Variability in the Selection Patterns of Pronghorn: Are they Really Native Prairie Obligates?

In Canada, pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) are primarily considered a native prairie obligate because of their reliance on open grassland vegetation communities, although an assessment of local ecological knowledge suggests that pronghorn in Alberta select a variety of habitat from native prairie to cultivated lands. The primary objective of our study was to assess whether pronghorn in Alberta and Saskatchewan are native prairie obligates. Specifically, we addressed the following questions: 1) do individual pronghorn show similar selection patterns for native prairie and, therefore, support the notion that they are prairie obligates; 2) do pronghorn show consistent resource selection patterns at multiple scales (landscape and within-seasonal range); and 3) to what extent are selection patterns of pronghorn influenced by highways and roads. Within Alberta, we captured, collared, and monitored for one year individual female pronghorn in December 2003 (n = 24), March 2005 (n = 25), and March 2006 (n = 25). A detrended correspondence analysis of patterns of habitat selection revealed three distinct groups of pronghorn (r2 = 0.96, n = 55) that we labeled native, cultivated, and mixed, referring to the dominant land cover in their parturition ranges. We used logistic regression to model resource selection patterns of the three groups of pronghorn during the parturition and winter periods at the landscape and within-seasonal range scales. At the landscape scale, each group of pronghorn had top models consisting of the variables land cover, landform, distance to express highways, distance to arterial roads, and distance to collector roads for both periods. The native and mixed groups were less likely to use annual and perennial cropland than native prairie habitats, whereas the cultivated group was more likely to use annual and perennial cropland. At the within-seasonal range scale, the top models for each group in both seasons consisted of one or more road variables, but the top models exhibited poor model fit. Our results do not show a clear association for native prairie, which we would have expected if pronghorn were native prairie obligates, suggestive of plasticity in behavior. We acknowledge that patterns of habitat selection do not indicate habitat quality or fitness; therefore, to understand the individual- and population-level consequences of selecting sub-optimal habitats, such as agricultural landscapes, further research is needed

A cosmopolitan temptation

For some, the transnationalization of political action and communicative space in the European Union heralds an emergent cosmopolitan order. Need that be so? There are supranational institutions in the EU as well as transnational political and cultural spaces and cross-border communicative flows. However, the Union's member states remain key controllers of citizenship rights and purveyors of collective identities. And for many purposes they still maintain strongly bounded national public spheres. Because the EU's overall character as a polity remains unresolved, this has consequences for the organization of communicative spaces. The EU is a field of tensions and contradictions that is inescapably rooted in institutional realities. Wishful thinking about cosmopolitanism can get in the way of clear analysis

Water structuring and collagen adsorption at hydrophilic and hydrophobic silicon surfaces

The adsorption of a collagen fragment on both a hydrophobic, hydrogen-terminated and a hydrophilic, natively oxidised Si surface is investigated using all-atom molecular dynamics. While favourable direct protein-surface interactions via localised contact points characterise adhesion to the hydrophilic surface, evenly spread surface/molecule contacts and stabilisation of the helical structure occurs upon adsorption on the hydrophobic surface. In the latter case, we find that adhesion is accompanied by a mutual fit between the hydrophilic/hydrophobic pattern within the protein and the layered water structure at the solid/liquid interface, which may provide an additional driving force to the classic hydrophobic effect

Environmental Dimensionality Controls the Interaction of Phagocytes with the Pathogenic Fungi Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans

The fungal pathogens Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans are major health threats for immune-compromised patients. Normally, macrophages and neutrophil granulocytes phagocytose inhaled Aspergillus conidia in the two-dimensional (2-D) environment of the alveolar lumen or Candida growing in tissue microabscesses, which are composed of a three-dimensional (3-D) extracellular matrix. However, neither the cellular dynamics, the per-cell efficiency, the outcome of this interaction, nor the environmental impact on this process are known. Live imaging shows that the interaction of phagocytes with Aspergillus or Candida in 2-D liquid cultures or 3-D collagen environments is a dynamic process that includes phagocytosis, dragging, or the mere touching of fungal elements. Neutrophils and alveolar macrophages efficiently phagocytosed or dragged Aspergillus conidia in 2-D, while in 3-D their function was severely impaired. The reverse was found for phagocytosis of Candida. The phagocytosis rate was very low in 2-D, while in 3-D most neutrophils internalized multiple yeasts. In competitive assays, neutrophils primarily incorporated Aspergillus conidia in 2-D and Candida yeasts in 3-D despite frequent touching of the other pathogen. Thus, phagocytes show activity best in the environment where a pathogen is naturally encountered. This could explain why “delocalized” Aspergillus infections such as hematogeneous spread are almost uncontrollable diseases, even in immunocompetent individuals

Autochthonous heritage languages and social media:writing and bilingual practices in Low German on Facebook

This article analyses how speakers of an autochthonous heritage language (AHL) make use of digital media, through the example of Low German, a regional language used by a decreasing number of speakers mainly in northern Germany. The focus of the analysis is on Web 2.0 and its interactive potential for individual speakers. The study therefore examines linguistic practices on the social network site Facebook, with special emphasis on language choice, bilingual practices and writing in the autochthonous heritage language. The findings suggest that social network sites such as Facebook have the potential to provide new mediatized spaces for speakers of an AHL that can instigate sociolinguistic change

Ethnic Variation in the Prevalence of Visual Impairment in People Attending Diabetic Retinopathy Screening in the United Kingdom (DRIVE UK)

PURPOSE: To provide estimates of visual impairment in people with diabetes attending screening in a multi-ethnic population in England (United Kingdom). METHODS: The Diabetic Retinopathy In Various Ethnic groups in UK (DRIVE UK) Study is a cross-sectional study on the ethnic variations of the prevalence of DR and visual impairment in two multi-racial cohorts in the UK. People on the diabetes register in West Yorkshire and South East London who were screened, treated or monitored between April 2008 to July 2009 (London) or August 2009 (West Yorkshire) were included in the study. Data on age, gender, ethnic group, visual acuity and diabetic retinopathy were collected. Ethnic group was defined according to the 2011 census classification. The two main ethnic minority groups represented here are Blacks ("Black/African/Caribbean/Black British") and South Asians ("Asians originating from the Indian subcontinent"). We examined the prevalence of visual impairment in the better eye using three cut-off points (a) loss of vision sufficient for driving (approximately <6/9) (b) visual impairment (<6/12) and (c) severe visual impairment (<6/60), standardising the prevalence of visual impairment in the minority ethnic groups to the age-structure of the white population. RESULTS: Data on visual acuity and were available on 50,331 individuals 3.4% of people diagnosed with diabetes and attending screening were visually impaired (95% confidence intervals (CI) 3.2% to 3.5%) and 0.39% severely visually impaired (0.33% to 0.44%). Blacks and South Asians had a higher prevalence of visual impairment (directly age standardised prevalence 4.6%, 95% CI 4.0% to 5.1% and 6.9%, 95% CI 5.8% to 8.0% respectively) compared to white people (3.3%, 95% CI 3.1% to 3.5%). Visual loss was also more prevalent with increasing age, type 1 diabetes and in people living in Yorkshire. CONCLUSIONS: Visual impairment remains an important public health problem in people with diabetes, and is more prevalent in the minority ethnic groups in the UK

Variability in the Selection Patterns of Pronghorn: Are they Really Native Prairie Obligates?

In Canada, pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) are primarily considered a native prairie obligate because of their reliance on open grassland vegetation communities, although an assessment of local ecological knowledge suggests that pronghorn in Alberta select a variety of habitat from native prairie to cultivated lands. The primary objective of our study was to assess whether pronghorn in Alberta and Saskatchewan are native prairie obligates. Specifically, we addressed the following questions: 1) do individual pronghorn show similar selection patterns for native prairie and, therefore, support the notion that they are prairie obligates; 2) do pronghorn show consistent resource selection patterns at multiple scales (landscape and within-seasonal range); and 3) to what extent are selection patterns of pronghorn influenced by highways and roads. Within Alberta, we captured, collared, and monitored for one year individual female pronghorn in December 2003 (n = 24), March 2005 (n = 25), and March 2006 (n = 25). A detrended correspondence analysis of patterns of habitat selection revealed three distinct groups of pronghorn (r2 = 0.96, n = 55) that we labeled native, cultivated, and mixed, referring to the dominant land cover in their parturition ranges. We used logistic regression to model resource selection patterns of the three groups of pronghorn during the parturition and winter periods at the landscape and within-seasonal range scales. At the landscape scale, each group of pronghorn had top models consisting of the variables land cover, landform, distance to express highways, distance to arterial roads, and distance to collector roads for both periods. The native and mixed groups were less likely to use annual and perennial cropland than native prairie habitats, whereas the cultivated group was more likely to use annual and perennial cropland. At the within-seasonal range scale, the top models for each group in both seasons consisted of one or more road variables, but the top models exhibited poor model fit. Our results do not show a clear association for native prairie, which we would have expected if pronghorn were native prairie obligates, suggestive of plasticity in behavior. We acknowledge that patterns of habitat selection do not indicate habitat quality or fitness; therefore, to understand the individual- and population-level consequences of selecting sub-optimal habitats, such as agricultural landscapes, further research is needed