Reproductive strategies change with time in a newly founded colony of spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor)

Finance for fieldwork and labwork was provided by a grant to DG from the Spanish Ministry of Science (BOS2002-00105), and DG was recipient of another grant from the same source while writing this study (CGL2017-83843-C2-1-P). PC was funded by a Ph.D. grant from CONACYT (México).Variation in avian reproductive strategies is often studied from a comparative perspective, since even closely-related taxa differ greatly in the degree of polygyny, extra-pair paternity (EPP) or intra-specific brood-parasitism. However, substantial variation at the species level suggests that ecological factors are important in shaping these patterns. In this study, we examined the temporal plasticity of these strategies, following a population from the year of colony formation to 2 years after this. Parentage data from these years shows that polygyny decreased with time, likely as a consequence of increased competition for nesting sites and mates by new recruits, and immigrants of higher quality arriving to the colony as time passed. In parallel to this temporal change, we found an increase in intra-specific brood-parasitism and quasi-parasitism (QP). We interpret these patterns as a consequence of an increase of floaters with time; these birds pursue a mixture of alternative mating strategies to succeed in the population. We also found evidence of conspecific brood parasitism (CBP), by nesting females that laid part of the clutch in another nest or that after losing a partially laid clutch resorted to lay the last eggs in another nest. Analyses of the distance between the main nest and nests containing the secondary polygynous brood or extra-pair or parasitic young showed an avoidance of contiguous nests for conducting these alternative reproductive tactics. At the same time, these secondary nests were closer to the main nest than random distances within the colony, suggesting that access to public information was restricted to a narrow area around the main nest. Our study emphasizes how behavioral patterns are plastic traits that vary not only with individual circumstances, but also with time, tracking changes in density and social structure.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Proinflammatory cytokines inhibit osteogenic differentiation from stem cells: implications for bone repair during inflammation

SummaryObjectiveThe effects of inflammation on bone development from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are unclear due to the difficulty in isolating MSC. The aim of this study was to develop a MSC isolation method and to determine the in vitro effects of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) on their osteogenic differentiation.MethodsMurine MSC were isolated from the limbs of C57/Bl6 mice through collagenase digestion of bone and enriched as the Stem cell antigen (Sca-1)+ CD31− CD45− population, using lineage immunodepletion, followed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). They were differentiated along the osteoblast linage in the presence or absence of IL-1β and TNFα. Mineralization was measured as was the expression of a number of osteogenic genes by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).ResultsWe show that osteogenic differentiation from the MSC population is suppressed by IL-1β and TNFα. In addition to suppression of bone mineralization, both cytokines inhibited the differentiation-associated increases in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and the gene expression for ALP, α1(I) procollagen, runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and osterix. However, only TNFα inhibited osteonectin and osteopontin mRNA expression and only IL-1β reduced cell proliferation.ConclusionsThe convenient isolation technique enables the easy generation of sufficient MSC to permit the molecular analysis of their differentiation. We were thus able to show that the proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1β and TNFα, can compromise bone development from this primary MSC population, although with some significant differences. The potential involvement of specific inflammatory mediators needs to be taken into account if optimal bone repair and presumably that of other tissues are to be achieved with MSC

Numbers of fecal streptococci and Escherichia coli in fresh and dry cattle, horse, and sheep manure

Livestock are known contributors to stream pollution. Numbers of fecal streptococci and Escherichia coli in manure naturally deposited by livestock in the field are needed for activities related to bacterial source tracking and determining maximum daily bacterial loading of streams. We measured populations of fecal streptococci and E. coli in fresh and dry manure from cattle (Bos taurus L.), horses (Equus caballus L.), and sheep (Ovis aires L.) on farms in southern Idaho. Populations of indicator bacteria in dry manure were often as high as that in fresh manure from horse and sheep. There was a 2 log 10 drop in the population of fecal coliform numbers in dry cattle manure from cattle in pastures but not from cattle in pens. Bacterial isolates used in source tracking should include isolates from both fresh and dry manure to better represent the bacterial source loading of streams

Nonthermal fragmentation of C60

A theoretical study of the subpicosecond fragmentation of C60 clusters in response to ultrafast laser pulses is presented. We simulate the laser excitation and the consequent nonequilibrium relaxation dynamics of the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom. The first stages of the nonequilibrium dynamics are dominated by a coherent breathing mode followed by the cold ejection of single C atoms, in contrast to the dimer emission which characterizes the thermal relaxation. We also determine the nonequilibrium damage thresholds as a function of the pulse duration.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Chem. Phys. Let

Integrating belowground carbon dynamics into Yield-SAFE, a parameter sparse agroforestry model

Agroforestry combines perennial woody elements (e.g. trees) with an agricultural understory (e.g. wheat, pasture) which can also potentially be used by a livestock component. In recent decades, modern agroforestry systems have been proposed at European level as land use alternatives for conventional agricultural systems. The potential range of benefits that modern agroforestry systems can provide includes farm product diversification (food and timber), soil and biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration, both in woody biomass and the soil. Whilst typically these include benefits such as food and timber provision, potentially, there are benefits in the form of carbon sequestration, both in woody biomass and in the soil. Quantifying the effect of agroforestry systems on soil carbon is important because it is one means by which atmospheric carbon can be sequestered in order to reduce global warming. However, experimental systems that can combine the different alternative features of agroforestry systems are difficult to implement and long-term. For this reason, models are needed to explore these alternatives, in order to determine what benefits different combinations of trees and understory might provide in agroforestry systems. This paper describes the integration of the widely used soil carbon model RothC, a model simulating soil organic carbon turnover, into Yield-SAFE, a parameter sparse model to estimate aboveground biomass in agroforestry systems. The improvement of the Yield-SAFE model focused on the estimation of input plant material into soil (i.e. leaf fall and root mortality) while maintaining the original aspiration for a simple conceptualization of agroforestry modeling, but allowing to feed inputs to a soil carbon module based on RothC. Validation simulations show that the combined model gives predictions consistent with observed data for both SOC dynamics and tree leaf fall. Two case study systems are examined: a cork oak system in South Portugal and a poplar system in the UK, in current and future climate. (c) 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V.European Commission through the AGFORWARD FP7 research Project (contract 613520), Forest Research Center strategic Project (PEst OE/AGR/UI0239/2014), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) fellowships SFRH/BD/52691/2014 and SFRH/BPD/96475/2013, XUNTA DE GALICIA, Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria (“Programa de axudas á etapa posdoutoral”) (contract ED481B 2016/071-0

A new urban landscape in East–Southeast Asia, 2000–2010

East–Southeast Asia is currently one of the fastest urbanizing regions in the world, with countries such as China climbing from 20 to 50% urbanized in just a few decades. By 2050, these countries are projected to add 1 billion people, with 90% of that growth occurring in cities. This population shift parallels an equally astounding amount of built-up land expansion. However, spatially-and temporally-detailed information on regional-scale changes in urban land or population distribution do not exist; previous efforts have been either sample-based, focused on one country, or drawn conclusions from datasets with substantial temporal/spatial mismatch and variability in urban definitions. Using consistent methodology, satellite imagery and census data for >1000 agglomerations in the East–Southeast Asian region, we show that urban land increased >22% between 2000 and 2010 (from 155 000 to 189 000 km2), an amount equivalent to the area of Taiwan, while urban populations climbed >31% (from 738 to 969 million). Although urban land expanded at unprecedented rates, urban populations grew more rapidly, resulting in increasing densities for the majority of urban agglomerations, including those in both more developed (Japan, South Korea) and industrializing nations (China, Vietnam, Indonesia). This result contrasts previous sample-based studies, which conclude that cities are universally declining in density. The patterns and rates of change uncovered by these datasets provide a unique record of the massive urban transition currently underway in East–Southeast Asia that is impacting local-regional climate, pollution levels, water quality/availability, arable land, as well as the livelihoods and vulnerability of populations in the regio

The JCMT Legacy Survey of the Gould Belt: a first look at Orion B with HARP

‘The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.com '. Copyright Royal Astronomical Society.The Gould Belt Legacy Survey will survey nearby star-forming regions (within 500 pc), using Heterodyne Array Receiver Programme (HARP), Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 and Polarimeter 2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. This paper describes the initial data obtained using HARP to observe 12CO, 13CO and C18O J= 3 → 2 towards two regions in Orion B, NGC 2024 and NGC 2071. We describe the physical characteristics of the two clouds, calculating temperatures and opacities utilizing all the three isotopologues. We find good agreement between temperatures calculated from CO and from dust emission in the dense, energetic regions. We determine the mass and energetics of the clouds, and of the high-velocity material seen in 12CO emission, and compare the relative energetics of the high- and low-velocity material in the two clouds. We present a clumpfind analysis of the 13CO condensations. The slope of the condensation mass functions, at the high-mass ends, is similar to the slope of the initial mass function.Peer reviewe

On Higher Order Gravities, Their Analogy to GR, and Dimensional Dependent Version of Duff's Trace Anomaly Relation

An almost brief, though lengthy, review introduction about the long history of higher order gravities and their applications, as employed in the literature, is provided. We review the analogous procedure between higher order gravities and GR, as described in our previous works, in order to highlight its important achievements. Amongst which are presentation of an easy classification of higher order Lagrangians and its employment as a \emph{criteria} in order to distinguish correct metric theories of gravity. For example, it does not permit the inclusion of only one of the second order Lagrangians in \emph{isolation}. But, it does allow the inclusion of the cosmological term. We also discuss on the compatibility of our procedure and the Mach idea. We derive a dimensional dependent version of Duff's trace anomaly relation, which in \emph{four}-dimension is the same as the usual Duff relation. The Lanczos Lagrangian satisfies this new constraint in \emph{any} dimension. The square of the Weyl tensor identically satisfies it independent of dimension, however, this Lagrangian satisfies the previous relation only in three and four dimensions.Comment: 30 pages, added reference

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc