Garden and landscape-scale correlates of moths of differing conservation status: significant effects of urbanization and habitat diversity

Moths are abundant and ubiquitous in vegetated terrestrial environments and are pollinators, important herbivores of wild plants, and food for birds, bats and rodents. In recent years, many once abundant and widespread species have shown sharp declines that have been cited by some as indicative of a widespread insect biodiversity crisis. Likely causes of these declines include agricultural intensification, light pollution, climate change, and urbanization; however, the real underlying cause(s) is still open to conjecture. We used data collected from the citizen science Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to explore the spatial association between the abundance of 195 widespread British species of moth, and garden habitat and landscape features, to see if spatial habitat and landscape associations varied for species of differing conservation status. We found that associations with habitat and landscape composition were species-specific, but that there were consistent trends in species richness and total moth abundance. Gardens with more diverse and extensive microhabitats were associated with higher species richness and moth abundance; gardens near to the coast were associated with higher richness and moth abundance; and gardens in more urbanized locations were associated with lower species richness and moth abundance. The same trends were also found for species classified as increasing, declining and vulnerable under IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria

Depicting the tree of life: The philosophical and historical roots of evolutionary tree diagrams

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A population-specific material model for sagittal craniosynostosis to predict surgical shape outcomes

Sagittal craniosynostosis consists of premature fusion (ossification) of the sagittal suture during infancy, resulting in head deformity and brain growth restriction. Spring-assisted cranioplasty (SAC) entails skull incisions to free the fused suture and insertion of two springs (metallic distractors) to promote cranial reshaping. Although safe and effective, SAC outcomes remain uncertain. We aimed hereby to obtain and validate a skull material model for SAC outcome prediction. Computed tomography data relative to 18 patients were processed to simulate surgical cuts and spring location. A rescaling model for age matching was created using retrospective data and validated. Design of experiments was used to assess the effect of different material property parameters on the model output. Subsequent material optimization—using retrospective clinical spring measurements—was performed for nine patients. A population-derived material model was obtained and applied to the whole population. Results showed that bone Young’s modulus and relaxation modulus had the largest effect on the model predictions: the use of the population-derived material model had a negligible effect on improving the prediction of on-table opening while significantly improved the prediction of spring kinematics at follow-up. The model was validated using on-table 3D scans for nine patients: the predicted head shape approximated within 2 mm the 3D scan model in 80% of the surface points, in 8 out of 9 patients. The accuracy and reliability of the developed computational model of SAC were increased using population data: this tool is now ready for prospective clinical application

Mathematical modelling of cytokines, MMPs and fibronectin fragments in osteoarthritic cartilage

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease which causes pain and stiffness in joints. OA progresses through excessive degradation of joint cartilage, eventually leading to significant joint degeneration and loss of function. Cytokines, a group of cell signalling proteins, present in raised concentrations in OA joints, can be classified into pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory groups. They mediate cartilage degradation through several mechanisms, primarily the up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a group of collagen-degrading enzymes. In this paper we show that the interactions of cytokines within cartilage have a crucial role to play in OA progression and treatment. We develop a four-variable ordinary differential equation model for the interactions between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, MMPs and fibronectin fragments (Fn-fs), a by-product of cartilage degradation and upregulator of cytokines. We show that the model has four classes of dynamic behaviour: homoeostasis, bistable inflammation, tristable inflammation and persistent inflammation. We show that positive and negative feedbacks controlling cytokine production rates can determine either a pre-disposition to OA or initiation of OA. Further, we show that manipulation of cytokine, MMP and Fn-fs levels can be used to treat OA, but we suggest that multiple treatment targets may be essential to halt or slow disease progression

Low-dose tamoxifen treatment in juvenile males has long-term adverse effects on the reproductive system: implications for inducible transgenics

The tamoxifen-inducible Cre system is a popular transgenic method for controlling the induction of recombination by Cre at a specific time and in a specific cell type. However, tamoxifen is not an inert inducer of recombination, but an established endocrine disruptor with mixed agonist/antagonist activity acting via endogenous estrogen receptors. Such potentially confounding effects should be controlled for, but >40% of publications that have used tamoxifen to generate conditional knockouts have not reported even the minimum appropriate controls. To highlight the importance of this issue, the present study investigated the long-term impacts of different doses of a single systemic tamoxifen injection on the testis and the wider endocrine system. We found that a single dose of tamoxifen less than 10% of the mean dose used for recombination induction, caused adverse effects to the testis and to the reproductive endocrine system that persisted long-term. These data raise significant concerns about the widespread use of tamoxifen induction of recombination, and highlight the importance of including appropriate controls in all pathophysiological studies using this means of induction