Effects of local hypothermia-rewarming on physiology, metabolism and inflammation of acutely injured human spinal cord.

In five patients with acute, severe thoracic traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCIs), American spinal injuries association Impairment Scale (AIS) grades A-C, we induced cord hypothermia (33 °C) then rewarming (37 °C). A pressure probe and a microdialysis catheter were placed intradurally at the injury site to monitor intraspinal pressure (ISP), spinal cord perfusion pressure (SCPP), tissue metabolism and inflammation. Cord hypothermia-rewarming, applied to awake patients, did not cause discomfort or neurological deterioration. Cooling did not affect cord physiology (ISP, SCPP), but markedly altered cord metabolism (increased glucose, lactate, lactate/pyruvate ratio (LPR), glutamate; decreased glycerol) and markedly reduced cord inflammation (reduced IL1β, IL8, MCP, MIP1α, MIP1β). Compared with pre-cooling baseline, rewarming was associated with significantly worse cord physiology (increased ICP, decreased SCPP), cord metabolism (increased lactate, LPR; decreased glucose, glycerol) and cord inflammation (increased IL1β, IL8, IL4, IL10, MCP, MIP1α). The study was terminated because three patients developed delayed wound infections. At 18-months, two patients improved and three stayed the same. We conclude that, after TSCI, hypothermia is potentially beneficial by reducing cord inflammation, though after rewarming these benefits are lost due to increases in cord swelling, ischemia and inflammation. We thus urge caution when using hypothermia-rewarming therapeutically in TSCI

Selection of Reserves for Woodland Caribou Using an Optimization Approach

Habitat protection has been identified as an important strategy for the conservation of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus). However, because of the economic opportunity costs associated with protection it is unlikely that all caribou ranges can be protected in their entirety. We used an optimization approach to identify reserve designs for caribou in Alberta, Canada, across a range of potential protection targets. Our designs minimized costs as well as three demographic risk factors: current industrial footprint, presence of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and climate change. We found that, using optimization, 60% of current caribou range can be protected (including 17% in existing parks) while maintaining access to over 98% of the value of resources on public lands. The trade-off between minimizing cost and minimizing demographic risk factors was minimal because the spatial distributions of cost and risk were similar. The prospects for protection are much reduced if protection is directed towards the herds that are most at risk of near-term extirpation

In vitro plantlet regeneration from nodal segments and shoot tips of Capsicum chinense Jacq. cv. Naga King Chili

An in vitro regeneration protocol was developed for Capsicum chinense Jacq. cv. Naga King Chili, a very pungent chili cultivar and an important horticultural crop of Nagaland (Northeast India). Maximum number of shoot (13 ± 0.70) was induced with bud-forming capacity (BFC) index of 10.8, by culturing nodal segments in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 18.16 μM Thidiazuron (TDZ) followed by 35.52 μM 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). Using shoot tips as explants, multiple shoot (10 ± 0.37) (BFC 8.3) was also induced in MS medium fortified with either 18.16 μM TDZ or 35.52 μM BAP. Elongated shoots were best rooted in MS medium containing 5.70 μM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Rooted plantlets thus developed were hardened in 2–3 weeks time in plastic cups containing potting mixture of a 1:1 mix of soil and cow dung manure and then subsequently transferred to earthen pots. The regenerated plants did not show any variation in the morphology and growth as compared to the parent plant

The influence of speed and size on avian terrestrial locomotor biomechanics: predicting locomotion in extinct theropod dinosaurs

How extinct, non-avian theropod dinosaurs moved is a subject of considerable interest and controversy. A better understanding of non-avian theropod locomotion can be achieved by better understanding terrestrial locomotor biomechanics in their modern descendants, birds. Despite much research on the subject, avian terrestrial locomotion remains little explored in regards to how kinematic and kinetic factors vary together with speed and body size. Here, terrestrial locomotion was investigated in twelve species of ground-dwelling bird, spanning a 1,780-fold range in body mass, across almost their entire speed range. Particular attention was devoted to the ground reaction force (GRF), the force that the feet exert upon the ground. Comparable data for the only other extant obligate, striding biped, humans, were also collected and studied. In birds, all kinematic and kinetic parameters examined changed continuously with increasing speed, while in humans all but one of those same parameters changed abruptly at the walk-run transition. This result supports previous studies that show birds to have a highly continuous locomotor repertoire compared to humans, where discrete ‘walking’ and ‘running’ gaits are not easily distinguished based on kinematic patterns alone. The influences of speed and body size on kinematic and kinetic factors in birds are developed into a set of predictive relationships that may be applied to extinct, non-avian theropods. The resulting predictive model is able to explain 79–93% of the observed variation in kinematics and 69–83% of the observed variation in GRFs, and also performs well in extrapolation tests. However, this study also found that the location of the whole-body centre of mass may exert an important influence on the nature of the GRF, and hence some caution is warranted, in lieu of further investigation

24-h sheltering behaviour of individually kept horses during Swedish summer weather

Provision of shelter for horses kept on summer pasture is rarely considered in welfare guidelines, perhaps because the benefits of shelter in warm conditions are poorly documented scientifically. For cattle, shade is a valued resource during summer and can mitigate the adverse effects of warm weather on well-being and performance. We found in a previous study that horses utilized shelters frequently in summer. A shelter with a roof and closed on three sides (shelter A) was preferred and can reduce insect pressure whereas a shelter with roof and open on three sides was not utilized. However, shelter A restricts the all-round view of a horse, which may be important for horses as flight animals. Therefore, we studied whether a shelter with roof, where only the upper half of the rear wall was closed (shelter B), would be utilized while maintaining insect protection properties and satisfying the horses’ sense for security. A third shelter was offered with walls but no roof (shelter C) to evaluate whether the roof itself is an important feature from the horse’s perspective. Eight Warmblood horses were tested each for 2 days, kept individually for 24 h in two paddocks with access to shelters A and B, or shelters A and C, respectively. Shelter use was recorded continuously during the night (1800–2400 h, 0200–0600 h) and the following day (0900–1600 h), and insect defensive behaviour (e.g., tail swish) in instantaneous scan samples at 5-min intervals during daytime

Determinants of the Incidence of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in China Using Geographically Weighted Regression Models

Child population density and climate factors are potential determinants of the HFMD incidence in most areas in China. The strength and direction of association between these factors and the incidence of HFDM is spatially heterogeneous at the local geographic level, and child population density has a greater influence on the incidence of HFMD than the climate factors

The Effects of Biogeography on Ant Diversity and Activity on the Boston Harbor Islands, Massachusetts, U.S.A

Many studies have examined how island biogeography affects diversity on the scale of island systems. In this study, we address how diversity varies over very short periods of time on individual islands. To do this, we compile an inventory of the ants living in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, Boston, Massachusetts, USA using data from a five-year All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory of the region's arthropods. Consistent with the classical theory of island biogeography, species richness increased with island size, decreased with island isolation, and remained relatively constant over time. Additionally, our inventory finds that almost half of the known Massachusetts ant fauna can be collected in the BHI, and identifies four new species records for Massachusetts, including one new to the United States, Myrmica scabrinodis. We find that the number of species actually active on islands depended greatly on the timescale under consideration. The species that could be detected during any given week of sampling could by no means account for total island species richness, even when correcting for sampling effort. Though we consistently collected the same number of species over any given week of sampling, the identities of those species varied greatly between weeks. This variation does not result from local immigration and extinction of species, nor from seasonally-driven changes in the abundance of individual species, but rather from weekly changes in the distribution and activity of foraging ants. This variation can be upwards of 50% of ant species per week. This suggests that numerous ant species on the BHI share the same physical space at different times. This temporal partitioning could well explain such unexpectedly high ant diversity in an isolated, urban site

Alien Invasive Slider Turtle in Unpredicted Habitat: A Matter of Niche Shift or of Predictors Studied?

BACKGROUND: Species Distribution Models (SDMs) aim on the characterization of a species' ecological niche and project it into geographic space. The result is a map of the species' potential distribution, which is, for instance, helpful to predict the capability of alien invasive species. With regard to alien invasive species, recently several authors observed a mismatch between potential distributions of native and invasive ranges derived from SDMs and, as an explanation, ecological niche shift during biological invasion has been suggested. We studied the physiologically well known Slider turtle from North America which today is widely distributed over the globe and address the issue of ecological niche shift versus choice of ecological predictors used for model building, i.e., by deriving SDMs using multiple sets of climatic predictor. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In one SDM, predictors were used aiming to mirror the physiological limits of the Slider turtle. It was compared to numerous other models based on various sets of ecological predictors or predictors aiming at comprehensiveness. The SDM focusing on the study species' physiological limits depicts the target species' worldwide potential distribution better than any of the other approaches. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that a natural history-driven understanding is crucial in developing statistical models of ecological niches (as SDMs) while "comprehensive" or "standard" sets of ecological predictors may be of limited use

Five-year workplace wellness intervention in the NHS

aims: Poor health and well-being has been observed among NHS staff and has become a key focus in current public health policy. The objective of this study was to deliver and evaluate a five-year employee wellness programme aimed at improving the health and well-being of employees in a large NHS workplace. method: A theory-driven multi-level ecological workplace wellness intervention was delivered including health campaigns, provision of facilities and health-promotion activities to encourage employees to make healthy lifestyle choices and sustained behaviour changes. An employee questionnaire survey was distributed at baseline (n= 1,452) and at five years (n= 1,134), including measures of physical activity, BMI, diet, self-efficacy, social support, perceived gen-eral health and mood, smoking behaviours, self-reported sickness absence, perceived work performance and job satisfaction. results: Samples were comparable at baseline and follow-up. At five years, significantly more respondents actively travelled (by walking or cycling both to work and for non-work trips) and more were active while at work. Significantly more respondents met current recommendations for physical activity at five years than at baseline. Fewer employers reported ‘lack of time’ as a barrier to being physically active following the intervention. Significantly lower sickness absence, greater job satisfaction and greater organisational commitment was reported at five years than at baseline. conclusions: Improvements in health behaviours, reductions in sickness absence and improvements in job satisfaction and organisational commitment were observed following five years of a workplace wellness intervention for NHS employees. These findings suggest that health-promoting programmes should be embedded within NHS infrastructure