Are plant species able to keep pace with the rapidly changing climate?

Future climate change is predicted to advance faster than the postglacial warming. Migration may therefore become a key driver for future development of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. For 140 European plant species we computed past range shifts since the last glacial maximum and future range shifts for a variety of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios and global circulation models (GCMs). Range shift rates were estimated by means of species distribution modelling (SDM). With process-based seed dispersal models we estimated species-specific migration rates for 27 dispersal modes addressing dispersal by wind (anemochory) for different wind conditions, as well as dispersal by mammals (dispersal on animal's coat – epizoochory and dispersal by animals after feeding and digestion – endozoochory) considering different animal species. Our process-based modelled migration rates generally exceeded the postglacial range shift rates indicating that the process-based models we used are capable of predicting migration rates that are in accordance with realized past migration. For most of the considered species, the modelled migration rates were considerably lower than the expected future climate change induced range shift rates. This implies that most plant species will not entirely be able to follow future climate-change-induced range shifts due to dispersal limitation. Animals with large day- and home-ranges are highly important for achieving high migration rates for many plant species, whereas anemochory is relevant for only few species

Fully-automated production of [68Ga]Ga-PentixaFor on the module Modular Lab-PharmTracer

BACKGROUND: PentixaFor is a promising radiopharmaceutical for positron emission tomography in the detection of different tumor entities and other diseases. Until now, the synthesis of [68Ga]Ga-PentixaFor was reported for the automated synthesis module from Scintomics® only. Our aim was to evaluate the automated synthesis of this radiopharmaceutical on a different module in order to make it available for a broader community. RESULTS: The synthesis of [68Ga]Ga-PentixaFor with different amounts of PentixaFor (50 μg, 30 μg and 20 μg) on the Modular Lab PharmTracer (MLPT) from Eckert & Ziegler with the already established synthesis template for [68Ga]Ga-DOTATOC yielded best results with 50 μg PentixaFor for clinical multi-dose application. All different quality control parameters tested (e.g. sterility, stability and radiochemical purity) were in accordance with the European Pharmacopoeia. CONCLUSIONS: [68Ga]Ga-PentixaFor was successfully synthesized fully-automated on the synthesis module Modular Lab PharmTracer and can be used for multi-dose application in clinical settings

Range expansion of Ambrosia artemisiifolia in Europe is promoted by climate change

Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., native to North America, is a problematic invasive species, because of its highly allergenic pollen. The species is expected to expand its range due to climate change. By means of ecological niche modelling (ENM), we predict habitat suitability for A. artemisiifolia in Europe under current and future climatic conditions. Overall, we compared the performance and results of 16 algorithms commonly applied in ENM. As occurrence records of invasive species may be dominated by sampling bias, we also used data from the native range. To assess the quality of the modelling approaches we assembled a new map of current occurrences of A. artemisiifolia in Europe. Our results show that ENM yields a good estimation of the potential range of A. artemisiifolia in Europe only when using the North American data. A strong sampling bias in the European Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data for A. artemisiifolia causes unrealistic results. Using the North American data reflects the realized European distribution very well. All models predict an enlargement and a northwards shift of potential range in Central and Northern Europe during the next decades. Climate warming will lead to an increase and northwards shift of A. artemisiifolia in Europe

Shared Book Reading Practices in the Daycare Setting

This study reviews emergent literacy, instructional techniques (specifically dialogic reading), and how involved different professionals are with literacy instruction with young children. Because little research has been done regarding shared book reading practices in the daycare setting, a mixed methods research design was utilized in order to determine the scale dialogic reading prompts are used during shared book reading by daycare instructors and their beliefs about early literacy. Analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data collected revealed three key themes: narrow view of literacy, limited understanding of early literacy instruction, and value of literacy. In other words, the participants believe that literacy is very important in giving children the skills they need to learn to read when they enter kindergarten but their instruction is contained to only two of the five areas of literacy. The results show that it is important for additional trainings and educational opportunities specific to literacy be offered to daycare instructors. This would require other professionals with a more extensive knowledge, such as special education teachers, reading specialists, or speech-language pathologists, to collaborate with daycare instructors by conducting workshops or coming into their facility and observing or demonstrating techniques to facilitate literacy skills. Teaching children these skills early will reduce the number of children who experience reading difficulties so that they can be more successful in their academic careers

F17RS SGR No. 24 (AEDs)

A RESOLUTION To urge and request the LSU Student Union to put automated external defibrillators in easily accessible locations throughout the buildin

Relating cell shape and mechanical stress in a spatially disordered epithelium using a vertex-based model

Using a popular vertex-based model to describe a spatially disordered planar epithelial monolayer, we examine the relationship between cell shape and mechanical stress at the cell and tissue level. Deriving expressions for stress tensors starting from an energetic formulation of the model, we show that the principal axes of stress for an individual cell align with the principal axes of shape, and we determine the bulk effective tissue pressure when the monolayer is isotropic at the tissue level. Using simulations for a monolayer that is not under peripheral stress, we fit parameters of the model to experimental data for Xenopus embryonic tissue. The model predicts that mechanical interactions can generate mesoscopic patterns within the monolayer that exhibit long-range correlations in cell shape. The model also suggests that the orientation of mechanical and geometric cues for processes such as cell division are likely to be strongly correlated in real epithelia. Some limitations of the model in capturing geometric features of Xenopus epithelial cells are highlighted.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, revisio