Reproductive Biology, Morphological Taxonomy, Biogeography and Molecular Phylogeny of Aglaia Lour. (Meliaceae)

The molecular revolution has given us new opportunities to explore species relationships, evolution and historical biogeography. It is at its most powerful when combined with studies of the living plants in the field and information gleaned from the many thousands of herbarium specimens that go into preparing comprehensive taxonomic revisions.For the genus Aglaia, a genus of more than 100 species, morphological, distributional and biological information has been combined with the history of plate tectonics in the Indo-Malayan Australasian Archipelago, molecular phylogenies and historical biogeographical analyses. Hypotheses for the origin, expansion and species radiation since its origin c. 24 million years ago have been proposed. The tribe Aglaieae was the first monophyletic plant group for which a fully resolved, fossil-dated phylogenetic tree was published. Subsequent studies of some other groups of plants and animals have revealed similar patterns of dispersal, establishment and radiation in the region. The comprehensive nature of the research carried out on this medium-sized genus of tropical rain forest trees has contributed and continues to contribute to an understanding of the Sunda-Sahul floristic interchange and the species radiation that follows dispersal between these continental shelves.The genus is found mainly in lowland tropical rain forests from the Western Ghats of India to Samoa and from southern China to tropical Australia, with its greatest diversity in Malesia. In SE Asia section Aglaia is dispersed by mammals, especially greater and lesser apes (orang-utan, siamang and gibbons). This section of the genus has diversified in New Guinea without its primate dispersers and with no obvious alternative disperser. No marsupial is known to be an efficient seed-disperser. The other two sections of the genus, section Amoora and section Neoaglaia, are bird-dispersed. The coastal and estuarine species, Aglaia cucullata, almost certainly sometimes survives a sea journey. This may partly explain its morphological uniformity over a wide geographical area, from Bangladesh to New Guinea

When to Use Transdisciplinary Approaches for Environmental Research

Transdisciplinary research (TDR) can help generate solutions to environmental challenges and enhance the uptake of research outputs, thus contributing to advance sustainability in social-ecological systems. Our aim is to support investment decisions in TDR; more specifically, to help funders, researchers, and research users to decide when and why it is most likely to be worth investing in TDR approaches. To achieve our aim, we: 1) define TDR and use a decision tree comparing it with alternative modes of research (i.e., basic, applied, disciplinary, multi-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary research) to help researchers and funders distinguish TDR from other research modes; 2) identify features of the research problem and context (complexity, diverse knowledge systems, contestation, power imbalance, and disagreement on the need for transformative change) where a TDR approach could be more appropriate than the alternative research modes; and 3) explore the idea that the intensity of the contextual features in (2), together with the problem at hand, will help determine where a research project stands in a continuum from low- to high-TDR. We present five studies exemplifying lower- to higher-TDR approaches that are distinguished by: 1) the number and variety of research participants engaged; 2) the strength of involvement of non-academic actors; and 3) the number and variety of disciplines and knowledge systems involved in the research

Reproductive Biology, Morphological Taxonomy, Biogeography and Molecular Phylogeny of Aglaia Lour. (Meliaceae).

The molecular revolution has given us new opportunities to explore species relationships, evolution and historical biogeography. It is at its most powerful when combined with studies of the living plants in the field and information gleaned from the many thousands of herbarium specimens that go into preparing comprehensive taxonomic revisions.For the genus Aglaia, a genus of more than 100 species, morphological, distributional and biological information has been combined with the history of plate tectonics in the Indo-Malayan Australasian Archipelago, molecular phylogenies and historical biogeographical analyses. Hypotheses for the origin, expansion and species radiation since its origin c. 24 million years ago have been proposed. The tribe Aglaieae was the first monophyletic plant group for which a fully resolved, fossil-dated phylogenetic tree was published. Subsequent studies of some other groups of plants and animals have revealed similar patterns of dispersal, establishment and radiation in the region. The comprehensive nature of the research carried out on this medium-sized genus of tropical rain forest trees has contributed and continues to contribute to an understanding of the Sunda-Sahul floristic interchange and the species radiation that follows dispersal between these continental shelves.The genus is found mainly in lowland tropical rain forests from the Western Ghats of India to Samoa and from southern China to tropical Australia, with its greatest diversity in Malesia. In SE Asia section Aglaia is dispersed by mammals, especially greater and lesser apes (orang-utan, siamang and gibbons). This section of the genus has diversified in New Guinea without its primate dispersers and with no obvious alternative disperser. No marsupial is known to be an efficient seed-disperser. The other two sections of the genus, section Amoora and section Neoaglaia, are bird-dispersed. The coastal and estuarine species, Aglaia cucullata, almost certainly sometimes survives a sea journey. This may partly explain its morphological uniformity over a wide geographical area, from Bangladesh to New Guinea

Dignity through integrated symptom management:lessons from the Breathlessness Support Service

Context Dignity is poorly conceptualized and little empirically explored in end-of-life care. A qualitative evaluation of a service offering integrated palliative and respiratory care for patients with advanced disease and refractory breathlessness uncovered an unexpected outcome, it enhanced patients' dignity. Objectives To analyze what constitutes dignity for people suffering from refractory breathlessness with advanced disease, and its implications for the concept of dignity. Methods Qualitative study of cross-sectional interviews with 20 patients as part of a Phase III evaluation of a randomized controlled fast-track trial. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, imported into NVivo, and analyzed through constant comparison. The findings were compared with Chochinov et al.'s dignity model. The model was adapted with the themes and subthemes specific to patients suffering from breathlessness. Results The findings of this study underscore the applicability of the conceptual model of dignity for patients with breathlessness. There were many similarities in themes and subthemes. Differences specifically relevant for patients suffering from severe breathlessness were as follows: 1) physical distress and psychological mechanisms are interlinked with the disability and dependence breathlessness causes, in the illness-related concerns, 2) stigma is an important component of the social dignity inventory, 3) conditions and perspectives need to be present to practice self-care in the dignity-conserving repertoire. Conclusion Dignity is an integrated concept and can be affected by influences from other areas such as illness-related concerns. The intervention shows that targeting the symptom holistically and equipping patients with the means for self-care realized the outcome of dignity

Molecular phylogeography reveals two geographically and temporally separated floristic exchange tracks between Southeast Asia and northern Australia

Aim: Exchange of plant lineages between Australia and Southeast Asia has had a substantial impact on the evolution of Australia's northern, tropical flora, with important ramifications for its conservation and biosecurity. Despite this, floristic exchange tracks between northern Australia and Southeast Asia remain poorly understood. To address this, we conducted a molecular phylogeographic case study to identify exchange tracks between Australia and Southeast Asia. Location: India, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific islands. Taxon: The widespread tropical monsoonal tree species Aglaia elaeagnoidea (Meliaceae). Methods: We conducted a DArTseq phylogeographic study of 141 herbarium and silica-dried samples sourced from across the range of A. elaeagnoidea. We analysed 176,331 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across 90,456 loci using multivariate, admixture, genetic differentiation and coalescent methods to characterise phylogeographic and phylogenetic patterns. These analyses were considered in the context of an environmental niche model for the last glacial maximum. Results: Two exchange tracks were identified: one from New Guinea to Cape York Peninsula in north-east Australia, and a second from Timor-Leste to the Kimberley Plateau of north-west Australia. The Cape York Peninsula track is contemporary, characterised by ongoing genetic exchange, whereas the Kimberley Plateau track is historic, facilitated by multiple past exposures of the Arafura Shelf during the Pleistocene. Overall, we suggest that phylogeographic patterns of A. elaeagnoidea have resulted from a combination of repeated range expansion and contraction cycles concurrent with Quaternary climate fluctuations and stochastic dispersal events. Main conclusions: This study provides the first molecular phylogeographic evidence for two floristic exchange tracks between northern Australia and Southeast Asia. It also highlights the influence of Quaternary climate fluctuations on the complex biogeography of the region, and supports the idea that the Kimberley Plateau and Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia have separate biogeographic histories