Local abundance of leaf-nosed bats on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Leaf-nosed bats make up over half of Neotropical bat diversity and provide essential ecological services. They can be restricted to certain distributions and habitats due to factors such as roost selection, feeding habits and the structure of forests. Arita (1993) studied the average local abundance and distribution of bats across the Neotropics, using a rank abundance and rank distribution method to categorize rare species. Our study investigated the local abundance of leaf-nosed bats based on sampling efforts carried out at Piro Biological Research station on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.   The purpose of this study was to (1) see how the abundance of leaf-nosed bats compared to the Neotropical average; (2) determine if trends existed among leaf-nosed bats within the same dietary group (frugivores, animalivores, nectarivores, sanguinivore); and (3) identify individual bats notably deviating away from what was expected. We created a rank local abundance vs. rank area of distribution graph. We did not observe any trends that appeared to be related to each dietary group, but seven individual species did show notable deviations. We concluded that the dietary groups often used for leaf-nosed bats are not an effective method for categorization. Individual bat species should be considered when determining reasons for rarity, considering individual dietary habits and other potential environmental factors such as moon phase.  Arita HT. 1993. Rarity in Neotropical bats: correlations with phylogeny, diet and body mass. Ecol App. 3(3): 506-517. *Indicates faculty mentor

Coronary blood flow measured by the Xenon-133 washout technique

Coronary blood flow was measured by the radioactive xenon (133Xe) washout technique in 13 subjects: 6 controls, 5 patients with coronary artery disease and 2 patients who had undergone aortocoronary saphenous vein bypass grafts. The method did not discriminate between normal subjects and patients with coronary artery disease, but may be useful to the study of blood flow in coronary bypass grafts. In 2 patients changes in coronary flow were associated with a change in the patient's clinical status.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 175 (1974)

Schistosomes in the Lung: Immunobiology and Opportunity

This is the final version. Available on open access from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this recordSchistosome infection is a major cause of global morbidity, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is no effective vaccine for this major neglected tropical disease, and re-infection routinely occurs after chemotherapeutic treatment. Following invasion through the skin, larval schistosomula enter the circulatory system and migrate through the lung before maturing to adulthood in the mesenteric or urogenital vasculature. Eggs released from adult worms can become trapped in various tissues, with resultant inflammatory responses leading to hepato-splenic, intestinal, or urogenital disease – processes that have been extensively studied in recent years. In contrast, although lung pathology can occur in both the acute and chronic phases of schistosomiasis, the mechanisms underlying pulmonary disease are particularly poorly understood. In chronic infection, egg-mediated fibrosis and vascular destruction can lead to the formation of portosystemic shunts through which eggs can embolise to the lungs, where they can trigger granulomatous disease. Acute schistosomiasis, or Katayama syndrome, which is primarily evident in non-endemic individuals, occurs during pulmonary larval migration, maturation, and initial egg-production, often involving fever and a cough with an accompanying immune cell infiltrate into the lung. Importantly, lung migrating larvae are not just a cause of inflammation and pathology but are a key target for future vaccine design. However, vaccine efforts are hindered by a limited understanding of what constitutes a protective immune response to larvae. In this review, we explore the current understanding of pulmonary immune responses and inflammatory pathology in schistosomiasis, highlighting important unanswered questions and areas for future research.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR)Royal SocietyWellcome TrustMedical Research Council (MRC)University of Exete

Filling some black holes: modeling the connection between urbanization, infrastructure, and global service intensity

This empirical article combines insights from previous research on the level of knowledge-intensive service in metropolitan areas with the aim to develop an understanding of the spatial structure of the global service economy. We use a stepwise regression model with the Globalization and World Cities research network's measure of globalized service provisioning as the dependent variable and a range of variables focusing on population, infrastructure, urban primacy, and national regulation as independent variables. The discussion of the results focuses on model parameters as well as the meaning of outliers and is used to explore some avenues for future research

The negative cofactor 2 complex is a key regulator of drug resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus

The frequency of antifungal resistance, particularly to the azole class of ergosterol biosynthetic inhibitors, is a growing global health problem. Survival rates for those infected with resistant isolates are exceptionally low. Beyond modification of the drug target, our understanding of the molecular basis of azole resistance in the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus is limited. We reasoned that clinically relevant antifungal resistance could derive from transcriptional rewiring, promoting drug resistance without concomitant reductions in pathogenicity. Here we report a genome-wide annotation of transcriptional regulators in A. fumigatus and construction of a library of 484 transcription factor null mutants. We identify 12 regulators that have a demonstrable role in itraconazole susceptibility and show that loss of the negative cofactor 2 complex leads to resistance, not only to the azoles but also the salvage therapeutics amphotericin B and terbinafine without significantly affecting pathogenicity

The entrepreneurial marketing management and commercialization arrangements of born-global bio-enterprises: the case of UK companies

Born global bio-enterprises are a unique “breed” of relatively small biotechnology enterprises operating in multiple countries. The companies are nimble and seemingly well-prepared for challenges that ephemeral markets such as the internationalised biotechnology sector brings. The international marketing management challenges they encounter appear to stimulate their entrepreneurial marketing and commercialisation instincts. Surprisingly, there is a dearth of studies that examine their entrepreneurial predispositions. As such, this study is an attempt to explain their entrepreneurial tendencies by investigating the marketing and commercialisation strategies adopted by born global bio-enterprises in the UK’s biotechnology industry. The study assumes a multi-case approach examining five archetypical born global bio-enterprises currently active in the UK. It contributes to the international entrepreneurship and marketing management literature. Specifically, it provides international business managers with new knowledge about various marketing manoeuvres they can apply in international networks for their marketing mileage. In doing so, the study proposes a theoretical framework mapping out entrepreneurial marketing and commercialisation arrangements in internationalised biotechnology markets. Its findings are useful to various stakeholders including: policy makers, managers of technology-based companies and business management researchers

A population of naive-like CD4(+) T cells stably polarized to the T(H)1 lineage

T-bet is the lineage-specifying transcription factor for CD4+ TH1 cells. T-bet has also been found in other CD4+ T cell subsets, including TH17 cells and Treg, where it modulates their functional characteristics. However, we lack information on when and where T-bet is expressed during T cell differentiation and how this impacts T cell differentiation and function. To address this, we traced the ontogeny of T-bet-expressing cells using a fluorescent fate-mapping mouse line. We demonstrate that T-bet is expressed in a subset of CD4+ T cells that have naïve cell surface markers and transcriptional profile and that this novel cell population is phenotypically and functionally distinct from previously described populations of naïve and memory CD4+ T cells. Naïve-like T-bet-experienced cells are polarized to the TH1 lineage, predisposed to produce IFN-γ upon cell activation, and resist repolarization to other lineages in vitro and in vivo. These results demonstrate that lineage-specifying factors can polarize T cells in the absence of canonical markers of T cell activation and that this has an impact on the subsequent T-helper response