Using remote surveying technology and acoustic analysis tools to infer the impact of infrastructure expansion on bird biodiversity in the tropical rainforests of Brunei, Borneo.

Tropical rainforests are the world’s most biodiverse biome but are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic stressors, such as urbanisation. Considering the current biodiversity crisis, gaining a deeper ecological understanding of the effects of such stressors on ecosystems, and the wildlife they harbour, is crucial. Due to its recent linkage to the more developed districts of the country, Temburong, a largely forested region of Brunei, presents an opportunity to collect baseline data to explore how infrastructure expansion impacts biodiversity. Using Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) and camera traps, we deployed a wildlife monitoring network across current infrastructure expansion gradients in Temburong. Firstly, we examined spatial-temporal changes in soundscapes using the Acoustic Complexity Index and found unexpected results, with higher acoustic diversity at night and in less remote areas. Then, using Kaleidoscope Pro, we constructed and evaluated the performance of six Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) recognisers – trainable algorithms capable of automatic detection of target calls – with each recogniser trained on different types of audio data. We found that a recogniser trained using a sample of calls of varying quality collected from within the study region performed best. Next, we applied species-specific recognisers and explored the impact of infrastructure expansion on the Helmeted Hornbill and the Great Argus (Argusianus argus), a ground-dwelling pheasant. We found that both species occurred more frequently in areas further from road and buildings, and with higher vegetation biomass. Finally, we compared the detection rates of Great Argus between ARUs and camera traps and found that, despite ARUs having a higher detection rate, using both surveying methods simultaneously provided a more holistic understanding of the species’ ecology. This project showcases the use of two remote surveying technologies, coupled with acoustic analysis tools, to infer the impact of infrastructure expansion on birds in tropical rainforest ecosystems and highlights their contribution to eco-acoustics

Impact of the third national ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ Breast Cancer in Women over 70 Campaign on GP attendance and referral, diagnosis rates and prevalence awareness

OBJECTIVE: More than a third of women diagnosed with breast cancer in England, and over half of those who die from it, are over 70. The Be Clear on Cancer Breast Cancer in Women over 70 Campaign, running three times, 2014–2018, aimed to promote early diagnosis of breast cancer in England by raising symptom awareness and encouraging women to see their general practitioner (GP) without delay. We sought to establish whether the third campaign had successfully met its aims. METHODS: Metrics covering the patient pathway, including symptom awareness, attending a GP practice with symptoms, urgent GP referral, diagnosis and stage of cancer, were assessed using national cancer databases and two household surveys. RESULTS: The third campaign was associated with an increase in urgent cancer referrals, and therefore mammograms and ultrasounds performed. This was associated with an increase in breast cancers diagnosed. There was a delayed effect on GP attendances. Awareness of breast cancer prevalence for the 70‐and‐over age group improved. Impact on these metrics diminished across successive campaigns. CONCLUSIONS: Future campaigns should focus on harder‐to‐reach women and include GPs as targets as this campaign showed a potential to affect referral behaviour

Thermoregulatory ability and mechanism do not differ consistently between neotropical and temperate butterflies

Climate change is a major threat to species worldwide, yet it remains uncertain whether tropical or temperate species are more vulnerable to changing temperatures. To further our understanding of this, we used a standardised field protocol to (1) study the buffering ability (ability to regulate body temperature relative to surrounding air temperature) of neotropical (Panama) and temperate (the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Austria) butterflies at the assemblage and family level, (2) determine if any differences in buffering ability were driven by morphological characteristics and (3) used ecologically relevant temperature measurements to investigate how butterflies use microclimates and behaviour to thermoregulate. We hypothesised that temperate butterflies would be better at buffering than neotropical butterflies as temperate species naturally experience a wider range of temperatures than their tropical counterparts. Contrary to our hypothesis, at the assemblage level, neotropical species (especially Nymphalidae) were better at buffering than temperate species, driven primarily by neotropical individuals cooling themselves more at higher air temperatures. Morphology was the main driver of differences in buffering ability between neotropical and temperate species as opposed to the thermal environment butterflies experienced. Temperate butterflies used postural thermoregulation to raise their body temperature more than neotropical butterflies, probably as an adaptation to temperate climates, but the selection of microclimates did not differ between regions. Our findings demonstrate that butterfly species have unique thermoregulatory strategies driven by behaviour and morphology, and that neotropical species are not likely to be more inherently vulnerable to warming than temperate species

Vascular endothelial growth factor-A165b prevents diabetic neuropathic pain and sensory neuronal degeneration

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy affects up to half of diabetic patients. This neuronal damage leads to sensory disturbances, including allodynia and hyperalgesia. Many growth factors have been suggested as useful treatments for prevention of neurodegeneration, including the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family. VEGF-A is generated as two alternative splice variant families. The most widely studied isoform, VEGF-A165a is both pro-angiogenic and neuroprotective, but pro-nociceptive and increases vascular permeability in animal models. Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats develop both hyperglycaemia and many of the resulting diabetic complications seen in patients, including peripheral neuropathy. In the present study, we show that the anti-angiogenic VEGF-A splice variant, VEGF-A165b, is also a potential therapeutic for diabetic neuropathy. Seven weeks of VEGF-A165b treatment in diabetic rats reversed enhanced pain behaviour in multiple behavioural paradigms and was neuroprotective, reducing hyperglycaemia-induced activated caspase 3 (AC3) levels in sensory neuronal subsets, epidermal sensory nerve fibre loss and aberrant sciatic nerve morphology. Furthermore, VEGF-A165b inhibited a STZ-induced increase in Evans Blue extravasation in dorsal root ganglia (DRG), saphenous nerve and plantar skin of the hind paw. Increased transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channel activity is associated with the onset of diabetic neuropathy. VEGF-A165b also prevented hyperglycaemia-enhanced TRPA1 activity in an in vitro sensory neuronal cell line indicating a novel direct neuronal mechanism that could underlie the anti-nociceptive effect observed in vivo. These results demonstrate that in a model of Type I diabetes VEGF-A165b attenuates altered pain behaviour and prevents neuronal stress, possibly through an effect on TRPA1 activity

The contribution of X-linked coding variation to severe developmental disorders

Abstract: Over 130 X-linked genes have been robustly associated with developmental disorders, and X-linked causes have been hypothesised to underlie the higher developmental disorder rates in males. Here, we evaluate the burden of X-linked coding variation in 11,044 developmental disorder patients, and find a similar rate of X-linked causes in males and females (6.0% and 6.9%, respectively), indicating that such variants do not account for the 1.4-fold male bias. We develop an improved strategy to detect X-linked developmental disorders and identify 23 significant genes, all of which were previously known, consistent with our inference that the vast majority of the X-linked burden is in known developmental disorder-associated genes. Importantly, we estimate that, in male probands, only 13% of inherited rare missense variants in known developmental disorder-associated genes are likely to be pathogenic. Our results demonstrate that statistical analysis of large datasets can refine our understanding of modes of inheritance for individual X-linked disorders

Research data supporting "Thermoregulatory ability and mechanism does not differ consistently between neotropical and temperate butterflies".

A dataset of tropical and temperate butterflies. Methods of data collection: Neotropical data were collected in Panama from February to June 2020 and from October 2021 to March 2022 during both wet (May to December) and dry (January to April) seasons (Supplementary Fig. 1, Supplementary Table 1) (Leigh, 1999). Temperate data were collected in the Czech Republic and Austria between April and August 2021 and in the UK between April and September 2009 and May and September 2018 (Supplementary Fig. 1, Supplementary Table 1) (Bladon et al., 2020). Data collection took place between 7:30 and 17:30. Neotropical field sites included lowland scrub and managed urban green spaces, secondary semi-deciduous lowland tropical forest, mountain rainforest and management agroforestry (Supplementary Table 1). Temperate field sites included calcareous meadows, grassland meadows, alpine/montane grassland, encroaching scrub, secondary forest, and exposed ground (Supplementary Table 1). Butterfly body temperature and morphological measurements Butterflies were captured with butterfly nets when encountered (without chasing) and data were collected following the protocol used by Bladon et al. (2020), as follows. Once in the net, and within 10 seconds, a temperature reading of the butterfly’s thorax (body temperature, Tb) was taken using a thermocouple (0.5 mm diameter) and handheld indicator (Tecpel Thermometer 305B, TC Direct, Uxbridge, UK). Air temperature (Ta) was taken at waist height where the butterfly was caught, with the thermocouple shaded from the sun. If the butterfly was resting on a substrate before capture, the temperature of the air 1 cm above where it was sat was recorded with the thermocouple (microclimate temperature, Tm). The butterfly was identified to species or subspecies. In the case of butterflies from the tropical Calephelis genus it was not possible to identify individuals to species, so data from these butterflies were aggregated to genus level. Forewing length (in mm) from the tip of the wing to the point where it meets the thorax was measured using callipers (at the Panama and UK sites only). Description of each column: Species: species name Site: location of capture of the butterfly Date: date of capture of the butterfly Family: family the butterfly belongs to Activity: what the butterfly was doing when it was first encountered (nectaring, flying, resting, basking, interacting with other/same species). Tair.perch: if the butterfly was first encountered while on a perch, this is the temperature 1cm above the perch. All temperatures are in Celcius. Tbody: temperature of the thorax of the butterfly within 10 seconds of capture Tair: air temperature recorded at waist height in shade in the location the butterfly was first encountered Tperch: if the butterfly was first encountered while on a perch, this is the temperature of the surface of the perch Region: tropical (from Panama) or temperate (from Europe) Mean.winglength.mm: mean wing length of the species (one value per species) in mm Colour: the dominant wing colour of the butterfly Colour.value: the wing colour converted to a scale from 1 (white) to 6 (black) Sexual.dimorphism.in.colour: A Y (yes) or N (no) for whether that species has males and females having different dominant wing colours (so that their colour would be different between sexes) Migratory: A Y (yes) or N (no) for whether in the area of capture that butterfly species is known to be migratory Average.forewing.aspect.ratio: the average aspect ratio for the forewing of the butterfly (wing length divided by wing width) Subfamily: the subfamily the species belongs to Tribe: the tribe the species belongs toThe research was supported by an ERC Starting Grant BABE 805189 (BLH, IF, IK and KS), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute short-term fellowship (BLH), the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR 19-15645Y GPAL and 20-31295S YB), a Cambridge Conservation Initiative/Evolution Education Trust (CCI/EET) studentship (EAJ), the NERC Highlight topic GLiTRS project NE/V007173/1 (AJB), a Isaac Newton Trust/Wellcome Trust ISSF/University of Cambridge Joint Research Grants Scheme grant (RG89529) (AJB and ECT) and the Sistema Nacional de Investigación, SENACYT Panama (YB and GPAL)

Thermoregulatory ability and mechanism do not differ consistently between neotropical and temperate butterflies.

Climate change is a major threat to species worldwide, yet it remains uncertain whether tropical or temperate species are more vulnerable to changing temperatures. To further our understanding of this, we used a standardised field protocol to (1) study the buffering ability (ability to regulate body temperature relative to surrounding air temperature) of neotropical (Panama) and temperate (the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Austria) butterflies at the assemblage and family level, (2) determine if any differences in buffering ability were driven by morphological characteristics and (3) used ecologically relevant temperature measurements to investigate how butterflies use microclimates and behaviour to thermoregulate. We hypothesised that temperate butterflies would be better at buffering than neotropical butterflies as temperate species naturally experience a wider range of temperatures than their tropical counterparts. Contrary to our hypothesis, at the assemblage level, neotropical species (especially Nymphalidae) were better at buffering than temperate species, driven primarily by neotropical individuals cooling themselves more at higher air temperatures. Morphology was the main driver of differences in buffering ability between neotropical and temperate species as opposed to the thermal environment butterflies experienced. Temperate butterflies used postural thermoregulation to raise their body temperature more than neotropical butterflies, probably as an adaptation to temperate climates, but the selection of microclimates did not differ between regions. Our findings demonstrate that butterfly species have unique thermoregulatory strategies driven by behaviour and morphology, and that neotropical species are not likely to be more inherently vulnerable to warming than temperate species.The research was supported by an ERC Starting Grant BABE 805189 (BLH, IF, IK and KS), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute short-term fellowship (BLH), the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR 19-15645Y GPAL and 20-31295S YB), a Cambridge Conservation Initiative/Evolution Education Trust (CCI/EET) studentship (EAJ), the NERC Highlight topic GLiTRS project NE/V007173/1 (AJB), a Isaac Newton Trust/Wellcome Trust ISSF/University of Cambridge Joint Research Grants Scheme grant (RG89529) (AJB and ECT) and the Sistema Nacional de Investigación, SENACYT Panama (YB and GPAL)

Thermoregulatory ability and mechanism do not differ consistently between neotropical and temperate butterflies

Funder: Cambridge Conservation Initiative; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100014746Funder: Wellcome Trust; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010269Climate change is a major threat to species worldwide, yet it remains uncertain whether tropical or temperate species are more vulnerable to changing temperatures. To further our understanding of this, we used a standardised field protocol to (1) study the buffering ability (ability to regulate body temperature relative to surrounding air temperature) of neotropical (Panama) and temperate (the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Austria) butterflies at the assemblage and family level, (2) determine if any differences in buffering ability were driven by morphological characteristics and (3) used ecologically relevant temperature measurements to investigate how butterflies use microclimates and behaviour to thermoregulate. We hypothesised that temperate butterflies would be better at buffering than neotropical butterflies as temperate species naturally experience a wider range of temperatures than their tropical counterparts. Contrary to our hypothesis, at the assemblage level, neotropical species (especially Nymphalidae) were better at buffering than temperate species, driven primarily by neotropical individuals cooling themselves more at higher air temperatures. Morphology was the main driver of differences in buffering ability between neotropical and temperate species as opposed to the thermal environment butterflies experienced. Temperate butterflies used postural thermoregulation to raise their body temperature more than neotropical butterflies, probably as an adaptation to temperate climates, but the selection of microclimates did not differ between regions. Our findings demonstrate that butterfly species have unique thermoregulatory strategies driven by behaviour and morphology, and that neotropical species are not likely to be more inherently vulnerable to warming than temperate species