Metabolic costs of feeding predictively alter the spatial distribution of individuals in fish schools

Group living is ubiquitous among animals [1, 2], but the exact benefits of group living experienced by individual groupmates is related to their spatial location within the overall group [3, 4, 5]. Individual variation in behavioral traits and nutritional state is known to affect interactions between individuals and their social group [6, 7], but physiological mechanisms underpinning collective animal behavior remain largely unexplored [8]. Here, we show that while fish at the front of moving groups are most successful at capturing food items, these individuals then show a systematic, post-feeding movement toward the rear of groups. Using observations of fish feeding in groups coupled with estimates of metabolic rate in fish consuming different meal sizes, we demonstrate that the magnitude of this shift in spatial position is directly related to the aerobic metabolic scope remaining after accounting for energetic costs of digestion. While previous work has shown that hungry individuals occupy anterior positions in moving groups [9, 10], our results show that the metabolic demand of food processing reduces the aerobic capacity available for locomotion in individuals that eat most, thus preventing them from maintaining leading positions. This basic trade-off between feeding and locomotor capacity could fundamentally dictate the spatial position of individuals within groups, perhaps obviating the role of individual traits in determining spatial preferences over shorter timescales (e.g., hours to days). This may be a general constraint for individuals within animal collectives, representing a key, yet overlooked, mediator of group functioning that could affect leadership, social information transfer, and group decision making

Responsiveness of a modified version of the postural assessment scale for stroke patients and longitudinal change in postural control after stroke- Postural Stroke Study in Gothenburg (POSTGOT) -

Abstract Background Responsiveness data certify that a change in a measurement output represents a real change, not a measurement error or biological variability. The objective was to evaluate the responsiveness of the modified version of the Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (SwePASS) in patients with a first event of stroke. An additional aim was to estimate the change in postural control during the first 12 months after stroke onset. Methods The SwePASS assessments were conducted during the first week and 3, 6 and 12 months after stroke in 90 patients. Svensson’s method, Relative Position (RP), Relative Concentration (RC) and Relative Rank Variance (RV), were used to estimate the scale’s responsiveness and the patients’ change in postural control over time. Results From the first week to 3 months after stroke, the patients improved in terms of postural control with 2 to 12 times larger systematic changes in Relative Position (RP), for which 9 items and the total score showed a significant responsiveness to change when compared to the intrarater reliability measurement error of the SwePASS reported in a previous study. When SwePASS was used to assess change in postural control between the first week and 3 months, 74% of the patients received higher scores while 10% received lower scores, RP 0.31 (95% CI 0.219-0.402). The corresponding figures between 3 and 6 and between 6 and 12 months were 37% and 16%, RP 0.09 (95% CI 0.030-0.152), and 18% and 26%, RP −0.07 (95% CI −0.134- (−0.010)), respectively. Conclusions The SwePASS is responsive to change. Postural control evaluated using the SwePASS showed an improvement during the first 6 months after stroke. The measurement property, in the form of responsiveness, shows that the SwePASS scoring method can be considered for use in rehabilitation when assessing postural control in patients after stroke, especially during the first 3 months.</p

Kvalitet + rätt skötsel = en mångfald av urbana pollinatörer

TEMA: URBAN BIODIVERSITET Stadsmiljöns värde för pollinatörer beror av både utformningen av staden och kvaliteten på de gröna miljöerna. I bästa fall kan städer vara ett viktigt komplement till naturen runt om för den regionala mångfalden av bin, särskilt genom villaträdgårdarna. Vi har undersökt bin, blomflugor och fjärilar och hur de trivs i staden jämfört med i den omkringliggande landsbygden. Ett av huvudbudskapen är att skötsel av och kvalitet på grönområden är avgörande

A data management framework for strategic urban planning using blue-green infrastructure

Spatial planning of Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) should ideally be based on well-evaluated and context specific solutions. One important obstacle to reach this goal relates to adequate provisioning of data to ensure good governance of BGI, i.e., appropriate planning, design, construction, and maintenance. This study explores the gap between data availability and implementation of BGI in urban planning authorities in Sweden. A multi method approach including brainstorming, semi-structured interviews with urban planners and experts on BGI and Geographical Information System (GIS), and validating workshops were performed to develop a framework for structured and user-friendly data collection and use. Identified challenges concern data availability, data management, and GIS knowledge. There is a need to improve the organisation of data management and the skills of trans-disciplinary cooperation to better understand and interpret different types of data. Moreover, different strategic goals require different data to ensure efficient planning of BGI. This calls for closer interactions between development of strategic political goals and data collection. The data management framework consists of three parts: A) Ideal structure of data management in relation to planning process, data infrastructure and organisational structure, and B) A generic list of data needed, and C) The development of structures for data gathering and access. We conclude that it is essential to develop pan-municipal data management systems that bridge sectors and disciplines to ensure efficient management of the urban environment, and which is able to support the involvement of citizens to collect and access relevant data. The framework can assist in such development

Habitat modification and landscape fragmentation in agricultural ecosystems: implications for biodiversity and landscape multi-functionality

Biodiversity is the basis of several important ecosystem functions, which guarantee the provision of irreplaceable Nature’s contribution to people, for example food production. Long-term maintenance of such functions and services in agricultural ecosystems thus depend on the maintenance of the biodiversity of agro-ecosystems (Foley et al., 2005; Tomlinson, 2013). Biodiversity loss is therefore a major global environmental problem, with habitat deterioration being one of the main drivers (Tilman, 2001; Brook et al., 2008). As habitat loss is one consequence of agricultural intensification (Benton et al., 2003), and agricultural ecosystems comprise 40% of Earth’s land ecosystems (FAO, 2021), agriculture plays a critical role for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning at large. However, the influence of habitat loss, fragmentation and modifications in agricultural ecosystems on biodiversity and ecosystem functions is still hard to disentangle from that of other mechanisms. For some taxa or ecosystem services (e.g., pollinators and pollination), landscape and habitat modification have been shown to be important, e.g., as increasing habitat fragmentation or crop isolation from natural areas decrease pollination services (Ricketts et al., 2008; Farwig et al., 2009; Garibaldi et al., 2009, 2011).Peer reviewe

Molecular cloning and transcriptional activity of a new Petunia calreticulin gene involved in pistil transmitting tract maturation, progamic phase, and double fertilization

Calreticulin (CRT) is a highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed Ca2+-binding protein in multicellular eukaryotes. As an endoplasmic reticulum-resident protein, CRT plays a key role in many cellular processes including Ca2+ storage and release, protein synthesis, and molecular chaperoning in both animals and plants. CRT has long been suggested to play a role in plant sexual reproduction. To begin to address this possibility, we cloned and characterized the full-length cDNA of a new CRT gene (PhCRT) from Petunia. The deduced amino acid sequence of PhCRT shares homology with other known plant CRTs, and phylogenetic analysis indicates that the PhCRT cDNA clone belongs to the CRT1/CRT2 subclass. Northern blot analysis and fluorescent in situ hybridization were used to assess PhCRT gene expression in different parts of the pistil before pollination, during subsequent stages of the progamic phase, and at fertilization. The highest level of PhCRT mRNA was detected in the stigma–style part of the unpollinated pistil 1 day before anthesis and during the early stage of the progamic phase, when pollen is germinated and tubes outgrow on the stigma. In the ovary, PhCRT mRNA was most abundant after pollination and reached maximum at the late stage of the progamic phase, when pollen tubes grow into the ovules and fertilization occurs. PhCRT mRNA transcripts were seen to accumulate predominantly in transmitting tract cells of maturing and receptive stigma, in germinated pollen/growing tubes, and at the micropylar region of the ovule, where the female gametophyte is located. From these results, we suggest that PhCRT gene expression is up-regulated during secretory activity of the pistil transmitting tract cells, pollen germination and outgrowth of the tubes, and then during gamete fusion and early embryogenesis

Iron bioavailability in two commercial cultivars of wheat: a comparison between wholegrain and white flour and the effects of nicotianamine and 2'-deoxymugineic acid on iron uptake into Caco-2 cells

Iron bioavailability in unleavened white and wholegrain bread made from two commercial wheat varieties was assessed by measuring ferritin production in Caco-2 cells. The breads were subjected to simulated gastrointestinal digestion and the digests applied to the Caco-2 cells. Although Riband grain contained a lower iron concentration than Rialto, iron bioavailability was higher. No iron was taken up by the cells from white bread made from Rialto flour or from wholegrain bread from either variety, but Riband white bread produced a small ferritin response. The results probably relate to differences in phytate content of the breads, although iron in soluble monoferric phytate was demonstrated to be bioavailable in the cell model. Nicotianamine, an iron chelator in plants involved in iron transport, was a more potent enhancer of iron uptake into Caco-2 cells than ascorbic acid or 2'-deoxymugineic acid, another metal chelator present in plants