On the detectability of latitudinal biodiversity gradients in deep time

The latitudinal biodiversity gradient (LBG), in which species richness increases from the poles to tropical regions, is one of the most pervasive biodiversity patterns today. However, deep-time studies suggest that the LBG has varied in the geological past, with a range of taxonomic groups characterised by flattened or even bimodal gradients. Moreover, these studies suggest that tropical peaks and poleward declines in biodiversity are restricted to intervals of the Palaeozoic, and the last 30 million years (Myr), when cool icehouse climatic regimes persisted. Yet, the reconstruction of macroecological patterns in deep time is hampered by inherent geological and anthropogenic biases. In particular, spatial sampling heterogeneity has the potential to hinder the reconstruction of LBGs due to the ubiquitous scaling of species richness with area. In this thesis, a series of case studies that attempt to quantify the impact of spatial sampling heterogeneity on the reconstruction of LBGs are presented. Earth System and ecological niche modelling are applied to test whether observed biodiversity trends are the result of spatial sampling heterogeneity, or a genuine biological signal. In addition, a novel subsampling protocol is implemented to provide sampling-standardised estimates of biodiversity. Collectively, this work suggests spatial sampling heterogeneity often prevents the recovery of genuine LBGs in deep time. Estimates of zooxanthellate coral richness over the past 250 Myr demonstrate that the modern LBG got markedly steeper during the last 20 Myr, and a unimodal-type LBG likely persisted during the Early Cretaceous, coinciding with a geologically long-lived ‘cold-snap’. These findings are supported by ecological niche modelling, which suggest a tropical increase, and temperate decline in suitable habitat area during these intervals. Overall, these studies highlight the significance of correcting for spatial sampling heterogeneity when reconstructing biodiversity patterns from the fossil record, as well as the value of inferential methods in understanding past macroecological patterns.Open Acces

rphylopic: An R package for fetching, transforming, and visualising PhyloPic silhouettes

Effective data visualisation is vital for data exploration, analysis and communication in research. In ecology and evolutionary biology, data are often associated with various taxonomic entities. Graphics of organisms associated with these taxa are valuable for framing results within a broader biological context. However, acquiring and using such resources can be challenging due to availability and licensing constraints. The PhyloPic database solves many of these issues by making organism silhouettes freely available. Tools that integrate this database with existing research workflows are needed to remove hurdles associated with data visualisation in the biological sciences. Here, we introduce rphylopic, an R package for fetching, transforming and visualising silhouettes of organisms from the PhyloPic database. In addition to making over 8000 organism silhouettes available within the R programming language, rphylopic empowers users to modify the appearance of these silhouettes for ultimate customisability when coding production–quality visualisations in both base R and ggplot2 workflows. In this work, we provide details about how the package can be installed, its implementation and potential use cases. For the latter, we showcase three examples across the ecology and evolutionary biology spectrum. Our hope is that rphylopic will make it easier for biologists to develop more accessible and engaging data visualisations by making external resources readily accessible, customisable and usable within R. In turn, by integrating into existing workflows, rphylopic helps to ensure that science is reproducible and accessible.Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. FJC2021-046695-

Uneven spatial sampling distorts reconstructions of Phanerozoic seawater temperature

Paleotemperature proxy records are widely used to reconstruct the global climate throughout the Phanerozoic and to test macroevolutionary hypotheses. However, the spatial distribution of these records varies through time. This is problematic because heat is unevenly distributed across Earth's surface. Consequently, heterogeneous spatial sampling of proxy data has the potential to bias reconstructed temperature curves. We evaluated the spatiotemporal evolution of sampling using a compilation of Phanerozoic δ18O data. We tested the influence of variable spatial coverage on global estimates of paleotemperature by sampling a steep “modern-type” latitudinal temperature gradient and a flattened “Eocene-type” gradient, based on the spatial distribution of δ18O samples. We show that global paleotemperature is overestimated in ∼70% of Phanerozoic stages. Perceived climatic trends for some intervals might be artifactually induced by shifts in paleolatitudinal sampling, with equatorward shifts in sampling concurring with warming trends, and poleward shifts concurring with cooling trends. Yet, the magnitude of some climatic perturbations might also be underestimated. For example, the observed Ordovician cooling trend may be underestimated due to an equatorward shift in sampling. Our findings suggest that while proxy records are vital for reconstructing Earth's paleotemperature in deep time, consideration of the spatial nature of these data is crucial to improving these reconstructions

The design of medical laser surgery dermatology handpieces for radiation control and direct extraction of infectious laser generated plume

Surgical skin treatments such as; laser ablation, laser scalpels, hair removal, tattooed removal etc can all generate direct and secondary optical radiation hazards, however, because they are designed to intentionally destroy human tissue, they also generate gaseous and particulate emissions. This second family often referred to as; surgical smoke, surgical smoke plume and surgical fume, have now been identified as producing viable bio-active aerosols, these by-products now pose infectious hazards to the patient and staff of the operating room. Local extraction is sometimes used to try and reduce the airborne concentration of these byproducts though in virtually all cases the smell of the process is detectable by all. The optical radiation hazard usually dictates the wearing of protective eyewear to provide some level of personal protection. A major health concern to all medical and cosmetic facilities is that of infection control. Surgical smoke is usually overlooked as a source of infection within the operating environment and it has been known since the mid-1980s that the particulate can carry with it live pathogens from the patient which can now be in skin contact or respired by the operating staff. A paper presented by the authors in the Medical Session here at ILSC provides possibly the first quantitative analysis of the hazards the surgeon and other staff are subject to. This paper examines the practical limitations of the existing approaches and provides some simple practical control measures that provide complete radiation containment as well as enable complete particulate and gas extraction without any reliance on any form of personal protection for the patient and operating staff. These designs have now been tested and are shown to offer 100% effective plume extraction and radiation containment

Do poachers make harsh gamekeepers? Attitudes to tax evasion and to benefit fraud

In neoclassical economics the decision to evade tax is analysed in the same way as the decision to commit benefit fraud. Both decisions depend on the net expected utility that a ‘representative individual’ will derive from the gamble. If the financial loss a community experiences when there is tax evasion is equal to the financial loss experienced when there is benefit fraud, there is no reason to expect any difference in individuals' attitudes towards these crimes. However, in practice, individuals are far more condemnatory of benefit fraud than of tax evasion. Prospect theory is applied to explain this difference of attitude as well as why individuals are more likely to commit tax evasion than benefit fraud. Moreover, when comparing attitudes and behaviour towards public finance crimes in different countries, the salience of the public finances in individuals' lives, together with the perceived prevalence of illegal behaviours, is important. A comparison of attitudes in Italy and in the UK indicates that Italians are more likely to more heavily punish these crimes and to commit these crimes. The present study sheds insight when explaining why ‘gamekeepers’ who call for the harshest punishments are the individuals who are more likely to act as ‘poachers’ themselves. There is a distinction between what individuals wish for themselves in a ‘private-person’ role and what they wish for others in a ‘public-citizen’ role – would-be poachers are harsh gamekeepers

Viable pathogen aerosols produced during laser dermatology surgery - a quantified analysis

The use of laser processes for surgical, medical and cosmetic procedures has been increasing with five hundred thousand workers exposed to laser surgical smoke per year. The use of lasers introduces direct beam hazards into the environment but also generates unique hazards such as material ejected from the laser process. Within this material can be potentially harmful particulate when inhaled by humans, accompanying this particulate is a foul unwanted odour. Along with the generation of these particles it is extremely possible for viable biological organisms to be generated with the particulate. Airborne particulate matter or bio-aerosols are not just a hazard to the patient, but also to other people in the environment around the laser process. The aim of this paper is to investigate and quantify the aerosol danger to both patients and operators when utilising lasers within surgical procedures, while suggesting a suitable initial solution. The tailored research for this aim will focus on whether a suitable extraction system can be developed and the effects that different types of lasers have on the size and visuals of any particulate generated. To determine whether there is a risk of infection and to ascertain the level of infection control, the possibility of viable bio-aerosols being detected after a laser process should be considered. The experiments are split into 3 sections; section 1 is the testing of the extraction system using a smoke generation system to ascertain visual proof of a functioning extraction system, section 2 is the testing of the effect of laser irradiance on the tissue simulant to determine the effect of varying laser types on the particulate generated and section 3 is the generation and measurement of bio-aerosols with the use of bio markers to test for survival of laser processing and transmission

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in individuals with pre-existing mental illness

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected mental health, but most studies have been conducted in the general population. AIMS: To identify factors associated with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with pre-existing mental illness. METHOD: Participants (N = 2869, 78% women, ages 18–94 years) from a UK cohort (the National Centre for Mental Health) with a history of mental illness completed a cross-sectional online survey in June to August 2020. Mental health assessments were the GAD-7 (anxiety), PHQ-9 (depression) and WHO-5 (well-being) questionnaires, and a self-report question on whether their mental health had changed during the pandemic. Regressions examined associations between mental health outcomes and hypothesised risk factors. Secondary analyses examined associations between specific mental health diagnoses and mental health. RESULTS: A total of 60% of participants reported that mental health had worsened during the pandemic. Younger age, difficulty accessing mental health services, low income, income affected by COVID-19, worry about COVID-19, reduced sleep and increased alcohol/drug use were associated with increased depression and anxiety symptoms and reduced well-being. Feeling socially supported by friends/family/services was associated with better mental health and well-being. Participants with a history of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or eating disorder were more likely to report that mental health had worsened during the pandemic than individuals without a history of these diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: We identified factors associated with worse mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with pre-existing mental illness, in addition to specific groups potentially at elevated risk of poor mental health during the pandemic

Linking Mother and Youth Parenting Attitudes: Indirect Effects via Maltreatment, Parent Involvement, and Youth Functioning

Evidence suggests that parenting attitudes are transmitted within families. However, limited research has examined this prospectively. The current prospective study examined direct effects of early maternal attitudes toward parenting (as measured at child age 4 by the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory [AAPI]) on later youth parenting attitudes (as measured by the AAPI at youth age 18). Indirect effects via child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional maltreatment), parent involvement, and youth functioning (internalizing and externalizing problems) were also assessed. Analyses were conducted on data from 412 families enrolled in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). There were significant direct effects for three of the four classes of mother parenting attitudes (appropriate developmental expectations of children, empathy toward children, and appropriate family roles) on youth attitudes but not for rejection of punishment. In addition, the following indirect effects were obtained: Mother expectations influenced youth expectations via neglect; mother empathy influenced youth empathy via both parental involvement and youth externalizing problems; and mother rejection of punishment influenced youth rejection of punishment via youth internalizing problems. None of the child or family process variables, however, affected the link between mother and youth attitudes about roles

Linking Childhood Sexual Abuse and Early Adolescent Risk Behavior: The Intervening Role of Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

A robust literature links childhood sexual abuse (CSA) to later substance use and sexual risk behavior; yet, relatively little empirical attention has been devoted to identifying the mechanisms linking CSA to risky behavior among youth, with even less work examining such processes in boys. With the aim of addressing this gap in the literature, the current study examined the indirect effect of childhood sexual abuse (CSA; from age 2 to 12) trajectory group on risky behavior at age 14 (alcohol use & sexual intercourse) via the intervening role of caregiver-reported internalizing and externalizing problems at age 12. Analyses were conducted with a subsample of youth (n = 657 sexual intercourse; n = 667 alcohol use) from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), a multisite prospective study of youth at risk for maltreatment. For boys and girls, there was an indirect effect from CSA to sexual intercourse through externalizing problems. The same pattern emerged for alcohol use, but only for girls. Findings did not support an indirect path through internalizing problems for either boys or girls for either outcome. Findings suggest more focal targets for prevention efforts aimed at maintaining the health and safety of maltreated boys and girls during the adolescent transition