European nightjar and upland plantation woodland management

Plantation woodland is increasing in extent globally and as a proportion of global forest cover. Plantation woodland is not only an important element of the U.K. economy, but also is an important woodland habitat in the U.K., given the pre-historic and historic loss of woodland cover. Woodland policy aspirations in the U.K. are currently heavily focused on increasing woodland extent, coupled with maximising the ecosystem services delivered by these habitats, including the provision of renewable energy developments and increasing the provision of biodiversity services. Such broad management objectives often necessitate trade-offs, where management to deliver different desired outcomes conflict. This thesis focuses on the conservation management of European nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus and is intended to inform the development of evidence-based conservation interventions that can support nightjar and the moth species on which they feed, in plantation coniferous woodland and in particular in the Welsh Government Woodland Estate. Specifically, I use European nightjar life history parameters (e.g. nest success) and movement data, to explore nightjar ecology in areas of changing land use and management. In order to inform subsequent nest success analysis a comparison of the observed nesting success of tagged birds and untagged birds, whilst controlling for the potential confounding effects of weather, is used to explore and confirm the lack of observed tag effects on measures of nest success (e.g. fledging success) in nightjar breeding at Brechfa Forest Wind Farm (South Wales, UK). Moth diversity and biomass data from open habitats within forests across a gradient of ages, is then used to confirm the importance of native vegetation primary productivity and stand management in driving moth biomass and diversity. Moth biomass is then combined with GPS tag movement data to explore nightjar foraging behaviour within the forest matrix. This analysis confirms that nightjar movement is driven by spatial and temporal variation in the availability of moth biomass. Nest record data from sites across Wales is then used to explore the potential for wind farm construction disturbance effects on nest success (e.g. fledging success). Alongside this, I also examine the role of habitat management and foraging habitat availability. Overall, my results show that forest management can have significant effects on both nightjar nest success, movement and food (moth) availability. I also show that forest management has an important effect on the presence or absence of moths of conservation concern. These results also confirm that modifications to the spatial and temporal patterns of forest management can be used to support the conservation of both moths and nightjar, with likely cascading benefits for other aerial insectivores

Multimodal probes : superresolution and transmission electron microscopy imaging of mitochondria, and oxygen mapping of cells, using small-molecule Ir(III) luminescent complexes

We describe an Ir(III)-based small-molecule, multimodal probe for use in both light and electron microscopy. The direct correlation of data between light- and electron-microscopy-based imaging to investigate cellular processes at the ultrastructure level is a current challenge, requiring both dyes that must be brightly emissive for luminescence imaging and scatter electrons to give contrast for electron microscopy, at a single working concentration suitable for both methods. Here we describe the use of Ir(III) complexes as probes that provide excellent image contrast and quality for both luminescence and electron microscopy imaging, at the same working concentration. Significant contrast enhancement of cellular mitochondria was observed in transmission electron microscopy imaging, with and without the use of typical contrast agents. The specificity for cellular mitochondria was also confirmed with MitoTracker using confocal and 3D-structured illumination microscopy. These phosphorescent dyes are part of a very exclusive group of transition-metal complexes that enable imaging beyond the diffraction limit. Triplet excited-state phosphorescence was also utilized to probe the O2 concentration at the mitochondria in vitro, using lifetime mapping techniques

Heteronuclear Ir(III)–Ln(III) Luminescent Complexes: Small-Molecule Probes for Dual Modal Imaging and Oxygen Sensing

Luminescent, mixed metal d–f complexes have the potential to be used for dual (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and luminescence) in vivo imaging. Here, we present dinuclear and trinuclear d–f complexes, comprising a rigid framework linking a luminescent Ir center to one (Ir·Ln) or two (Ir·Ln2) lanthanide metal centers (where Ln = Eu(III) and Gd(III), respectively). A range of physical, spectroscopic, and imaging-based properties including relaxivity arising from the Gd(III) units and the occurrence of Ir(III) → Eu(III) photoinduced energy-transfer are presented. The rigidity imposed by the ligand facilitates high relaxivities for the Gd(III) complexes, while the luminescence from the Ir(III) and Eu(III) centers provide luminescence imaging capabilities. Dinuclear (Ir·Ln) complexes performed best in cellular studies, exhibiting good solubility in aqueous solutions, low toxicity after 4 and 18 h, respectively, and punctate lysosomal staining. We also demonstrate the first example of oxygen sensing in fixed cells using the dyad Ir·Gd, via two-photon phosphorescence lifetime imaging (PLIM)

Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation and History of Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights from GARFIELD-AF

BACKGROUND: Many patients with atrial fibrillation have concomitant coronary artery disease with or without acute coronary syndromes and are in need of additional antithrombotic therapy. There are few data on the long-term clinical outcome of atrial fibrillation patients with a history of acute coronary syndrome. This is a 2-year study of atrial fibrillation patients with or without a history of acute coronary syndromes

Analysis of Outcomes in Ischemic vs Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation A Report From the GARFIELD-AF Registry

IMPORTANCE Congestive heart failure (CHF) is commonly associated with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), and their combination may affect treatment strategies and outcomes

International trends in clinical characteristics and oral anticoagulation treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation: Results from the GARFIELD-AF, ORBIT-AF I, and ORBIT-AF II registries

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in the world. We aimed to provide comprehensive data on international patterns of AF stroke prevention treatment

International trends in clinical characteristics and oral anticoagulation treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation: Results from the GARFIELD-AF, ORBIT-AF I, and ORBIT-AF II registries

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in the world. We aimed to provide comprehensive data on international patterns of AF stroke prevention treatment