The Distribution, Natural History and the Conservation Status of Batrachostomus Moniliger (Aves: Podargidae) in Last Two Decades from Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger) is a small-sized nocturnal bird largely restricted to tropical lowland forests with thick undergrowth. The motionless roosting posture as well as their plumage coloration and color patterns (which resemble that of tree stems and branches) enable them to camouflage and thereby avoid predation. Through opportunistic field surveys over a 20-year period (January 1998-February 2018), we surveyed different bioclimatic regions of Sri Lanka covering 500 sites, and documented presence of Sri Lankan frogmouth in 83 of sites. In these 83 sites, we recorded 136 birds including seven nesting pairs and chicks. Our survey confirmed frogmouth presence in four floristic regions of Sri Lanka, particularly from lower elevations (11-767 m). Most sightings were made in lowland rainforests while savannah woodlands had the least number of records; no frogmouths were recorded inside anthropocentric land-cover types such as commercial-scale farmlands or plantations. According to the habitat suitability model we constructed (MaxEnt-based), much of the lowland wet zone, particularly the southwestern corner, was predicted as the most suitable areas for Sri Lankan Frogmouth while the northeastern coastal plains, and the mid-western and northwestern parts of Sri Lanka seemed least suitable. According to The Maxent model’s internal jackknife test of variable importance, temperature seasonality is the most important predictor of frogmouth’s distribution. Sri Lanka frogmouths have a high fidelity for their roosting sites as they remained in the same tree at least for a week; preferred roosting trees were medium-sized Dicot species with a dense canopy cover and variable canopy heights. These roosting sites are relatively cool, humid with little exposure to direct sunlight. Both roosting and nesting trees were relatively isolated from neighboring canopy trees, thus, the understory surrounding the roosting tree was dense. Six of the nesting sites observed were located in the lowland wet zone rainforests while the other was in savannah woodlands of the intermediate zone. These nests were positioned approximately 66% of maximum canopy height of the host tree. Nests were constructed on relatively thin branches that formed an acute angle against the main stem. These nests are shallow, circular-shaped pads. The nest interior was cushioned with cotton, parts of fishtail palm, and down feathers while the nest exterior contained pieces of lichens and tree bark. Sri Lanka Frogmouth’s home ranges appeared to be very small in nesting season, a maximum of 60 m radius area around the roosting site. Both male and female birds alternate nest-guarding duties through most of the night-time. The major threat for the frogmouth in Sri Lanka includes habitat loss due to expansion of commercial-scale agriculture and monoculture plantations, illicit forest encroachments, and clear-cutting.Keywords: Ecology, Frogmouth, Habitat modeling, Nesting, Threat

Preliminary study on herpetofaunal diversity of Nilgala forest area in Monaragala district, Sri Lanka

Nilgala ForestArea (NFA) is one of the largest and important forest area in Monaragala District, UvaProvince. It contain 12,432 hectares and lies within 7° 08' - 7° 14' NL and 81 D 16' - 81020' EL. Itselevation range between 200m to 700m within the Irindahela, Hangale, Yakun hela (highest point 700rn), Hamapola, Badangarnuwa, Keenagoda, Makada, Karadugala, Kukulagoda, Ewalahela, Gorikkadahills. The mean annual rainfall varies between where the average annual rainfall 1500mm - 2000mm(rain during northeast monsoon). while the mean annual temperature of the area is 28 DC - 31°C.The vegetation comprised with lowland tropical moist semi evergreen forest and savannah forest,home gardens and small patch paddy cultivations. The dominant tree species are Aralu (Terminaliachebulav, Bulu iTerminalia bellirica) and Nelli iPhyllanthus emblicay. Other than biodiversity,Nilgala is rich of archaeological monuments, such as prehistoric, proto-historic and historical Buddhistmonasteries.During the two-year study period, total number of 70 reptile species were and 19 amphibian speciesrecorded. Reptiles include 44 genera of 17 families and 20 (28.5%) endemic species. Amphibianfauna contain 13 genera including 4 families and 6 (31.5%) endemic species. 41.4% (29) of reptilesand 26.3% (5) of Amphibians listed as 'Nationally Threatened' in the 1999 IUCN National threatenedlist. Out of70 species 38 (54.2%) are Serpentoid reptiles (11 endemics) and 32 (45.7%) species areof Tetrapod reptiles (9 endemics). Among the recorded species, 11 Serpentoid, 3 Tetrapod, and 2amphibians have not been recorded by previous workers. Furthermore seven unidentified specieswere also recorded during the survey, which probably include new amphibian species belonging togenus Nannophrys. Human activities such as man-made fire, ilIegallogging, extensive use of chemicalsfor agriculture, forest clearing for chena cultivation and road kills were identified as a main threat forthe natural habitats as well as faunal species.

SUMOylation inhibits FOXM1 activity and delays mitotic transition

The forkhead box transcription factor FOXM1 is an essential effector of G2/M-phase transition, mitosis and the DNA damage response. As such, it is frequently deregulated during tumorigenesis. Here we report that FOXM1 is dynamically modified by SUMO1 but not by SUMO2/3 at multiple sites. We show that FOXM1 SUMOylation is enhanced in MCF-7 breast cancer cells in response to treatment with epirubicin and mitotic inhibitors. Mutation of five consensus conjugation motifs yielded a SUMOylation-deficient mutant FOXM1. Conversely, fusion of the E2 ligase Ubc9 to FOXM1 generated an auto-SUMOylating mutant (FOXM1-Ubc9). Analysis of wild-type FOXM1 and mutants revealed that SUMOylation inhibits FOXM1 activity, promotes translocation to the cytoplasm and enhances APC/Cdh1-mediated ubiquitination and degradation. Further, expression of the SUMOylation-deficient mutant enhanced cell proliferation compared with wild-type FOXM1, whereas the FOXM1-Ubc9 fusion protein resulted in persistent cyclin B1 expression and slowed the time from mitotic entry to exit. In summary, our findings suggest that SUMOylation attenuates FOXM1 activity and causes mitotic delay in cytotoxic drug response

Large scale three-dimensional modelling for wave and tidal energy resource and environmental impact : methodologies for quantifying acceptable thresholds for sustainable exploitation

We describe a modelling project to estimate the potential effects of wave & tidal stream renewables on the marine environment. • Realistic generic devices to be used by those without access to the technical details available to developers are described. • Results show largely local sea bed effects at the level of the currently proposed renewables developments in our study area. • Large scale 3D modelling is critical to quantify the direct, indirect and cumulative effects of renewable energy extraction. • This is critical to comply with planning & environmental impact assessment regulations and achieve Good Environmental Status

Finding needles in haystacks: linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi

DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Re-annotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi

Finding needles in haystacks: Linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi

DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Reannotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi.B.R. and C.L.S. acknowledge support from the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Library of MedicinePeer Reviewe

Search for new physics in multijet events with at least one photon and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV

A search for new physics in final states consisting of at least one photon, multiple jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented, using proton-proton collision events at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb−1, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC from 2016 to 2018. The events are divided into mutually exclusive bins characterized by the missing transverse momentum, the number of jets, the number of b-tagged jets, and jets consistent with the presence of hadronically decaying W, Z, or Higgs bosons. The observed data are found to be consistent with the prediction from standard model processes. The results are interpreted in the context of simplified models of pair production of supersymmetric particles via strong and electroweak interactions. Depending on the details of the signal models, gluinos and squarks of masses up to 2.35 and 1.43 TeV, respectively, and electroweakinos of masses up to 1.23 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level