Experimental test of the importance of preen oil in Rock Doves (Columba livia)

Journal ArticleMost species of birds have a uropygial gland, also known as a preen gland, which produces oil that birds spread through their plumage when preening. The plumage of waterfowl deprived of uropygial oil becomes brittle and is subject to breakage

Influence of bill shape on ectoparasite load in Western Scrub-Jays

Journal ArticlePopulations of the Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) have bills specialized for feeding in their respective habitats. Populations in oak habitat have hooked bills, whereas those in pinyon habitat have pointed bills with a reduced maxillary overhang. Work on other bird species shows that the bill overhang is essential for efficient preening to control ectoparasites. Given the importance of this overhang, we predicted that louse-infested jays with pointed bills would have higher louse loads than those with hooked bills. We compared the number of lice on 65 pointed-billed (4 infested) and 105 hooked-billed (17 infested) birds. Despite their lower incidence of louse infestation, pointed-billed birds had significantly more lice than hooked-billed birds, supporting our prediction

How Birds Combat Ectoparasites

Birds are plagued by an impressive diversity of ectoparasites, ranging from feather-feeding lice, to feather-degrading bacteria. Many of these ectoparasites have severe negative effects on host fitness. It is therefore not surprising that selection on birds has favored a variety of possible adaptations for dealing with ectoparasites. The functional significance of some of these defenses has been well documented. Others have barely been studied, much less tested rigorously. In this article we review the evidence--or lack thereof--for many of the purported mechanisms birds have for dealing with ectoparasites. We concentrate on features of the plumage and its components, as well as anti-parasite behaviors. In some cases, we present original data from our own recent work. We make recommendations for future studies that could improve our understanding of this poorly known aspect of avian biology

Evaluation of the current knowledge limitations in breast cancer research: a gap analysis

BACKGROUND A gap analysis was conducted to determine which areas of breast cancer research, if targeted by researchers and funding bodies, could produce the greatest impact on patients. METHODS Fifty-six Breast Cancer Campaign grant holders and prominent UK breast cancer researchers participated in a gap analysis of current breast cancer research. Before, during and following the meeting, groups in seven key research areas participated in cycles of presentation, literature review and discussion. Summary papers were prepared by each group and collated into this position paper highlighting the research gaps, with recommendations for action. RESULTS Gaps were identified in all seven themes. General barriers to progress were lack of financial and practical resources, and poor collaboration between disciplines. Critical gaps in each theme included: (1) genetics (knowledge of genetic changes, their effects and interactions); (2) initiation of breast cancer (how developmental signalling pathways cause ductal elongation and branching at the cellular level and influence stem cell dynamics, and how their disruption initiates tumour formation); (3) progression of breast cancer (deciphering the intracellular and extracellular regulators of early progression, tumour growth, angiogenesis and metastasis); (4) therapies and targets (understanding who develops advanced disease); (5) disease markers (incorporating intelligent trial design into all studies to ensure new treatments are tested in patient groups stratified using biomarkers); (6) prevention (strategies to prevent oestrogen-receptor negative tumours and the long-term effects of chemoprevention for oestrogen-receptor positive tumours); (7) psychosocial aspects of cancer (the use of appropriate psychosocial interventions, and the personal impact of all stages of the disease among patients from a range of ethnic and demographic backgrounds). CONCLUSION Through recommendations to address these gaps with future research, the long-term benefits to patients will include: better estimation of risk in families with breast cancer and strategies to reduce risk; better prediction of drug response and patient prognosis; improved tailoring of treatments to patient subgroups and development of new therapeutic approaches; earlier initiation of treatment; more effective use of resources for screening populations; and an enhanced experience for people with or at risk of breast cancer and their families. The challenge to funding bodies and researchers in all disciplines is to focus on these gaps and to drive advances in knowledge into improvements in patient care

A method for the isolation of human gastric mucous epithelial cells for primary cell culture: A comparison of biopsy vs surgical tissue

We have developed a method for the isolation and growth of normal human gastric mucous epithelial cells using biopsies or surgically resected tissues as the source of the cells. The attachment and growth of cells were dependent upon: (1) cell planting density, ∼50,000 cells/cm 2 ; (2) extracellular matrix (fibronectin); and (3) and the use of a porous filter. In all experiments we found better cells attachment and growth of human gastric mucous cells isolated from surgical specimens compared with those gastric mucous cells isolated from gastric biopsies. The initial cell viability (as measured by Trypan-blue) was the same in both populations of gastric mucous epithelial cells isolated from either gastric biopsies or surgical specimens. After 4–5 days in culture one could detect various amounts of mucin in all the cells using either periodic acid Schiff (PAS) staining or a specific anti-mucin antibody. A similar pattern of much straining was also found in primary cultures of guinea pig gastric mucous epithelial cells. Immunohistochemical staining for chief cells (anti-pepsinogen) or parietal cells (anti-H + /K + ATPasc) in the gastric mucous cuboidal-like epithelial cells with tight junctions, desmosomes,short microvilli, a filamentous terminal web, mucous granules, and basal lamina-like structure. We could not detect the presence of fibroblasts during the 7–9 days that the primary cells were in culture. This cell culture method will prove useful in the isolation of normal human gastric mucous epithelial cells for in vitro studies of gastric mucosal injury and repair.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43235/1/11022_2004_Article_BF00127904.pd

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Beyond Inclusive Conservation: The Value of Pluralism, the Need for Agonism, and the Case for Social Instrumentalism

Recent debate within the conservation community about how to define our mission and delineate our objectives has highlighted frictions between conventional (biodiversity centered) conservation and “new” (socio-economically driven) conservation. It has also prompted calls for “inclusive conservation,” aimed at accommodating both conventional and new perspectives under one big tent, and quelling continued debate. In focusing on the compatibility between two well established perspectives, however, and constructing conservation as a universal agenda rooted in a common environmental ethic, inclusive conservation reinforces currently dominant thinking in the field. We argue here that, despite its name, inclusive conservation further suppresses marginal views within the conservation community by denying the very existence of margins. Drawing on the work of Nancy Fraser and Chantal Mouffe, we underscore the importance of conflict and agonistic pluralism in maintaining space for historically underrepresented points of view. In doing so, we stake out a position in the conservation debate for what we call social instrumentalism, which is an already marginalized perspective that is further suppressed by calls for inclusivity. Finally, we offer a positive alternative vision for the future of conservation, or more aptly, for a future characterized by many different conservations

Diagnosis and Distribution of Florida Sand Darter, Ammocrypta bifascia (Teleostei; Percidae), in the Flint River, Georgia

Abstract: In 2013, we observed the presence of an undocumented Ammocrypta species in the lower Flint River, Georgia. The occurrence represents the first record of the genus in Georgia. Subsequent surveys at 24 sites, using seining or snorkeling, documented additional specimens from mainstem sites (n = 3) between Albany and Bainbridge and from Ichawaynochaway Creek (n = 5 sites), a large tributary to the Flint River. We used morphological and genetic data to identify specimens to species. Morphological examination included 23 morphometric and 8 meristic characters from fifteen specimens that were compared to specimens from Williams (1975). For genetic analyses, we targeted the mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2) genes and compared them to specimens from throughout the geographic range of Ammocrypta. Morphological analyses showed broad overlap in measurements and counts with A. bifascia (Florida Sand Darter). The mtDNA data also grouped our specimens with A. bifascia from the Choctawhatchee River, which is the type locality of A. bifascia. While nuclear data was monomorphic when compared to other A. bifascia, the mtDNA of Flint River A. bifascia shared a unique haplotype that was one or more substitutions apart from other A. bifascia haplotypes. Georgia specimens appear to be native, having a haplotype that is different from other A. bifascia and a distribution pattern that corresponds closely to other fishes. We observed A. bifascia from only a handful of scattered localities in the mainstem of the river and the lower portion of its largest tributary. Past surveys may have failed to detect the species due its limited distribution and the difficulty of collecting small benthic fishes in large river habitats

Adaptive significance of avian beak morphology for ectoparasite control

The beaks of Darwin's finches and other birds are among the best known examples of adaptive evolution. Beak morphology is usually interpreted in relation to its critical role in feeding. However, the beak also plays an important role in preening, which is the first line of defence against harmful ectoparasites such as feather lice, fleas, bugs, flies, ticks and feather mites. Here, we show a feature of the beak specifically adapted for ectoparasite control. Experimental trimming of the tiny (1–2 mm) maxillary overhang of rock pigeons (Columba livia) had no effect on feeding efficiency, yet triggered a dramatic increase in feather lice and the feather damage they cause. The overhang functions by generating a shearing force against the tip of the lower mandible, which moves forward remarkably quickly during preening, at up to 31 times per second. This force damages parasite exoskeletons, significantly enhancing the efficiency of preening for parasite control. Overhangs longer than the natural mean of 1.6 mm break significantly more often than short overhangs. Hence, stabilizing selection will favour overhangs of intermediate length. The adaptive radiation of beak morphology should be re-assessed with both feeding and preening in mind