Needle in a haystack? A comparison of eDNA metabarcoding and targeted qPCR for detection of the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus)

Environmental DNA (eDNA ) analysis is a rapid, cost‐effective, non‐invasive biodiversity monitoring tool which utilises DNA left behind in the environment by organisms for species detection. The method is used as a species‐specific survey tool for rare or invasive species across a broad range of ecosystems. Recently, eDNA and “metabarcoding” have been combined to describe whole communities rather than focusing on single target species. However, whether metabarcoding is as sensitive as targeted approaches for rare species detection remains to be evaluated. The great crested newt Triturus cristatus is a flagship pond species of international conservation concern and the first UK species to be routinely monitored using eDNA . We evaluate whether eDNA metabarcoding has comparable sensitivity to targeted real‐time quantitative PCR (qPCR ) for T. cristatus detection. Extracted eDNA samples (N = 532) were screened for T. cristatus by qPCR and analysed for all vertebrate species using high‐throughput sequencing technology. With qPCR and a detection threshold of 1 of 12 positive qPCR replicates, newts were detected in 50% of ponds. Detection decreased to 32% when the threshold was increased to 4 of 12 positive qPCR replicates. With metabarcoding, newts were detected in 34% of ponds without a detection threshold, and in 28% of ponds when a threshold (0.028%) was applied. Therefore, qPCR provided greater detection than metabarcoding but metabarcoding detection with no threshold was equivalent to qPCR with a stringent detection threshold. The proportion of T. cristatus sequences in each sample was positively associated with the number of positive qPCR replicates (qPCR score) suggesting eDNA metabarcoding may be indicative of eDNA concentration. eDNA metabarcoding holds enormous potential for holistic biodiversity assessment and routine freshwater monitoring. We advocate this community approach to freshwater monitoring to guide management and conservation, whereby entire communities can be initially surveyed to best inform use of funding and time for species‐specific surveys

Nutritional intakes of highly trained adolescent swimmers before, during, and after a national lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic

Strict lockdown measures were introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused mass disruption to adolescent swimmers' daily routines. To measure how lockdown impacted nutritional practices in this cohort, three-day photograph food diaries were analysed at three time points: before (January), during (April), and after (September) the first UK lockdown. Thirteen swimmers (aged 15 ± 1 years) from a high-performance swimming club submitted satisfactory food diaries at all time points. During lockdown, lower amounts of energy (45.3 ± 9.8 vs. 31.1 ± 7.7 kcal·kg BM·day-1, p0.05), despite fewer training hours being completed (15.0 ± 1.4 vs. 19.1 ± 2.2 h.week-1, p<0.001). These findings highlight the ability of adolescent swimmers to alter their nutrition based on their changing training circumstances when receiving sport nutrition support. However, some individuals displayed signs of suboptimal nutrition during lockdown that were not corrected once training resumed. This warrants future research to develop interactive education workshops that maintain focus and motivation towards optimal nutrition practices in isolated periods away from training

Silicon-hydroxyapatite bioactive coatings (Si-HA) from diatomaceous earth and silica. Study of adhesion and proliferation of osteoblast-like cells

The aim of this study consisted on investigating the influence of silicon substituted hydroxyapatite (Si–HA) coatings over the human osteoblast-like cell line (SaOS-2) behaviour. Diatomaceous earth and silica, together with commercial hydroxyapatite were respectively the silicon and HA sources used to produce the Si–HA coatings. HA coatings with 0 wt% of silicon were used as control of the experiment. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was the selected technique to deposit the coatings. The Si–HA thin films were characterized by Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) demonstrating the efficient transfer of Si to the HA structure. The in vitro cell culture was established to assess the cell attachment, proliferation and osteoblastic activity respectively by, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), DNA and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) quantification. The SEM analysis demonstrated a similar adhesion behaviour of the cells on the tested materials and the maintenance of the typical osteoblastic morphology along the time of culture. The Si–HA coatings did not evidence any type of cytotoxic behaviour when compared with HA coatings. Moreover, both the proliferation rate and osteoblastic activity results showed a slightly better performance on the Si–HA coatings from diatoms than on the Si–HA from silica.This work was supported by the UE-Interreg IIIA (SP1.P151/03) Proteus project and Xunta de Galicia ( Projects: 2006/12 and PGIDITO5PXIC30301PN)

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

How Immunocontraception Can Contribute to Elephant Management in Small, Enclosed Reserves: Munyawana Population as a Case Study

Immunocontraception has been widely used as a management tool to reduce population growth in captive as well as wild populations of various fauna. We model the use of an individual-based rotational immunocontraception plan on a wild elephant, Loxodonta africana, population and quantify the social and reproductive advantages of this method of implementation using adaptive management. The use of immunocontraception on an individual, rotational basis stretches the inter-calving interval for each individual female elephant to a management-determined interval, preventing exposing females to unlimited long-term immunocontraception use (which may have as yet undocumented negative effects). Such rotational immunocontraception can effectively lower population growth rates, age the population, and alter the age structure. Furthermore, such structured intervention can simulate natural process such as predation or episodic catastrophic events (e.g., drought), which regulates calf recruitment within an abnormally structured population. A rotational immunocontraception plan is a feasible and useful elephant population management tool, especially in a small, enclosed conservation area. Such approaches should be considered for other long-lived, social species in enclosed areas where the long-term consequences of consistent contraception may be unknown

Pervasive Growth Reduction in Norway Spruce Forests following Wind Disturbance

Background: In recent decades the frequency and severity of natural disturbances by e.g., strong winds and insect outbreaks has increased considerably in many forest ecosystems around the world. Future climate change is expected to further intensify disturbance regimes, which makes addressing disturbances in ecosystem management a top priority. As a prerequisite a broader understanding of disturbance impacts and ecosystem responses is needed. With regard to the effects of strong winds – the most detrimental disturbance agent in Europe – monitoring and management has focused on structural damage, i.e., tree mortality from uprooting and stem breakage. Effects on the functioning of trees surviving the storm (e.g., their productivity and allocation) have been rarely accounted for to date. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we show that growth reduction was significant and pervasive in a 6.79?million hectare forest landscape in southern Sweden following the storm Gudrun (January 2005). Wind-related growth reduction in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forests surviving the storm exceeded 10 % in the worst hit regions, and was closely related to maximum gust wind speed (R 2 = 0.849) and structural wind damage (R 2 = 0.782). At the landscape scale, windrelated growth reduction amounted to 3.0 million m 3 in the three years following Gudrun. It thus exceeds secondary damage from bark beetles after Gudrun as well as the long-term average storm damage from uprooting and stem breakage in Sweden

Disruption of STAT3 signaling promotes KRAS induced lung tumorigenesis

STAT3 is considered to play an oncogenic role in several malignancies including lung cancer; consequently, targeting STAT3 is currently proposed as therapeutic intervention. Here we demonstrate that STAT3 plays an unexpected tumour-suppressive role in KRAS mutant lung adenocarcinoma (AC). Indeed, lung tissue-specific inactivation of Stat3 in mice results in increased KrasG12D-driven AC initiation and malignant progression leading to markedly reduced survival. Knockdown of STAT3 in xenografted human AC cells increases tumour growth. Clinically, low STAT3 expression levels correlate with poor survival and advanced malignancy in human lung AC patients with smoking history, which are prone to KRAS mutations. Consistently, KRAS mutant lung tumours exhibit reduced STAT3 levels. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that STAT3 controls NF-B-induced IL-8 expression by sequestering NF-B within the cytoplasm, thereby inhibiting IL-8-mediated myeloid tumour infiltration and tumour vascularization and hence tumour progression. These results elucidate a novel STAT3NF-BIL-8 axis in KRAS mutant AC with therapeutic and prognostic relevance.P 25599(VLID)183891

Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the FAS and CTLA-4 genes of peripheral T-cell lymphomas

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AILT) represents a subset of T-cell lymphomas but resembles an autoimmune disease in many of its clinical aspects. Despite the phenotype of effector T-cells and high expression of FAS and CTLA-4 receptor molecules, tumor cells fail to undergo apoptosis. We investigated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the FAS and CTLA-4 genes in 94 peripheral T-cell lymphomas. Although allelic frequencies of some FAS SNPs were enriched in AILT cases, none of these occurred at a different frequency compared to healthy individuals. Therefore, SNPs in these genes are not associated with the apoptotic defect and autoimmune phenomena in AILT