172 research outputs found
Backpack-mounted satellite transmitters do not affect reproductive performance in a migratory bustard
Backpack-mounted satellite transmitters (PTTs) are used extensively in the study of avian habitat use and of the movements and demography of medium- to large-bodied species, but can affect individualsā performance and fitness. Transparent assessment of potential transmitter effects is important for both ethical accountability and confidence in, or adjustment to, life history parameter estimates. We assessed the influence of transmitters on seven reproductive parameters in Asian houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii, comparing 114 nests of 38 females carrying PTTs to 184 nests of untagged birds (non-PTT) over seven breeding seasons (2012ā2018) in Uzbekistan. There was no evidence of any influence of PTTs on: lay date (non-PTT xĢ
= 91.7 Julian day Ā± 12.3 SD; PTT xĢ
= 95.1 Julian day Ā± 15.7 SD); clutch size (non-PTT xĢ
= 3.30 Ā± 0.68 SD; PTT xĢ
= 3.25 Ā± 0.65 SD); mean egg weight at laying (non-PTT xĢ
= 66.1g Ā± 5.4 SD; PTT xĢ
= 66.4g Ā± 5.4 SD); nest success (non-PTT xĢ
= 57.08% Ā± 4.3 SE; PTT xĢ
= 58.24% Ā± 4.5 SE for nests started 2 April); egg hatchability (non-PTT xĢ
= 88.3% Ā± 2.2 SE; PTT xĢ
= 88.3% Ā± 2.6 SE); or chick survival to fledging from broods that had at least one surviving chick (non-PTT xĢ
= 63.4% Ā± 4.2 SE; PTT xĢ
= 64.4% Ā± 4.7 SE). High nesting propensity (97.3% year-1 Ā± 1.9% SE) of tagged birds indicated minimal PTT effect on breeding probability. These findings show harness-mounted transmitters can give unbiased measures of demographic parameters of this species, and are relevant to other large-bodied, cursorial, ground-nesting birds of open habitats, particularly other bustards
Intranasal administration of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
This short review outlines the rationale, challenges, and opportunities for intranasal acetylcholinesterases, in particular galantamine. An in vitro screening model facilitated the development of a therapeutically viable formulation. In vivo testing confirmed achievement of therapeutically relevant drug levels that matched or exceeded those for oral dosing, with a dramatic reduction in undesired emetic responses. Intranasal drug delivery is an effective option for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other central nervous system disorders
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Ranging characteristics of the domestic cat (Felis catus) in an urban environment
In many countries, high densities of domestic cats (Felis catus) are found in urban habitats where they have the potential to exert considerable predation pressure on their prey. However, little is known of the ranging behaviour of cats in the UK. Twenty cats in suburban
Reading, UK, were fitted with GPS trackers to quantify movement patterns. Cats were monitored during the summer and winter for an average of 6.8 24 h periods per season. Mean daily area ranged (95 % MCP) was 1.94 ha. Including all fixes, mean maximum area ranged was 6.88 ha. These are broadly comparable to those observed in urban areas in other countries. Daily area ranged was not affected by the catās sex or the season, but was significantly larger at night than during the day. There was no relationship between area ranged and habitat availability. Taking available habitat into account, cat ranging area contained significantly more garden and other green space than urban habitats. If cats were shown to be negatively
affecting prey populations, one mitigation option for consideration in housing developments proposed near important wildlife sites would be to incorporate a ābuffer zoneā in which cat ownership was not permitted. Absolute maximum daily area ranged by a cat in this study was 33.78 ha. This would correspond to an exclusory limit of approximately 300ā400 m to minimise the negative effects of cat predation, but this may need to be larger if cat ranging behaviour is negatively affected by population densit
Autotransplant of spleen tissue in children with schistosomiasis: evaluation of splenic function after splenosis
Assessing health-related quality-of-life changes in informal caregivers: an evaluation in parents of children with major congenital anomalies
Purpose: Relatively few attempts to measure the effects on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of informal caregivers within the context of economic evaluations have been reported. This paper is an exploratory attempt to find suitable methods to assess caregi
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Oxidative discolouration in whole-head and cut lettuce: biochemical and environmental influences on a complex phenotype and potential breeding strategies to improve shelf-life
Lettuce discolouration is a key post-harvest trait. The major enzyme controlling oxidative discolouration
has long been considered to be polyphenol oxidase (PPO) however, levels of PPO and subsequent development of discolouration symptoms have not always correlated. The predominance of a latent state of the enzyme in plant tissues combined with substrate activation and contemporaneous suicide inactivation
mechanisms are considered as potential explanations for
this phenomenon. Leaf tissue physical properties have
been associated with subsequent discolouration and
these may be influenced by variation in nutrient
availability, especially excess nitrogen and head maturity at harvest. Mild calcium and irrigation stress has
also been associated with a reduction in subsequent
discolouration, although excess irrigation has been
linked to increased discolouration potentially through
leaf physical properties. These environmental factors,
including high temperature and UV light intensities,
often have impacts on levels of phenolic compounds
linking the environmental responses to the biochemistry
of the PPO pathway. Breeding strategies targeting the
PALand PPOpathway biochemistry and environmental
response genes are discussed as a more cost-effective
method of mitigating oxidative discolouration then
either modified atmosphere packaging or post-harvest
treatments, although current understanding of the
biochemistry means that such programs are likely to
be limited in nature and it is likely that they will need to be deployed alongside other methods for the foreseeable future
Path segmentation for beginners: an overview of current methods for detecting changes in animal movement patterns
Qualidade de tomate 'DĆ©bora' minimamente processado armazenado em dois tipos de embalagens
Effects of body size on estimation of mammalian area requirements
Accurately quantifying speciesā area requirements is a prerequisite for effective areaābased conservation. This typically involves collecting tracking data on species of interest and then conducting homeārange analyses. Problematically, autocorrelation in tracking data can result in space needs being severely underestimated. Based on previous work, we hypothesized the magnitude of underestimation varies with body mass, a relationship that could have serious conservation implications. To evaluate this hypothesis for terrestrial mammals, we estimated homeārange areas with GPS locations from 757 individuals across 61 globally distributed mammalian species with body masses ranging from 0.4 to 4,000 kg. We then applied block crossāvalidation to quantify bias in empirical homeārange estimates. Area requirements of mammals 1, meaning the scaling of the relationship changed substantially at the upper end of the mass spectrum
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