Butterflies in bags: permanent storage of Lepidoptera in glassine envelopes

In terms of amateurs and professionals studying and collecting insects, Lepidoptera represent one of the most popular groups. It is this popularity, in combination with wings being routinely spread during mounting, which results in Lepidoptera often taking up the largest number of drawers and space in entomological collections. As resources grow increasingly scarce in natural history museums, any process that results in more efficient use of resources is a welcome addition to collection management practices. Therefore, we propose an alternative method to process papered Lepidoptera: a workflow to digitize (imaging and data registration) papered specimens and to store them (semi)permanently, still unmounted, in glassine envelopes. The mounting of specimens will be limited to those for which it is considered essential. The entire workflow of digitization and repacking can be carried out by non-expert volunteers. By releasing data and images on the internet, taxonomic experts worldwide can assist with identifications. This method was tested for Papilionidae. Results suggest that the workflow and permanent storage in glassine envelopes described here can be applied to most groups of Lepidoptera

Development of a novel non-invasive biomarker panel for hepatic fibrosis in MASLD

Accurate non-invasive biomarkers to diagnose metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)-related fibrosis are urgently needed. This study applies a translational approach to develop a blood-based biomarker panel for fibrosis detection in MASLD. A molecular gene expression signature identified from a diet-induced MASLD mouse model (LDLr−/−.Leiden) is translated into human blood-based biomarkers based on liver biopsy transcriptomic profiles and protein levels in MASLD patient serum samples. The resulting biomarker panel consists of IGFBP7, SSc5D and Sema4D. LightGBM modeling using this panel demonstrates high accuracy in predicting MASLD fibrosis stage (F0/F1: AUC = 0.82; F2: AUC = 0.89; F3/F4: AUC = 0.87), which is replicated in an independent validation cohort. The overall accuracy of the model outperforms predictions by the existing markers Fib-4, APRI and FibroScan. In conclusion, here we show a disease mechanism-related blood-based biomarker panel with three biomarkers which is able to identify MASLD patients with mild or advanced hepatic fibrosis with high accuracy.</p

Development of a novel non-invasive biomarker panel for hepatic fibrosis in MASLD

Accurate non-invasive biomarkers to diagnose metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)-related fibrosis are urgently needed. This study applies a translational approach to develop a blood-based biomarker panel for fibrosis detection in MASLD. A molecular gene expression signature identified from a diet-induced MASLD mouse model (LDLr−/−.Leiden) is translated into human blood-based biomarkers based on liver biopsy transcriptomic profiles and protein levels in MASLD patient serum samples. The resulting biomarker panel consists of IGFBP7, SSc5D and Sema4D. LightGBM modeling using this panel demonstrates high accuracy in predicting MASLD fibrosis stage (F0/F1: AUC = 0.82; F2: AUC = 0.89; F3/F4: AUC = 0.87), which is replicated in an independent validation cohort. The overall accuracy of the model outperforms predictions by the existing markers Fib-4, APRI and FibroScan. In conclusion, here we show a disease mechanism-related blood-based biomarker panel with three biomarkers which is able to identify MASLD patients with mild or advanced hepatic fibrosis with high accuracy.</p

Genetic Variants For Head Size Share Genes and Pathways With Cancer

The size of the human head is highly heritable, but genetic drivers of its variation within the general population remain unmapped. We perform a genome-wide association study on head size (N = 80,890) and identify 67 genetic loci, of which 50 are novel. Neuroimaging studies show that 17 variants affect specific brain areas, but most have widespread effects. Gene set enrichment is observed for various cancers and the p53, Wnt, and ErbB signaling pathways. Genes harboring lead variants are enriched for macrocephaly syndrome genes (37-fold) and high-fidelity cancer genes (9-fold), which is not seen for human height variants. Head size variants are also near genes preferentially expressed in intermediate progenitor cells, neural cells linked to evolutionary brain expansion. Our results indicate that genes regulating early brain and cranial growth incline to neoplasia later in life, irrespective of height. This warrants investigation of clinical implications of the link between head size and cancer

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL) - Hemiptera

Database contains specimen records from the Hemiptera collection of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden, Netherlands). These specimens originate from the collections of the National Museum of Natural History (RMNH; Rijksmuseum voor Natuurlijke Historie), later National Museum of Natural History, Naturalis in Leiden and of the former Zoological Museum Amsterdam (ZMA). On request more information can be provided

Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL) - Odonata

Database contains specimen records from the Odonata collection of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden, Netherlands). These specimens originate from the collections of the National Museum of Natural History (RMNH; Rijksmuseum voor Natuurlijke Historie), later National Museum of Natural History, Naturalis in Leiden and of the former Zoological Museum Amsterdam (ZMA). On request more information can be provided

Image Recognition to Enhance the Value of Collections

Techniques for image recognition through machine learning have advanced rapidly over recent years and applications using this technique are becoming increasingly common.. Applications using image recognition have enormous potential not only for research, education, conservation and capacity-building but certainly also for collections management. Perhaps by now an even bigger challenge than the technological one is supplying content in the form of large amounts of validated images. With an estimated 44 million objects, the collection of Naturalis Biodiversity Center has plenty of physical source material. During a five-year digitization programme (2010–2015) at Naturalis, 4.4 million herbarium sheets were imaged and since the start of the "Butterflies in Bags" project, 50,000 papered butterflies (out of more than 500,000) have been digitized and photographed by volunteers in a standardized manner. Still there are large parts of our collection that are not digitized at specimen level, let alone imaged, but hold great potential for collections work. This poster presents a workflow for efficient scanning of insect drawers and automated segmentation of those images to "feed" deep learning-based image recognition with images of individual insects. It will also demonstrate how this will aid in enhancing the value of our collections. With proper expert validation early on in the process, the software could mature and become more independent in such a way that ultimately, it could be used by non-specialist professionals to identify the majority of common species. The technique would pinpoint anomalies based on self-learned patterns, both in unidentified and in already identified specimens, and link those back to the taxonomic specialist. Not only does image recognition aid taxonomy, it may also hold potential for conservation and management by, for example, detecting damaged specimens or managing space utilization of drawers

Inter-Institutional Collections Storehouse

A never ending and universal challenge in the management of biodiversity collections is to find a balance between on the one hand creating optimal conditions for conservation and maximizing accessibility and on the other, achieving this with limited resources, i.e. funding, time and space. If for instance available resources do not allow storage under the conditions required for optimal preservation and accessibility, what compromises and solutions can be made or found? Finding solutions and making compromises is far from easy, differs in each situation and per collection and is by and large carried out independently and single-handedly by each facility. In this presentation elements that are decisive in collection development are reviewed, starting from strategic choices regarding acquisition up to deaccession. Some examples of compromises and solutions are provided regarding collection acquisition, deselection and efficient storage. A typical phenomenon in natural history collections is asymmetrical space requirements per species: common species take up (a lot) more space in collections than rare species. As a potential solution, this presentation explores the idea of establishing a national or transnational centralized storage facility for 'common species' in combination with digitization and discusses its advantages and disadvantages