46 research outputs found
An undescribed Ninox hawk owl from the highlands of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia?
No full textB. Madika, D.D. Putra, J.B.C. Harris, D.L. Yong, F.N. Mallo, A. Rahman, D.M. Prawiradilaga and P.C. Rasmussenhttp://www.boc-online.org/bulletins/bulletin131.ht
Pollen diversity matters: revealing the neglected effect of pollen diversity on fitness in fragmented landscapes
No full textFew studies have documented the impacts of habitat fragmentation on plant mating patterns together with fitness. Yet, these processes require urgent attention to better understand the impact of contemporary landscape change on biodiversity and for guiding native plant genetic resource management. We examined these relationships using the predominantly insect-pollinated Eucalyptus socialis. Progeny were collected from trees located in three increasingly disturbed landscapes in southern Australia and were planted out in common garden experiments. We show that individual mating patterns were increasingly impacted by lower conspecific density caused by habitat fragmentation. We determined that reduced pollen diversity probably has effects over and above those of inbreeding on progeny fitness. This provides an alternative mechanistic explanation for the indirect density dependence often inferred between conspecific density and offspring fitness.Martin F. Breed, Maria H. K. Marklund, Kym M. Ottewell, Michael G. Gardner, J. Berton C. Harris and Andrew J. Low
The tropical frontier in avian climate impact research
No full textJ. Berton C. Harris, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Navjot S. Sodhi, Damien A. Fordham, David C. Paton & Barry W. Broo
Conserving imperiled species: a comparison of the IUCN Red List and U.S. Endangered Species Act
No full textAbstract
The United States conserves imperiled species with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). No studies have evaluated the ESA's coverage of species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, which is an accepted standard for imperiled species classification. We assessed the ESA's coverage of IUCN‐listed birds, mammals, amphibians, gastropods, crustaceans, and insects, and studied the listing histories of three bird species and Pacific salmonids in more detail. We found that 40.3% of IUCN‐listed U.S. birds are not listed by the ESA, and most other groups are underrecognized by >80%. Species with higher IUCN threat levels are more frequently recognized by the ESA. Our avian case studies highlight differences in the objectives, constraints, and listing protocols of the two institutions, and the salmonids example shows an alternative situation where agencies were effective in evaluating and listing multiple (related) species. Vague definitions of
endangered
and
threatened
, an inadequate ESA budget, and the existence of the
warranted but precluded
category likely contribute to the classification gap we observed.
J. Berton C. Harris, J. Leighton Reid, Brett R. Scheffers, Thomas C. Wanger, Navjot S. Sodhi, Damien A. Fordham & Barry W. Broo
Analysis of recovery patterns of Indian Ocean coral reefs through examination of scleractinian communities and populations
No full textThis thesis examines the colony size structure and taxonomic composition of coral
communities from eight regions of the Indian Ocean approximately 10 years after
thermal stress-induced mass mortality events. Coral community composition and
population structure differed widely within and between regions, reflecting the
different climatic and anthropogenic impacts experienced by each over the past
decade.
Coral communities in most areas started from a similarly depleted condition but after
1998 their recovery trajectories varied significantly, reflecting different surviving adult
communities and continuing, different local stressors; some have remained highly
depleted, while others have shown marked recovery. Profound differences between
coral communities at intra and inter-regional spatial scales are identified and related to
diversity and taxonomic composition, colony abundance, surface area, size frequency
distributions, and population demographic parameters within taxa. These are
analysed through multivariate techniques and univariate graphical representations to
illustrate the significantly different size frequency distributions, taxonomic
composition, taxonomic richness and dominance patterns at different spatial scales.
A novel technique is assessed for surveying juvenile coral communities, using
ultraviolet light, which causes new, growing tissue to fluoresce. This method
significantly increases detected juveniles, with important consequences to size
frequency patterns and to some previously published views on juvenile densities.
The surveying methodologies used are far more revealing than most commonly-used
conventional benthic assessments such as intercept surveys, cover values and
diversity, which rarely capture discriminatory information on overall composition of
coral communities, let alone the structure of populations within them. These colony
size-based studies of individual genera are extremely sensitive for interpreting spatial
and temporal variations in reefs and greatly enhance understanding of coral reef
condition and complexity.
The spatial differences demonstrate the applicability of the methods for advising reef
management, specifically in identifying areas where ecological resilience is impeded by
recruitment failure. Long-term consequences of changes in coral communities may
include reduced ecological functional redundancy, reduced structural complexity,
reduced carbonate accretion and reef growth, and impaired recovery potential
Insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia associated diseases not included in the metabolic syndrome
No full textIn the past years, in Brazil and in developed countries, obesity has become a major public health problem. It was identified that besides DM2 and metabolic syndrome other clinical entities were associated with insulin resistance. In this review we describe some of these alterations emphasizing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, but also including polycistic ovary disease, hyperuricemia, chronic renal failure, heart failure, cognitive decline and cancer.Nos últimos anos, no Brasil e em países do mundo desenvolvido, a obesidade se tornou um problema de saúde pública mais importante que a desnutrição. Com o aumento de prevalência de obesidade, identificouse que, além do DM2 e da síndrome metabólica, outras entidades clínicas também estavam associadas à resistência à insulina. Nesta revisão, abordaremos algumas destas alterações, com destaque para a doença hepática gordurosa não alcoólica, mas incluindo também a SOP, a hiperuricemia, a doença renal crônica, a insuficiência cardíaca, alterações cognitivas e câncer502360367Sheth, S.G., Gordon, F.D., Chopra, S., Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (1997) Ann Intern Med, 126, pp. 137-145Angulo, P., Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (2002) N Engl J Med, 346, pp. 1221-1231Sass, D.A., Chang, P., Chopra, K.B., Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A clinical review (2005) Dig Dis Sci, 50, pp. 171-180Carvalheira, J.B., Ribeiro, E.B., Folli, F., Velloso, L.A., Saad, M.J., Interaction between leptin and insulin signaling pathways differentially affects JAK-STAT and PI 3-kinase-mediated signaling in rat liver (2003) Biol Chem, 384, pp. 151-159Uygun, A., Kadayifci, A., Yesilova, Z., Erdil, A., Yaman, H., Saka, M., Serum leptin levels in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (2000) Am J Gastroenterol, 95, pp. 3584-3589Chitturi, S., Farrell, G., Frost, L., Kriketos, A., Lin, R., Fung, C., Serum leptin in NASH correlates with hepatic steatosis but not fibrosis: A manifestation of lipotoxicity? (2002) Hepatology, 36, pp. 403-409Kleiner, D.E., Brunt, E.M., Van Natta, M., Behling, C., Contos, M.J., Cummings, O.W., Design and validation of a histological scoring system for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (2005) Hepatology, 41, pp. 1313-1321Neuschwander-Tetri, B.A., Brunt, E.M., Wehmeier, K.R., Oliver, D., Bacon, B.R., Improved nonalcoholic steatohepatitis after 48 weeks of treatment with the PPARg ligand rosiglitazone (2003) Hepatology, 38, pp. 1008-1017Promrat, K., Lutchman, G., Uwaifo, G.I., Freedman, R.J., Soza, A., Heller, T., A pilot study of pioglitazone treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (2004) Hepatology, 39, pp. 188-196Marchesini, G., Brizi, M., Bianchi, G., Tomassetti, S., Zoli, M., Melchionda, N., Metformin in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (2001) Lancet, 358, pp. 893-894Sanyal, A.J., Mofrad, P.S., Contos, M.J., Sargeant, C., Luketic, V.A., Sterling, R.K., A pilot study of vitamin E versus vitamin E and pioglitazone for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (2004) Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2, pp. 1107-1115Abdelmalek, M.F., Angulo, P., Jorgensen, R.A., Sylvestre, P.B., Lindor, K.D., Betaine, a promising new agent for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: Results of a pilot study (2001) Am J Gastroenterol, 96, pp. 2711-2717Dunaif, A., Insulin resistance and the polycystic ovary syndrome: Mechanism and implications for pathogenesis (1997) Endocr Rev, 18, pp. 774-800Nestler, J.E., Jakubowicz, D.J., Evans, W.S., Pasquali, R., Effects of metformin on spontaneous and clomiphene-induced ovulation in the polycystic ovary syndrome (1998) N Engl J Med, 338, pp. 1876-1880Carvalho, C.R., Carvalheira, J.B., Lima, M.H., Zimmerman, S.F., Caperuto, L.C., Amanso, A., Novel signal transduction pathway for luteinizing hormone and its interaction with insulin: Activation of Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription and phosphoinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathways (2003) Endocrinology, 144, pp. 638-647Wyngaarden, J.B., Kelley, W.N., Gout (1983) Metabolic Basis of Inherited Disease. 5th Ed., p. 1043. , New York: McGraw-HillZavaroni, I., Mazza, S., Fantuzzi, M., Dall'Aglio, E., Bonora, E., Delsignore, R., Changes in insulin and lipid metabolism in males with asymptomatic hyperuricaemia (1993) J Intern Med, 234, pp. 25-30Chen, J., Muntner, P., Hamm, L.L., Jones, D.W., Batuman, V., Fonseca, V., The metabolic syndrome and chronic kidney disease in US adults (2004) Ann Intern Med, 140, pp. 167-174Jones, C.A., Francis, M.E., Eberhardt, M.S., Chavers, B., Coresh, J., Engelgau, M., Microalbuminuria in the US population: Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2002) Am J Kidney Dis, 39, pp. 445-459Palaniappan, L., Carnethon, M., Fortmann, S.P., Association between microalbuminuria and the metabolic syndrome: NHANES III (2003) Am J Hypertens, 16, pp. 952-958Clausen, P., Jensen, J.S., Jensen, G., Borch-Johnsen, K., Feldt-Rasmussen, B., Elevated urinary albumin excretion is associated with impaired arterial dilatory capacity in clinically healthy subjects (2001) Circulation, 103, pp. 1869-1874Kambham, N., Markowitz, G.S., Valeri, A.M., Lin, J., D'Agati, V.D., Obesity-related glomerulopathy: An emerging epidemic (2001) Kidney Int, 59, pp. 1498-1509Cohen, A.H., Massive obesity and the kidney. A morphologic and statistical study (1975) Am J Pathol, 81, pp. 117-130Ingelsson, E., Sundstrom, J., Arnlov, J., Zethelius, B., Lind, L., Insulin resistance and risk of congestive heart failure (2005) JAMA, 294, pp. 334-341Burchfiel, C.M., Skelton, T.N., Andrew, M.E., Garrison, R.J., Arnett, D.K., Jones, D.W., Metabolic syndrome and echocardiographic left ventricular mass in blacks: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study (2005) Circulation, 112, pp. 819-827Carvalheira, J.B., Calegari, V.C., Zecchin, H.G., Nadruz Jr., W., Guimarães, R.B., Ribeiro, E.B., The cross-talk between angiotensin and insulin differentially affects phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase- and mitogen-activated protein kinase-mediated signaling in rat heart: Implications for insulin resistance (2003) Endocrinology, 144, pp. 5604-5614Carvalho, C.R., Thirone, A.C., Gontijo, J.A., Velloso, L.A., Saad, M.J., Effect of captopril, losartan, and bradykinin on early steps of insulin action (1997) Diabetes, 46, pp. 1950-1957Yaffe, K., Kanaya, A., Lindquist, K., Simonsick, E.M., Harris, T., Shorr, R.I., The metabolic syndrome, inflammation, and risk of cognitive decline (2004) JAMA, 292, pp. 2237-2242Calle, E.E., Kaaks, R., Overweight, obesity and cancer: Epidemiological evidence and proposed mechanisms (2004) Nat Rev Cancer, 4, pp. 579-591(2002) IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention, Weight Control and Physical Activity, , Lyon: International Agency for Research on CancerIn the past years, in Brazil and in developed countries, obesity has become a major public health problem. It was identified that besides DM2 and metabolic syndrome other clinical entities were associated with insulin resistance. In this review we describe some of these alterations emphasizing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, but also including polycistic ovary disease, hyperuricemia, chronic renal failure, heart failure, cognitive decline and cance
Changes in autumn arrival of long-distance migratory birds in Southeast Asia
No full textClimate-change-induced phenological changes in migratory birds are predicted from ecological theory and have been well-documented in temperate-zone breeding areas. By contrast, changes in arrival date on tropical wintering grounds have not been reported. To address this gap, we analysed birdwatchers’ records of first arrival dates of 9 species of long-distance migratory birds in Singapore from 1987 to 2009. The study species included 1 raptor, 3 waders and 5 passerines. We compared the relative influence of year, Southern Oscillation Index and observer effort on arrival date. There was strong evidence for an arrival delay of approximately 2 d yr-1 (95% confidence intervals of 1-3 d) in Japanese sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis and curlew sandpiper Calidris ferruginea, but there was no change in arrival date for the other 7 species. We hypothesise that climate change is causing a shift in migration timing for some birds in Southeast Asia. A mechanism for the delay in these long-distance migrants may be that warmer temperatures enable species to remain on northern breeding grounds longer. Delayed arrival on the wintering grounds may have cascading effects on a migratory species’ annual cycle, for example by influencing the arrival date at the breeding grounds, which can impact fitness. These potential impacts underscore the need for further work on the effects of climate change on migratory species in the tropics.J. Berton C. Harris, Ding Li Yong, Navjot S. Sodhi, R. Subaraj, Damien A. Fordham, Barry W. Broo
Biogeochemical and contaminant cycling in sediments from a human-impacted coastal lagoon – Introduction and summary
No full textFrom 2001 to 2003, the Microbent project (‘‘Biogeochemical processes at the water sediment interface in eutrophic environment’’) was carried out within the framework of the Programme National Environnement Coˆtier, the French contribution to LandeOcean Interaction in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ). The Microbent programme was focused on the study of
sediment biogeochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, sulphur, iron, nitrogen, and phosphorus in relation to the faunal activity in the sediment and their relation with the mobility of metallic contaminants at the sedimentewater interface (SWI) in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Thau lagoon, France; Fig. 1). The aim of Microbent was to set up an interdisciplinary study bringing together geochemists, sedimentologists, and biologists in order to understand and quantify the main reaction pathways, and the fluxes of contaminants at the SWI, including those related to benthic fauna. Work was focused on the processes which generate contaminant fluxes: (1) early diagenetic processes, which generate the chemical conditions of the environment; (2) processes leading to the transfer of contaminants from particles toward biofilms, water column, and organisms; and (3) processes of sediment mixing by organisms and sediment accumulation
Modelling and simulation of a biomimetic underwater vehicle
No full textThis paper describes work carried out at the
University of Glasgow investigating biomimetic
fish-like propulsion systems for underwater
vehicles. The development of a simple
mathematical model is described for a
biomimetic fish like vehicle which utilizes a
tendon drive propulsion system. This model is
then compared with a model of a vehicle of
similar size but with a propeller for main
propulsion. Simulation results for both models
are shown and compared
Studies of enzyme inhibitors and endochitinase in seeds of job’s tears (Coix lachryna-jobi)
No full textStudies of the purification, characterization and primary structure of protein inhibitors of trypsin and -amylase from seeds of Job's Tears (Coix lachryma-jobi) were undertaken. The major trypsin inhibitor from seeds of Coix was purified by heat treatment, fractional precipitation with ammonium sulphate, ion-exchange chromatography, gel filtration and preparative reversed-phase HPLC. The complete amino acid sequence was determined by analysis of peptides derived from the reduced and S- carboxymethylated protein by digestion with trypsin, chymotrypsin and the S.aureus V8 protease. The polypeptide contained 64 amino acids with a high content of cysteine. The sequence exhibited strong similarity with a number of Bowman-Birk inhibitors from legume and cereal seeds. A protein inhibitor of locust gut ζ-amylase was purified from seeds of Coix using ammonium sulphate precipitation, affinity chromatography on Red Sepharose and reversed-phase HPLC. It consisted of two major isomers, each a dimer of two identical or closely similar subunits of M(_r) about 26 400. These two isomers also had very similar amino acid compositions. The major isomer showed no inhibitory activity against amylases from other sources: human saliva, porcine pancreas, B. subtilis. A. oryzae and barley malt. The manual DABITC/PITC method was used to determine about half of the amino acid sequence of the major isoform. This showed a high degree of similarity with previously reported sequences of endochitinase enzymes from several species (tobacco, potato, barley, bean). Endochitinase activity was demonstrated by following the release of radioactivity from [(^3)H] chitin. As far as can be ascertained from the literature this is the first characterization of a plant protein with activity as an enzyme and as an enzyme inhibitor. Preliminary molecular studies were also carried out, including the isolation and in vitro translation of mRNA fractions from developing seeds of Coix
