SNAPSHOT USA 2019 : a coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.With the accelerating pace of global change, it is imperative that we obtain rapid inventories of the status and distribution of wildlife for ecological inferences and conservation planning. To address this challenge, we launched the SNAPSHOT USA project, a collaborative survey of terrestrial wildlife populations using camera traps across the United States. For our first annual survey, we compiled data across all 50 states during a 14-week period (17 August - 24 November of 2019). We sampled wildlife at 1509 camera trap sites from 110 camera trap arrays covering 12 different ecoregions across four development zones. This effort resulted in 166,036 unique detections of 83 species of mammals and 17 species of birds. All images were processed through the Smithsonian's eMammal camera trap data repository and included an expert review phase to ensure taxonomic accuracy of data, resulting in each picture being reviewed at least twice. The results represent a timely and standardized camera trap survey of the USA. All of the 2019 survey data are made available herein. We are currently repeating surveys in fall 2020, opening up the opportunity to other institutions and cooperators to expand coverage of all the urban-wild gradients and ecophysiographic regions of the country. Future data will be available as the database is updated at eMammal.si.edu/snapshot-usa, as well as future data paper submissions. These data will be useful for local and macroecological research including the examination of community assembly, effects of environmental and anthropogenic landscape variables, effects of fragmentation and extinction debt dynamics, as well as species-specific population dynamics and conservation action plans. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this paper when using the data for publication.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Potencijalna upotreba izotopa važnih za okoliš u ispitivanju migracije onečišćujućih tvari

This article presents the use of natural abundance stable isotope (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, chlorine) analysis data as a tool for providing important information about the origin of contaminants, the contribution of different sources to a multi-source plume, characterisation of their complex transport (rate and mechanisms) and for evaluating the success of contaminated site remediation. Isotopic signatures of contaminants are useful tracers of their sources, while isotopic fractionation can be used to quantitatively assess the progress of an environmental process such as biodegradation. This new isotopic approach is reliable and can offer more information than traditional techniques in pollutant migration studies, particularly after waste disposal. During biological degradation of any organic compound, molecules containing lighter isotopes are degraded, and the portion of heavier isotopes in the substrate is increased, identifying specific microbial roles in biogeochemical cycling. Since isotopic fractionation is proportional to degradation, depending on the type of contamination, a microbial degradation of 50 % to 99 % of the initial concentration can be quantified using isotope ratio measurements.Cilj ovog rada je da se prikaže korištenje podataka analize prirodne obilnosti stabilnih izotopa (vodika, ugljika, dušika, kisika i klora) kao alata za dobivanje važnih informacija o porijeklu onečišćujućih tvari, doprinosu različitih multikomponentnih onečišćivača, karakterizaciji njihova kompleksnog transporta (brzine i mehanizma) i praćenja uspjeha remedijacije onečišćenih mjesta. Izotopski sadržaji onečišćujućih tvari koriste se kao traseri za određivanje njihovih izvora, dok se izotopsko frakcioniranje može iskoristiti za kvantitativnu procjenu toka procesa kao što je biodegradacija. Takav nov izotopski pristup je pouzdan i nudi više informacija od tradicionalnih tehnika kontrole putovanja onečišćivala, napose nakon odlaganja opasnog otpada na zemljištu. Za vrijeme biodegradacije nekog organskog spoje molekule koje sadržavaju lake izotope lakše se degradiraju, a dio težih izotopa u supstratu se povećava, što upućuje na mikrobiološku ulogu u biokemijskom ciklusu. Kako je izotopsko frakcioniranje proporcionalno degradaciji zavisno od tipa onečišćenja, korištenjem podataka mjerenja izotopskih odnosa može se procijeniti mikrobiološka degradacija od 50 % do 99 % od početne koncentracije

Activity and diet of bats in conventional versus organic apple orchards in southern Michigan

Organic farming practices have been suggested as a conservation strategy that can provide productive foraging sites for insectivorous bats in agricultural areas. We tested the hypothesis that the number and diversity of insects captured and the resulting activity and diet of bats would differ between organic and conventional apple orchards. During the summer of 2009 and 2010, we captured 131 Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and five Eastern Red Bats (Lasiurus borealis) by mist netting in four organic and four conventional orchards in Michigan. Acoustic monitoring revealed that most calls (59%) were produced by Big Brown Bats, followed by Hoary Bats (L. cinereus), Eastern Red Bats, and unidentified species of Myotis. Most insects (96%) captured in light traps were Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, and Trichoptera; fecal analysis indicated that Coleoptera dominated the diet of Big Brown Bats (79% by volume), followed by Diptera (14%). There were no significant differences between organic and conventional orchards in number of insects captured with light traps, bats captured with mist nets, acoustic recordings of bats, or proportion of Coleoptera and Diptera consumed by the bats. However, the taxonomic composition of captured insects and acoustic recordings was not homogenous among orchards in either group, suggesting that factors other than farming practices were more important in determining which insects and bats were found in the small orchards typical of southern Michigan

Exceptional Longevity in Little Brown Bats Still Occurs, despite Presence of White-Nose Syndrome

White-nose syndrome is an introduced fungal disease that has reduced the size of hibernating populations of little brown bats Myotis lucifugus by 90% across much of eastern North America since 2007. Herein, we report the recapture of eight banded little brown bats, all males, with minimum ages of 18.6–25.6 y. The recaptures occurred during winter 2019–2020, at a hibernaculum in Michigan where white-nose syndrome likely has been present since 2013–2014, indicating that these old and apparently healthy males are in their seventh season of exposure to the disease. Hence, our data suggest that a long life in little brown bats and existence of white-nose syndrome are not necessarily incompatible

Structure, self-assembly, and properties of a truncated reflectin variant.

Naturally occurring and recombinant protein-based materials are frequently employed for the study of fundamental biological processes and are often leveraged for applications in areas as diverse as electronics, optics, bioengineering, medicine, and even fashion. Within this context, unique structural proteins known as reflectins have recently attracted substantial attention due to their key roles in the fascinating color-changing capabilities of cephalopods and their technological potential as biophotonic and bioelectronic materials. However, progress toward understanding reflectins has been hindered by their atypical aromatic and charged residue-enriched sequences, extreme sensitivities to subtle changes in environmental conditions, and well-known propensities for aggregation. Herein, we elucidate the structure of a reflectin variant at the molecular level, demonstrate a straightforward mechanical agitation-based methodology for controlling this variant's hierarchical assembly, and establish a direct correlation between the protein's structural characteristics and intrinsic optical properties. Altogether, our findings address multiple challenges associated with the development of reflectins as materials, furnish molecular-level insight into the mechanistic underpinnings of cephalopod skin cells' color-changing functionalities, and may inform new research directions across biochemistry, cellular biology, bioengineering, and optics

A Multicenter, International Collaborative Study for American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging of Retinoblastoma. Part II: Treatment Success and Globe Salvage

Purpose: To evaluate the ability of the 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Cancer Staging Manual to estimate metastatic and mortality rates for children with retinoblastoma(RB).Design: International, multicenter, registry-based retrospective case series PARTICIPANTS: 2190 patients from 18 ophthalmic oncology centers from 13 countries over 6 continents.Methods: Patient-specific data fields for RB were designed by participating eye cancer specialists. All RB patients with adequate records to allow tumor staging by the AJCC criteria and follow-up for metastatic disease were studied.Main outcome measures: Metastasis-related 5- and 10-year survival data after initial tumor staging were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method depending on AJCC clinical (cTNM) and pathological (pTNM) tumor, node, metastasis category and age, tumor laterality, and presence of heritable trait.Results: Of the 2190 patients, the records of 2085 patients(95.2%) with 2905 eyes were complete. The median age at diagnosis was 17.0 months. 1260 (65.4%) had unilateral RB. Amongst the 2085 patients, tumor categories were cT1a in 55 (2.6%), cT1b 168 (8.1%), cT2a 197 (9.4%), cT2b 812 (38.9%), cT3 835 (40.0%) and cT4 in 18 (0.9%) patients. Of these, 1397 eyes in 1353 patients(48.1%) were treated with enucleation. One hundred and nine patients (5.2%) developed metastases and died. The median time(n=92) from diagnosis to metastasis was 9.50 months. The 5- year Kaplan-Meier cumulative survival estimates by clinical tumor categories were 100% for category cT1a, 98% (95% confidence interval[CI], 97-99) for cT1b and cT2a, 96% (95% CI, 95-97) for cT2b, 89%(95% CI, 88-90) for cT3 tumors, and 45%(95% CI, 31-59) for cT4 tumors, respectively. Risk of metastasis increased with increasing cT (and pT) category(p < .001). Cox proportional hazards regression analysis confirmed a higher risk of metastasis in category cT3 (hazard rate [HR], 8.09; 95% CI, 2.55-25.70; p<0.001) and cT4 (HR, 48.55; 95% CI, 12.86-183.27; p< 0.001) compared to category cT1. Age, tumor laterality and presence of heritable trait did not influence the incidence of metastatic disease.Conclusion: Multicenter, international, internet-based data sharing facilitated analysis of the 8th edition AJCC RB Staging System for metastasis-related mortality and offered a proof of concept yielding quantitative, predictive estimates per category in a large, real life, heterogenous RB patient population.Fil: Singh Tomar, Ankit. The New York Eye Cancer Center; Estados UnidosFil: Finger, Paul T.. The New York Eye Cancer Center; Estados UnidosFil: Gallie, Brenda. Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; CanadáFil: Mallipatna, Ashwin. University Of Toronto. Hospital For Sick Children; CanadáFil: Kivelä, Tero T.. University of Helsinki; FinlandiaFil: Zhang, Chengyue. Beijing Children's Hospital; ChinaFil: Zhao, Junyang. Beijing Children's Hospital; ChinaFil: Wilson, Matthew W.. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Brenna, Rachel C.. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Burges, Michala. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Kim, Jonathan. The Vision Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Khetan, Vikas. Sankara Nethralaya; IndiaFil: Ganesan, Suganeswari. Sankara Nethralaya; IndiaFil: Yarovoy, Andrey. The S.N. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution; RusiaFil: Yarovaya, Vera. The S.N. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution; RusiaFil: Kotova, Elena. The S.N. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution; RusiaFil: Yousef, Yacoub A.. King Hussein Cancer Center; JordaniaFil: Nummi, Kalle. University of Helsinki; FinlandiaFil: Ushakova, Tatiana L.. N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center Oncology of Russian Federation; RusiaFil: Yugay, Olga V.. N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center Oncology of Russian Federation; RusiaFil: Polyakov, Vladimir G.. N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center Oncology of Russian Federation; RusiaFil: Ramirez Ortiz, Marco A.. Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez; MéxicoFil: Esparza Aguiar, Elizabeth. Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez; MéxicoFil: Chantada, Guillermo Luis. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatría "Juan P. Garrahan"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Schaiquevich, Paula Susana. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatría "Juan P. Garrahan"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fandino, Adriana. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatría "Juan P. Garrahan"; ArgentinaFil: Yam, Jason C.. The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Hong KongFil: Lau, Winnie W.. The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Hong KongFil: Lam, Carol P.. The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Hong KongFil: Sharwood, Phillipa. University of Sydney; AustraliaFil: Moorthy, Sonia. KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital; SingapurFil: Long, Quah Boon. KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital; SingapurFil: Essuman, Vera Adobea. University of Ghana; GhanaFil: Renner, Lorna A.. University of Ghana; GhanaFil: Semenova, Ekaterina. The New York Eye Cancer Center; Estados UnidosFil: Català, Jaume. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu; EspañaFil: Correa Llano, Genoveva. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu; EspañaFil: Carreras, Elisa. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu; Españ