Effects of experimental rewilding on butterflies, bumblebees and grasshoppers

Grassland ecosystems are species-rich habitats that are rapidly declining globally posing serious concerns for biodiversity conservation. This situation is particularly relevant in agricultural areas in Europe. As traditional management practices and livestock grazing regimes ceased, rewilding could be a potential avenue to tackle current biodiversity declines. To test this hypothesis, we set up a 3-year experiment where 12 horses were introduced in three 10-hectare enclosure replicates (four horses per enclosure). Horses were kept without supplementary feeding to mimic ecosystem functions of wild horses. We applied Generalized Linear Mixed Effects Models and a backward stepwise model selection procedure to elucidate factors that modulate insect richness induced by grazing. Our results show that plant species richness, the proportion of flowers and plant height play a significant role for butterfly and bumblebee richness, while the opposite effect was detected for grasshoppers. However, the effect on grasshoppers was counterbalanced by increased grasshopper species richness in habitats adjacent to horse latrines. Implications for insect conservation Rewilding with horses may offset current biodiversity declines by maintaining important functional links between plants and pollinators in grassland ecosystems. Horse grazing can however have different effects on diverse functional groups of insects. Application of integrative landscape scale approaches may be needed to elucidate the effects of rewilding for certain functional groups such as grasshoppers. With current biodiversity declines, up-scaling rewilding research and practice might be crucial to mitigate the pervasive effects on insects as their services and functions are critical for our existence

Cytoplasmic keratins couple with and maintain nuclear envelope integrity in colonic epithelial cells

Keratin intermediate filaments convey mechanical stability and protection against stress to epithelial cells. Keratins are essential for colon health, as seen in keratin 8 knockout (K8−/−) mice exhibiting a colitis phenotype. We hypothesized that keratins support the nuclear envelope and lamina in colonocytes. K8−/− colonocytes in vivo exhibit significantly decreased levels of lamins A/C, B1, and B2 in a colon-specific and cell-intrinsic manner. CRISPR/Cas9- or siRNA-mediated K8 knockdown in Caco-2 cells similarly decreased lamin levels, which recovered after reexpression of K8 following siRNA treatment. Nuclear area was not decreased, and roundness was only marginally increased in cells without K8. Down-regulation of K8 in adult K8flox/flox;Villin-CreERt2 mice following tamoxifen administration significantly decreased lamin levels at day 4 when K8 levels had reduced to 40%. K8 loss also led to reduced levels of plectin, LINC complex, and lamin-associated proteins. While keratins were not seen in the nucleoplasm without or with leptomycin B treatment, keratins were found intimately located at the nuclear envelope and complexed with SUN2 and lamin A. Furthermore, K8 loss in Caco-2 cells compromised nuclear membrane integrity basally and after shear stress. In conclusion, colonocyte K8 helps maintain nuclear envelope and lamina composition and contributes to nuclear integrity.</p

Real Programming of an Adventure Game by an 8 year old

Abstract: We analyze episodes from a case study involving an eight-year old boy’s use of a programming environment for computer game development, especially designed for young children. We carefully examined the quite substantial changes he made to an adventure game in collaboration with a researcher. From analysis of his activities we identified two issues that were crucial to his success and we discuss their relation to design of programming environments for children. First, the concrete interface metaphor makes it possible to refer to program language elements with simple indexical terms and through pointing. Second, the adult tutor provided support that allowed the boy to focus on the issues central to the task at hand. However, the locally situated nature of these two processes also limits the possibility of developing a general vocabulary which can be used in different contexts and situations

Experimental rewilding may restore abandoned wood-pastures if policy allows

Large herbivores play key roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Continuous defaunation processes have produced cascade effects on plant community composition, vegetation structure, and even climate. Wood-pastures were created by traditional management practices that have maintained open structures and biodiversity for millennia. In Europe, despite the broad recognition of their biological importance, such landscapes are declining due to land-use changes. This calls for finding urgent solutions for wood-pasture conservation. To test whether introducing an ecological replacement of an extinct wild horse could have positive effects on wood-pasture restoration, we designed a 3-year rewilding experiment. Horses created a more open wood-pasture structure by browsing on seedlings and saplings, affected tree composition via selective browsing and controlled the colonization of woody vegetation in grassland-dominated areas. Thus, rewilding could be a potential avenue for wood-pasture restoration and biodiversity conservation. However, such benefits may not materialize without a necessary paradigm and political shift

A Ubiquitous Service Environment with Active Documents for teamwork Support

We present a ubiquitous service environment for teamwork, supported by Active Documents. The environment consists of a physically dressed conference room and a software architecture based on Java and Jini