Landscape homogenization due to agricultural intensification disrupts the relationship between reproductive success and main prey abundance in an avian predator

Selecting high-quality habitat and the optimal time to reproduce can increase individual fitness and is a strong evolutionary factor shaping animal populations. However, few studies have investigated the interplay between land cover heterogeneity, limitation in food resources, individual quality and spatial variation in fitness parameters. Here, we explore how individuals of different quality respond to possible mismatches between a cue for prey availability (land cover heterogeneity) and the actual fluctuating prey abundance.Peer reviewe

Growth of InAs/GaSb strained layer superlattices by MOVPE .3. Use of UV absorption to monitor alkyl stability in the reactor

InAs/GaSb strained layer superlattices have been grown by atmospheric pressure MOVPE and the growth conditions optimised by observing, in real time, the in-situ UV absorption of the alkyls in the growth chamber. The Raman scattering of folded longitudinal acoustic phonons in the superlattices has been used as a probe of the periodicity of the superlattice. Atomic force microscopy has also been used to give information about the final surface morphology and RMS roughness of the superlattices. By combining all three techniques, optimum conditions have been found for the growth of short period InAs/GaSb superlattices. These have been used to sandwich a long period superlattice designed for transport measurements. The use of the short period superlattices eliminated additional conducting layers at each end of the semimetallic superlattice and produced structures where the hole and electron densities are equal. Such structures exhibit a dramatic new quantum transport effect where the Hall resistance goes to zero at high pressures and low temperatures

Gene expression profiling in the stress control brain region hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus reveals a novel gene network including Amyloid beta Precursor Protein

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The pivotal role of stress in the precipitation of psychiatric diseases such as depression is generally accepted. This study aims at the identification of genes that are directly or indirectly responding to stress. Inbred mouse strains that had been evidenced to differ in their stress response as well as in their response to antidepressant treatment were chosen for RNA profiling after stress exposure. Gene expression and regulation was determined by microarray analyses and further evaluated by bioinformatics tools including pathway and cluster analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Forced swimming as acute stressor was applied to C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice and resulted in sets of regulated genes in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), 4 h or 8 h after stress. Although the expression changes between the mouse strains were quite different, they unfolded in phases over time in both strains. Our search for connections between the regulated genes resulted in potential novel signalling pathways in stress. In particular, Guanine nucleotide binding protein, alpha inhibiting 2 (GNAi2) and Amyloid β (A4) precursor protein (APP) were detected as stress-regulated genes, and together with other genes, seem to be integrated into stress-responsive pathways and gene networks in the PVN.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This search for stress-regulated genes in the PVN revealed its impact on interesting genes (GNAi2 and APP) and a novel gene network. In particular the expression of APP in the PVN that is governing stress hormone balance, is of great interest. The reported neuroprotective role of this molecule in the CNS supports the idea that a short acute stress can elicit positive adaptational effects in the brain.</p