Connecting species’ geographical distributions to environmental variables: range maps versus observed points of occurrence

Connecting the geographical occurrence of a species with underlying environmental variables is fundamental for many analyses of life history evolution and for modeling species distributions for both basic and practical ends. However, raw distributional information comes principally in two forms: points of occurrence (specific geographical coordinates where a species has been observed), and expert-prepared range maps. Each form has potential short-comings: range maps tend to overestimate the true occurrence of a species, whereas occurrence points (because of their frequent non-random spatial distribution) tend to underestimate it. Whereas previous comparisons of the two forms have focused on how they may differ when estimating species richness, less attention has been paid to the extent to which the two forms actually differ in their representation of a species’ environmental associations. We assess such differences using the globally distributed avian order Galliformes (294 species). For each species we overlaid range maps obtained from IUCN and point-of-occurrence data obtained from GBIF on global maps of four climate variables and elevation. Over all species, the median difference in distribution centroids was 234 km, and median values of all five environmental variables were highly correlated, although there were a few species outliers for each variable. We also acquired species’ elevational distribution mid-points (mid-point between minimum and maximum elevational extent) from the literature; median elevations from point occurrences and ranges were consistently lower (median −420 m) than mid-points. We concluded that in most cases occurrence points were likely to produce better estimates of underlying environmental variables than range maps, although differences were often slight. We also concluded that elevational range mid-points were biased high, and that elevation distributions based on either points or range maps provided better estimates

Design of an Interlock Module for Use in a Globally Asynchronous, Locally Synchronous Design Methodology

As the number of transistors on a single integrated circuit approach a billion, the problems of clock distribution, power consumption, multiple clock domains, meeting timing requirements, and reuse of subsystem designs grow ever more difficult. Coordinating a billion transistors with the present design methodologies will require hundreds of years of engineering time. A new design methodology is needed. The GALS (Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous) approach, that blends clockless and clocked subsystems is a strong contender

Antibodies to Seasonal Coronaviruses Rarely Cross-React with SARS-CoV-2: Findings from an African Birth Cohort

Antibodies to seasonal human-coronaviruses (sHCoV) may cross-protect against SARS-CoV-2. We investigated antibody responses in biobanked serum obtained before the pandemic from infants with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed sHCoV. Among 141 samples with antibodies to sHCoV, 4 (2.8%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2-S1 and 8 (5.7%) for SARS-CoV-2-S2. Antibodies to sHCoV rarely cross-react with SARS-CoV-2 antigens and are unlikely to account for mild pediatric illness

Seasonal abundance of small cladocerans in Lake Mangakaware, Waikato, New Zealand

The seasonal changes in the dynamics and life histories of the Cladocera in Lake Mangakaware, North Island, New Zealand, were studied over 19 months by sampling at weekly or 2-weekly intervals. Lake Mangakaware is a 13.3 ha polymictic lake with high nutrient status, low Secchi disc transparencies, and an unstable thermal regime. The four planktonic cladoceran species (Bosmina longirostris, B. meridionalis, Ceriodaphnia pulchella, and C. dubia) exhibited disjunct population maxima. Only B. longirostris was perennially present. All species exhibited low fecundities and low lipid content, indicating that food resources were limited and that competitive interactions and resistance to starvation were probably important in determining species success. Increases in body size in cooler seasons were unrelated to clutch size, giving further support for the view that available food was limited. These results are consistent with previous experimental findings that subtle differences in life history can determine seasonal success and the outcome of competition between similar species

Towards a population-based threshold of protection for COVID-19 vaccines

Correlates of protection for COVID-19 vaccines are urgently needed to license additional vaccines. We measured immune responses to four COVID-19 vaccines of proven efficacy using a single serological platform. IgG anti-Spike antibodies were highly correlated with ID50 neutralization in a validated pseudoviral assay and correlated significantly with efficacies for protection against infection with wild-type, alpha and delta variant SARS-CoV-2 virus. The protective threshold for each vaccine was calculated for IgG anti-Spike antibody. The mean protective threshold for all vaccine studies for WT virus was 154 BAU/ml (95 %CI 42–559), and for studies with antibody distributions that enabled precise estimation of thresholds (i.e. leaving out 2-dose mRNA regimens) was 60 BAU/ml (95 %CI 35–102). We propose that the proportion of individuals with responses above the appropriate protective threshold together with the geometric mean concentration can be used in comparative non-inferiority studies with licensed vaccines to ensure that new vaccines will be efficacious

Health-state utilities in a prisoner population : a cross-sectional survey

Background: Health-state utilities for prisoners have not been described. Methods: We used data from a 1996 cross-sectional survey of Australian prisoners (n = 734). Respondent-level SF-36 data was transformed into utility scores by both the SF-6D and Nichol's method. Socio-demographic and clinical predictors of SF-6D utility were assessed in univariate analyses and a multivariate general linear model. Results: The overall mean SF-6D utility was 0.725 (SD 0.119). When subdivided by various medical conditions, prisoner SF-6D utilities ranged from 0.620 for angina to 0.764 for those with none/mild depressive symptoms. Utilities derived by the Nichol's method were higher than SF-6D scores, often by more than 0.1. In multivariate analysis, significant independent predictors of worse utility included female gender, increasing age, increasing number of comorbidities and more severe depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The utilities presented may prove useful for future economic and decision models evaluating prison-based health programs

Paediatric radiology seen from Africa. Part I: providing diagnostic imaging to a young population

Article approval pendingPaediatric radiology requires dedicated equipment, specific precautions related to ionising radiation, and specialist knowledge. Developing countries face difficulties in providing adequate imaging services for children. In many African countries, children represent an increasing proportion of the population, and additional challenges follow from extreme living conditions, poverty, lack of parental care, and exposure to tuberculosis, HIV, pneumonia, diarrhoea and violent trauma. Imaging plays a critical role in the treatment of these children, but is expensive and difficult to provide. The World Health Organisation initiatives, of which the World Health Imaging System for Radiography (WHIS-RAD) unit is one result, needs to expand into other areas such as the provision of maintenance servicing. New initiatives by groups such as Rotary and the World Health Imaging Alliance to install WHIS-RAD units in developing countries and provide digital solutions, need support. Paediatric radiologists are needed to offer their services for reporting, consultation and quality assurance for free by way of teleradiology. Societies for paediatric radiology are needed to focus on providing a volunteer teleradiology reporting group, information on child safety for basic imaging, guidelines for investigations specific to the disease spectrum, and solutions for optimising imaging in children

Hormonal Signal Amplification Mediates Environmental Conditions during Development and Controls an Irreversible Commitment to Adulthood

Many animals can choose between different developmental fates to maximize fitness. Despite the complexity of environmental cues and life history, different developmental fates are executed in a robust fashion. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans serves as a powerful model to examine this phenomenon because it can adopt one of two developmental fates (adulthood or diapause) depending on environmental conditions. The steroid hormone dafachronic acid (DA) directs development to adulthood by regulating the transcriptional activity of the nuclear hormone receptor DAF-12. The known role of DA suggests that it may be the molecular mediator of environmental condition effects on the developmental fate decision, although the mechanism is yet unknown. We used a combination of physiological and molecular biology techniques to demonstrate that commitment to reproductive adult development occurs when DA levels, produced in the neuroendocrine XXX cells, exceed a threshold. Furthermore, imaging and cell ablation experiments demonstrate that the XXX cells act as a source of DA, which, upon commitment to adult development, is amplified and propagated in the epidermis in a DAF-12 dependent manner. This positive feedback loop increases DA levels and drives adult programs in the gonad and epidermis, thus conferring the irreversibility of the decision. We show that the positive feedback loop canalizes development by ensuring that sufficient amounts of DA are dispersed throughout the body and serves as a robust fate-locking mechanism to enforce an organism-wide binary decision, despite noisy and complex environmental cues. These mechanisms are not only relevant to C. elegans but may be extended to other hormonal-based decision-making mechanisms in insects and mammals

A horizontally polarizing liquid trap enhances the tabanid-capturing efficiency of the classic canopy trap.

Host-seeking female tabanid flies, that need mammalian blood for the development of their eggs, can be captured by the classic canopy trap with an elevated shiny black sphere as a luring visual target. The design of more efficient tabanid traps is important for stock-breeders to control tabanids, since these blood-sucking insects can cause severe problems for livestock, especially for horse- and cattle-keepers: reduced meat/milk production in cattle farms, horses cannot be ridden, decreased quality of hides due to biting scars. We show here that male and female tabanids can be caught by a novel, weather-proof liquid-filled black tray laid on the ground, because the strongly and horizontally polarized light reflected from the black liquid surface attracts water-seeking polarotactic tabanids. We performed field experiments to reveal the ideal elevation of the liquid trap and to compare the tabanid-capturing efficiency of three different traps: (1) the classic canopy trap, (2) the new polarization liquid trap, and (3) the combination of the two traps. In field tests, we showed that the combined trap captures 2.4-8.2 times more tabanids than the canopy trap alone. The reason for the larger efficiency of the combined trap is that it captures simultaneously the host-seeking female and the water-seeking male and female tabanids. We suggest supplementing the traditional canopy trap with the new liquid trap in order to enhance the tabanid-capturing efficiency