The taxonomy of Gyrosigma hassall and Pleurosigma W. Smith.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN016432 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Absence of botanical European Palaeolithic cave art – what can it tell us about plant awareness disparity?

Cave art has been an integral part of human history, providing a glimpse into the lives and cultures of our ancestors. Prehistoric botanical art is an important medium that can help us to redefine our intimate relationship with plants. The findings from our work provide some evidence from the European Palaeolithic period that modern plant awareness disparity (PAD) might be more deeply rooted in our past. By inspiring a deeper appreciation and understanding of the natural world, cave art can help people to reconnect with plants, thus tackling PAD

Nitrogen isotopes in herbaria document historical nitrogen sewage pollution in the Mersey Estuary, England

A macroalgae (seaweed) herbarium nitrogen isotope (δ15N) record is produced for the River Mersey and Liverpool South Docks (England) between 1821 and 2018. A modern macroalgae δ15N record was also produced from September 2022. The herbaria δ15N record shows a stark difference from 1821 to the present. Lower δ15N in the early 1800s is attributed to agricultural and raw sewage pollution. From 1970 to the present the herbaria samples record very elevated δ15N values – peaking in 1978 at +31‰. The 1989 Water Act and privatisation of water companies in the UK had limited impact on the herbarium δ15N record but indicated a dominance of sewage nitrogen in the River Mersey. Macroalgae δ15N has become even more elevated since the last herbaria sample in 2013. The herbaria and modern data record some of the highest seaweed δ15N values (and therefore, sewage nitrogen pollution) recorded to date. This study highlights a novel use of herbaria macroalgae to document past changes in nitrogen pollution in estuarine environments. More poignantly it highlights that the River Mersey – Mersey Estuary is heavily polluted with sewage nitrogen and requires immediate action to resolve this environmental issue

Mutant huntingtin enhances activation of dendritic Kv4 K+ channels in striatal spiny projection neurons

Huntington\u27s disease (HD) is initially characterized by an inability to suppress unwanted movements, a deficit attributable to impaired synaptic activation of striatal indirect pathway spiny projection neurons (iSPNs). To better understand the mechanisms underlying this deficit, striatal neurons in ex vivo brain slices from mouse genetic models of HD were studied using electrophysiological, optical and biochemical approaches. Distal dendrites of iSPNs from symptomatic HD mice were hypoexcitable, a change that was attributable to increased association of dendritic Kv4 potassium channels with auxiliary KChIP subunits. This association was negatively modulated by TrkB receptor signaling. Dendritic excitability of HD iSPNs was rescued by knocking-down expression of Kv4 channels, by disrupting KChIP binding, by restoring TrkB receptor signaling or by lowering mutant-Htt (mHtt) levels with a zinc finger protein. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that mHtt induces reversible alterations in the dendritic excitability of iSPNs that could contribute to the motor symptoms of HD

Minimum drift times infer trajectories of ghost nets found in the Maldives

This study explores methods to estimate minimum drift times of ghost nets found in the Maldives with the aim of identifying a putative origin. We highlight that percentage cover of biofouling organisms and capitulum length of Lepas anatifera are two methods that provide these estimates. Eight ghost nets were collected in the Maldives and estimated drift times ranged between 7.5 and 101 days. Additionally, Lagrangian simulations identified drift trajectories of 326 historical ghost nets records. Purse seine fisheries (associated with Korea, Mauritius, the Philippines, Spain, France and Seychelles) and gill nets from Sri Lanka were identified as 'high risk' fisheries with regard to likley origins of ghost nets drifting into the Maldives. These fisheries are active in areas where dense particle clusters occured (drift trajectories between 30 and 120 days). Interestingly, ghost nets drifting less than 30 days however, remained inside the exclusive economic zone of the Maldivian archipelago highlighting potential illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity is occuring in this area. This study therefore points to the urgent need for gear loss reporting to be undertaken, especially by purse seine and gill net fisheries in order to ascertain the source of this major threat to marine life. This should also be coupled with an improvment in the data focused on spatial distribution of the abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear originating from both large- and small-scale fisheries.N

Microbes as engines of ecosystem function : When does community structure enhance predictions of ecosystem processes?

FUNDING This work was supported by NSF grant DEB-1221215 to DN, as well as grants supporting the generation of our datasets as acknowledged in their original publications and in Supplementary Table S1. ACKNOWLEDGMENT We thank the USGS Powell Center ‘Next Generation Microbes’ working group, anonymous reviews, Brett Melbourne, and Alan Townsend for valuable feedback on this project.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Osteoarthritis: 119. The Effectiveness of Exercise Therapy with and without Manual Therapy for Hip Osteoarthritis: A Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial

Background: Current evidence indicates that exercise therapy (ET) has a short and medium-term benefit for hip osteoarthritis (OA), but evidence is inconclusive regarding the effect of manual therapy (MT). The primary aim of this randomised controlled trial was to determine the effectiveness of ET with and without MT on clinical outcomes for individuals with hip OA. A secondary aim was to ascertain the effect of an 8-week waiting period on outcomes. Methods: 131 men and women with hip OA recruited in four hospitals were initially randomised to one of three groups: ET (n = 45), a combination of ET and MT (n = 43) and wait-list control (n = 43). The two intervention groups underwent individualised ET or ET/MT for 8 weeks. Patients in the control group waited 8 weeks and were randomised to receive either ET or ET/MT after 9 week follow-up, and pooled with original treatment group data: ET (n = 66) and ET/ MT (n = 65). All participants were followed up at 9 and 18 weeks and the control group was reassessed at 27 weeks (18 weeks post-treatment) by the same blinded assessor. The primary outcome measure was the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Other outcomes included sit-to-stand, 50-foot walk test, pain severity, hip range of motion (ROM), anxiety, depression, quality of life (QOL), analgesic usage, physical activity, patient-perceived change and patient satisfaction. Intention-to-treat analysis was performed to determine within-group change and between-group differences for the three groups at baseline and 9 weeks, and the two treatment groups at baseline, 9 and 18 weeks. Results: Eight patients (6.1%) were lost to follow-up at 9 weeks and 19 (14.5%) were lost to follow-up by 18 weeks. Both ET (n = 66) and ET/MT groups (n = 65) showed significant within-group improvements in WOMAC, pain severity, sit-to-stand and HROM measures at 9 weeks, which were still evident at 18 weeks. There was no significant within-group change in anxiety, depression, QOL, analgesic usage, 50-foot walk test or physical activity. There was no significant difference between the two intervention groups for any of the outcomes. Regarding the results of the original ET, ET/MT and control group allocation, there was a significant improvement in one or both ET and ET/MT groups compared with the control group in the same outcomes, as well as patient perceived improvement at 9 weeks. There was no significant difference between the three groups in analgesic usage, WOMAC stiffness subscale, sit-to-stand and 50 foot walk tests, QOL and physical activity. There was an overall deterioration in anxiety and depression scores. Conclusions: The addition of MT to an 8 week programme of ET for hip OA resulted in similar improvements in pain, function and ROM at 9 and 18 weeks. The significant improvement which occurred in the same outcomes in the two treatment groups compared with a wait-list control of 8 weeks has implications for waiting list management Disclosure statement: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Exploring inequities in child welfare and child protection services: explaining the 'inverse intervention law'

Attempts to record, understand and respond to variations in child welfare and protection reporting, service patterns and outcomes are international, numerous and longstanding. Reframing such variations as an issue of inequity between children and between families opens the way to a new approach to explaining the profound difference in intervention rates between and within countries and administrative districts. Recent accounts of variation have frequently been based on the idea that there is a binary division between bias and risk (or need). Here we propose seeing supply (bias) and demand (risk) factors as two aspects of a single system, both framed, in part, by social structures. A recent finding from a study of intervention rates in England, the 'inverse intervention law', is used to illustrate the complex ways in which a range of factors interact to produce intervention rates. In turn, this analysis raises profound moral, policy, practice and research questions about current child welfare and child protection services