Can current farmland landscapes feed declining steppe birds? Evaluating arthropod abundance for the endangered little bustard (Tetrax tetrax) in cereal farmland during the chick-rearing period: Variations between habitats and localities

Agriculture intensification threatens farmland bird populations because, among other reasons, it reduces the availability of food resources required to rear their offspring. In our study, we sampled and analyzed total arthropod abundance, biomass and richness, and orthopteran and coleopteran abundance and biomass in different agricultural habitats (alfalfa fields, stubble fields, grazed fields, and field margins) across 4 study localities with different levels of agriculture abandonment–intensification, comparing between areas used and not used by one of the most threatened farmland birds in Europe, the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), during the chick-rearing season. Field margins were the taxonomically richest habitat, while alfalfa fields presented significantly higher total arthropod abundance and biomass than other habitats. All arthropod variables were the highest in the localities with clear conservation-focused agrarian management, and the lowest in the most intensive one. Areas used by little bustards had higher orthopteran and coleopteran abundance and biomass than nonused areas, except for coleopteran biomass in grazed fields. These results highlight the relevance of these arthropods for the species, the importance of dry alfalfa fields as food reservoirs in this critical time of year, the food scarcity in sites where agrarian management disregards farmland bird conservation, and the role of stubbles as providers of food resources during the chick-rearing season in areas used by the species. The adequate management of alfalfa fields and stubbles to provide those key resources seems crucial to improve little bustard breeding success.We thank the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) and Fundación Patrimonio Natural (FPN) de Castilla y León in the persons of Cédric Ferlat (IFHC), David Cubero (Dirección General de Medio Natural, Junta de CyL), and Francisco Jiménez (FPN) for their financial, administrative, and logistic support. This paper also contributes to project S2018/EMT-4338 REMEDINAL TE-CM from Comunidad de Madrid. We are also thankful to the officers responsible for the Reserve of Villafáfila, Mariano Rodíguez y Jesús Palacios. Little bustard spring survey data were kindly provided by SEO-BirdLife.Peer reviewe

Extreme events are more likely to affect the breeding success of lesser kestrels than average climate change

Climate change is predicted to severely impact interactions between prey, predators and habitats. In Southern Europe, within the Mediterranean climate, herbaceous vegetation achieves its maximum growth in middle spring followed by a three-month dry summer, limiting prey availability for insectivorous birds. Lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) breed in a time-window that matches the nestling-rearing period with the peak abundance of grasshoppers and forecasted climate change may impact reproductive success through changes in prey availability and abundance. We used Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as a surrogate of habitat quality and prey availability to investigate the impacts of forecasted climate change and extreme climatic events on lesser kestrel breeding performance. First, using 14 years of data from 15 colonies in Southwestern Iberia, we linked fledging success and climatic variables with NDVI, and secondly, based on these relationships and according to climatic scenarios for 2050 and 2070, forecasted NDVI and fledging success. Finally, we evaluated how fledging success was influenced by drought events since 2004. Despite predicting a decrease in vegetation greenness in lesser kestrel foraging areas during spring, we found no impacts of predicted gradual rise in temperature and decline in precipitation on their fledging success. Notwithstanding, we found a decrease of 12% in offspring survival associated with drought events, suggesting that a higher frequency of droughts might, in the future, jeopardize the recent recovery of the European population. Here, we show that extreme events, such as droughts, can have more significant impacts on species than gradual climatic changes, especially in regions like the Mediterranean Basin, a biodiversity and climate change hotspotinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Plant trait and vegetation data along a 1314 m elevation gradient with fire history in Puna grasslands, Perú

Alpine grassland vegetation supports globally important biodiversity and ecosystems that are increasingly threatened by climate warming and other environmental changes. Trait-based approaches can support understanding of vegetation responses to global change drivers and consequences for ecosystem functioning. In six sites along a 1314 m elevational gradient in Puna grasslands in the Peruvian Andes, we collected datasets on vascular plant composition, plant functional traits, biomass, ecosystem fluxes, and climate data over three years. The data were collected in the wet and dry season and from plots with different fire histories. We selected traits associated with plant resource use, growth, and life history strategies (leaf area, leaf dry/wet mass, leaf thickness, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf C, N, P content, C and N isotopes). The trait dataset contains 3,665 plant records from 145 taxa, 54,036 trait measurements (increasing the trait data coverage of the regional flora by 420%) covering 14 traits and 121 plant taxa (ca. 40% of which have no previous publicly available trait data) across 33 families

Cross-education does not accelerate the rehabilitation of neuromuscular functions after ACL reconstruction: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Purpose: Cross-education reduces quadriceps weakness 8 weeks after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery, but the long-term effects are unknown. We investigated whether cross-education, as an adjuvant to the standard rehabilitation, would accelerate recovery of quadriceps strength and neuromuscular function up to 26 weeks post-surgery. Methods: Group allocation was randomized. The experimental (n = 22) and control (n = 21) group received standard rehabilitation. In addition, the experimental group strength trained the quadriceps of the non-injured leg in weeks 1–12 post-surgery (i.e., cross-education). Primary and secondary outcomes were measured in both legs 29 ± 23 days prior to surgery and at 5, 12, and 26 weeks post-surgery. Results: The primary outcome showed time and cross-education effects. Maximal quadriceps strength in the reconstructed leg decreased 35% and 12% at, respectively, 5 and 12 weeks post-surgery and improved 11% at 26 weeks post-surgery, where strength of the non-injured leg showed a gradual increase post-surgery up to 14% (all p ≤ 0.015). Limb symmetry deteriorated 9–10% more for the experimental than control group at 5 and 12 weeks post-surgery (both p ≤ 0.030). One of 34 secondary outcomes revealed a cross-education effect: Voluntary quadriceps activation of the reconstructed leg was 6% reduced for the experimental vs. control group at 12 weeks post-surgery (p = 0.023). Both legs improved force control (22–34%) and dynamic balance (6–7%) at 26 weeks post-surgery (all p ≤ 0.043). Knee joint proprioception and static balance remained unchanged. Conclusion: Standard rehabilitation improved maximal quadriceps strength, force control, and dynamic balance in both legs relative to pre-surgery but adding cross-education did not accelerate recovery following ACL reconstruction

Case Reports1. A Late Presentation of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: Beware of TGFβ Receptor Mutations in Benign Joint Hypermobility

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and dissections are not uncommon causes of sudden death in young adults. Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare, recently described, autosomal dominant, connective tissue disease characterized by aggressive arterial aneurysms, resulting from mutations in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptor genes TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Mean age at death is 26.1 years, most often due to aortic dissection. We report an unusually late presentation of LDS, diagnosed following elective surgery in a female with a long history of joint hypermobility. Methods: A 51-year-old Caucasian lady complained of chest pain and headache following a dural leak from spinal anaesthesia for an elective ankle arthroscopy. CT scan and echocardiography demonstrated a dilated aortic root and significant aortic regurgitation. MRA demonstrated aortic tortuosity, an infrarenal aortic aneurysm and aneurysms in the left renal and right internal mammary arteries. She underwent aortic root repair and aortic valve replacement. She had a background of long-standing joint pains secondary to hypermobility, easy bruising, unusual fracture susceptibility and mild bronchiectasis. She had one healthy child age 32, after which she suffered a uterine prolapse. Examination revealed mild Marfanoid features. Uvula, skin and ophthalmological examination was normal. Results: Fibrillin-1 testing for Marfan syndrome (MFS) was negative. Detection of a c.1270G > C (p.Gly424Arg) TGFBR2 mutation confirmed the diagnosis of LDS. Losartan was started for vascular protection. Conclusions: LDS is a severe inherited vasculopathy that usually presents in childhood. It is characterized by aortic root dilatation and ascending aneurysms. There is a higher risk of aortic dissection compared with MFS. Clinical features overlap with MFS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome Type IV, but differentiating dysmorphogenic features include ocular hypertelorism, bifid uvula and cleft palate. Echocardiography and MRA or CT scanning from head to pelvis is recommended to establish the extent of vascular involvement. Management involves early surgical intervention, including early valve-sparing aortic root replacement, genetic counselling and close monitoring in pregnancy. Despite being caused by loss of function mutations in either TGFβ receptor, paradoxical activation of TGFβ signalling is seen, suggesting that TGFβ antagonism may confer disease modifying effects similar to those observed in MFS. TGFβ antagonism can be achieved with angiotensin antagonists, such as Losartan, which is able to delay aortic aneurysm development in preclinical models and in patients with MFS. Our case emphasizes the importance of timely recognition of vasculopathy syndromes in patients with hypermobility and the need for early surgical intervention. It also highlights their heterogeneity and the potential for late presentation. Disclosures: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Improving Simulation Speed and Accuracy for Many-Core Embedded Platforms with Ensemble Models

In this paper, we introduce a novel modeling tech- nique to reduce the time associated with cycle-accurate simula- tion of parallel applications deployed on many-core embedded platforms. We introduce an ensemble model based on artificial neural networks that exploits (in the training phase) multiple levels of simulation abstraction, from cycle-accurate to cycle- approximate, to predict the cycle-accurate results for unknown application configurations. We show that high-level modeling can be used to significantly reduce the number of low-level model evaluations provided that a suitable artificial neural network is used to aggregate the results. We propose a methodology for the design and optimization of such an ensemble model and we assess the proposed approach for an industrial simulation framework based on STMicroelectronics STHORM (P2012) many-core computing fabric