A phylogenetic revision of the New Zealand endemic ground beetle genus Oregus Putzeys 1868 (Carabidae : Broscini)

The genus Oregus is an endemic broscine ground beetle restricted in distribution to the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships within the genus Oregus Putzeys and the abundance and distribution of Oregus inaequalis Castelnau were examined. A cladistic analysis of external morphological and genitalic characters was conducted, as well as genetic analysis using partial cytochrome oxidase I and NADH-dehydrogenase I mitochondrial DNA sequences. A total of 2,196 specimens were examined during the course of this study. Specimens were examined from the entire geographic range of the genus. The cladistic analysis was conducted from 17 populations for the morphological characters and 12 populations for the DNA sequences. Analysis of morphological characters indicated that male genitalic characters were less homoplasious than external morphology. Parsimony analysis of morphological data separated populations of Oregus into four species; O. aereus White, O. inaequalis Castelnau and two new species, subsequently described as O. septentrionalis n. sp. and O. crypticus n. sp. Mitochondrial DNA sequence data (analysed using parsimony and maximum likelihood) supported the morphological species designations, except for O. crypticus as fresh material for DNA analysis of this species was not available. Genetic diversity between species was between 3.05 and 5.36% across both gene regions. Intraspecific genetic diversity was generally low, except in O. aereus, which had extensive variation between populations (up to 2.48%). The genetic diversity in O. aereus was not reflected in genital morphology. An extensive pitfall trapping trial failed to collect enough individuals of O. inaequalis at Swampy Summit (Dunedin) to allow accurate estimation of abundance using either mark-removal or mark recapture methods. However, the number of O. inaequalis caught, the low probability of capture and the ratio of O. inaequalis caught to other species of Carabidae would still indicate a relatively large population at Swampy Summit. There was an apparent contraction to the geographical range of O. inaequalis based on the historical literature, which is merely a reflection of several misidentified specimens. Presence/absence pitfall trapping did not extend the historical distribution of O. inaequalis and confirmed that O. inaequalis is a narrow range endemic, restricted to the podocarp broadleaf forests and moist tussock/shrubland ecosystems immediately to the north of Dunedin City. Pitfall trapping did not show any significant contraction to the confirmed range of O. inaequalis. Oregus. inaequalis, though a distinct taxonomic entity is not regarded as threatened given the lack of range contraction and the apparently substantial population at Swampy Summit. As such it is not recommended as being a candidate for active conservation management

Experimental characterization and automatic identification of stridulatory sounds inside wood

The propagation of animal vocalizations in water and in air is a well-studied phenomenon, but sound produced by bark and wood-boring insects, which feed and reproduce inside trees, is poorly understood. Often being confined to the dark and chemically saturated habitat of wood, many bark-and woodborers have developed stridulatory mechanisms to communicate acoustically. Despite their ecological and economic importance and the unusual medium used for acoustic communication, very little is known about sound production in these insects, or their acoustic interactions inside trees. Here, we use bark beetles (Scolytinae) as a model system to study the effects of wooden tissue on the propagation of insect stridulations and propose algorithms for their automatic identification. We characterize distance dependence of the spectral parameters of stridulatory sounds, propose data-based models for the power decay of the stridulations in both outer and inner bark, provide optimal spectral ranges for stridulation detectability and develop automatic methods for their detection and identification. We also discuss the acoustic discernibility of species cohabitating the same log. The species tested can be acoustically identified with 99% of accuracy at distances up to 20 cm and detected to the greatest extent in the 2-6 kHz frequency band. Phloem was a better medium for sound transmission than bark

Assessing the effectiveness of business support services in England: evidence from a theory based evaluation

In England, publicly supported advisory services for small firms are organised primarily through the Business Link (BL) network. Based on the programme theory underlying this business support services we develop four propositions and test these empirically using data from a new survey of over 3,000 English small firms. Our empirical results provide a broad validation of the programme theory underlying BL assistance for small firms in England during 2003, and more limited support for its effectiveness. More specifically, we find strong support for the value of BL operators maintaining a high profile as a way of boosting take-up. We also find some support for the approach to market segmentation adopted by BL allowing more intensive assistance to be targeted on younger firms and those with limited liability status. In terms of the outcomes of BL support, and allowing for issues of sample selection, we find no significant effects on growth from ‘other’ assistance but do find positive and significant employment growth effects from intensive assistance. This provides partial support for the programme theory assertion that BL support will lead to improvements in business growth performance and stronger support for the proposition that there would be differential outcomes from intensive and other assistance. The positive employment growth outcomes identified here from intensive assistance, even allowing for sample selection, suggest something of an improvement in the effectiveness of the BL network since the late 1990s

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16:Ligand-gated ion channels

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16 provides concise overviews of the key properties of over 1750 human drug targets with their pharmacology, plus links to an open access knowledgebase of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. The full contents can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13349/full. Ligand-gated ion channels are one of the eight major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: ligand-gated ion channels, voltage-gated ion channels, other ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, catalytic receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The Concise Guide is published in landscape format in order to facilitate comparison of related targets. It is a condensed version of material contemporary to late 2015, which is presented in greater detail and constantly updated on the website www.guidetopharmacology.org, superseding data presented in the previous Guides to Receptors &amp; Channels and the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14. It is produced in conjunction with NC-IUPHAR and provides the official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate. It consolidates information previously curated and displayed separately in IUPHAR-DB and GRAC and provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates.</p

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16:Voltage-gated ion channels

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16 provides concise overviews of the key properties of over 1750 human drug targets with their pharmacology, plus links to an open access knowledgebase of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. The full contents can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13350/full. Voltage-gated ion channels are one of the eight major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: G protein-coupled receptors, ligand-gated ion channels, other ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, catalytic receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The Concise Guide is published in landscape format in order to facilitate comparison of related targets. It is a condensed version of material contemporary to late 2015, which is presented in greater detail and constantly updated on the website www.guidetopharmacology.org, superseding data presented in the previous Guides to Receptors &amp; Channels and the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14. It is produced in conjunction with NC-IUPHAR and provides the official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate. It consolidates information previously curated and displayed separately in IUPHAR-DB and GRAC and provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates

THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2017/18:Enzymes

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2017/18 provides concise overviews of the key properties of nearly 1800 human drug targets with an emphasis on selective pharmacology (where available), plus links to an open access knowledgebase of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. Although the Concise Guide represents approximately 400 pages, the material presented is substantially reduced compared to information and links presented on the website. It provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates. The full contents of this section can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13877/full. Enzymes are one of the eight major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: G protein-coupled receptors, ligand-gated ion channels, voltage-gated ion channels, other ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, catalytic receptors and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The landscape format of the Concise Guide is designed to facilitate comparison of related targets from material contemporary to mid-2017, and supersedes data presented in the 2015/16 and 2013/14 Concise Guides and previous Guides to Receptors and Channels. It is produced in close conjunction with the Nomenclature Committee of the Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (NC-IUPHAR), therefore, providing official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate