community structure and function in copper contaminated sediments

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Objective surface evaluation of fiber reinforced polymer composites

The mechanical properties of advanced composites are essential for their structural performance, but the surface finish on exterior composite panels is of critical importance for customer satisfaction. This paper describes the application of wavelet texture analysis (WTA) to the task of automatically classifying the surface finish properties of two fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite construction types (clear resin and gel-coat) into three quality grades. Samples were imaged and wavelet multi-scale decomposition was used to create a visual texture representation of the sample, capturing image features at different scales and orientations. Principal components analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of the texture feature vector, permitting successful classification of the samples using only the first principal component. This work extends and further validates the feasibility of this approach as the basis for automated non-contact classification of composite surface finish using image analysis.<br /

A SNP and SSR Based Genetic Map of Asparagus Bean (Vigna. unguiculata ssp. sesquipedialis) and Comparison with the Broader Species

Asparagus bean (Vigna. unguiculata ssp. sesquipedialis) is a distinctive subspecies of cowpea [Vigna. unguiculata (L.) Walp.] that apparently originated in East Asia and is characterized by extremely long and thin pods and an aggressive climbing growth habit. The crop is widely cultivated throughout Asia for the production of immature pods known as ‘long beans’ or ‘asparagus beans’. While the genome of cowpea ssp. unguiculata has been characterized recently by high-density genetic mapping and partial sequencing, little is known about the genome of asparagus bean. We report here the first genetic map of asparagus bean based on SNP and SSR markers. The current map consists of 375 loci mapped onto 11 linkage groups (LGs), with 191 loci detected by SNP markers and 184 loci by SSR markers. The overall map length is 745 cM, with an average marker distance of 1.98 cM. There are four high marker-density blocks distributed on three LGs and three regions of segregation distortion (SDRs) identified on two other LGs, two of which co-locate in chromosomal regions syntenic to SDRs in soybean. Synteny between asparagus bean and the model legume Lotus. japonica was also established. This work provides the basis for mapping and functional analysis of genes/QTLs of particular interest in asparagus bean, as well as for comparative genomics study of cowpea at the subspecies level