Species Survival in Fragmented Landscapes: Where to From Here?

We summarise the contributions of empiricists, modellers, and practitioners in this issue of Biodiversity and Conservation, and highlight the most important areas for future research on species survival in fragmented landscapes. Under the theme uncertainty in research and management, we highlight five areas for future research. First, we know little about the effects of density dependence on the viability of metapopulations, a requirement for fragmented landscapes. Second, successful early attempts suggest that it is worth developing more rigorous calibration methods for population viability analysis with spatially explicit, individual-based models. In particular, the balance between model complexity, ease of calibration, and precision, needs to be addressed. Third, we need to improve methods to discriminate between models, including alternatives to time-series approaches. Fourth, when our ability to reduce model uncertainty is weak, we need to incorporate this uncertainty in population viability analysis. Fifth, population viability analysis and decision analysis can be integrated to make uncertainty an explicit part of the decision process. An important future direction is extending the decision framework to adaptive management. Under the theme tools for quantifying risk and predicting species sensitivity to fragmentation, we highlight three areas for future research. First, we need to develop tools to support comparative approaches to population viability analysis. Second, population modelling can be used to find rules of thumb to support conservation decisions when very little is known about a species. Rules of thumb need to be extended to the problem of managing for multiple species. Third, species traits might be useful for predicting sensitivity but predictions could be further refined by considering the relative importance of population processes at different scales. Under the theme tools for reassembling fragmented landscapes, we consider the focal species approach, and highlight aspects of the approach that require more rigorous testing. Finally, we highlight two important areas for future research not presented in the previous themes or papers in this volume. First, we need to incorporate the deterministic effects of habitat modification into the modelling framework of population viability analysis. Second, an avenue of research that remains largely unexplored is the combination of landscape-scale experiments and population modelling, especially using data from existing fragmentation experiments and from experiments designed to test the effects of defragmenting landscapes.     

Metallohistins: a new class of plant metal-binding proteins

Two small multimeric histidine-rich proteins, AgNt84 and Ag164, encoded by two nodule-specific cDNAs isolated from nodule cDNA libraries of the actinorhizal host plant Alnus glutinosa, represent a new class of plant metal binding proteins. This paper reports the characterization of the purified in vitro-expressed proteins by size exclusion chromatography, circular dichroism, equilibrium dialysis, metal affinity chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. These analyses reveal that each polypeptide is capable of binding multiple atoms of Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Hg²⁺. A reversible shift in histidine C1 and C2 protons in NMR analysis occurred during titration of this protein with ZnCl₂ strongly suggesting that histidine residues are responsible for metal binding. AgNt84 and Ag164 are not related to metal binding metallothioneins and phytochelatins and represent a new class of plant metal binding proteins that we propose to call metallohistins. Possible biological roles in symbioses for AgNt84 and Ag164, and their potential for use in bioremediation are discussed.     

Effect of EDTA and Tannic Acid on the Removal of Cd,Ni, Pb and Cu from Artificially Contaminated Soil by Althaea rosea Cavan

In this study an ornamental plant of Althaea rosea Cavan was investigated for its potential use in the removal of Cd, Ni, Pb and Cu from an artificially contaminated soil. Effect of two different chelating agents on the removal has also been studied by using EDTA (ethylenediaminetetracetic acid) and TA (tannic acid). Both EDTA and TA have led to higher heavy metal concentration in shoots and leaves compared to control plants. However EDTA is generally known as an effective agent in metal solubilisation of soil, in this study, TA was found more effective to induce metal accumulation in Althaea rosea Cavan under the studied conditions. In addition to this, EDTA is toxic to some species and restraining the growth of the plants. The higher BCF (Bio Concentration Factor) and TF (Translocation Factor) values obtained from stems and leaves by the effects of the chemical enhancers (EDTA and TA) show that Althaea rosea Cavan is a hyper accumulator for the studied metals and may be cultivated to clean the contaminated soils.     

The Open AUC Project

Progress in analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) has been hindered by obstructions to hardware innovation and by software incompatibility. In this paper, we announce and outline the Open AUC Project. The goals of the Open AUC Project are to stimulate AUC innovation by improving instrumentation, detectors, acquisition and analysis software, and collaborative tools. These improvements are needed for the next generation of AUC-based research. The Open AUC Project combines on-going work from several different groups. A new base instrument is described, one that is designed from the ground up to be an analytical ultracentrifuge. This machine offers an open architecture, hardware standards, and application programming interfaces for detector developers. All software will use the GNU Public License to assure that intellectual property is available in open source format. The Open AUC strategy facilitates collaborations, encourages sharing, and eliminates the chronic impediments that have plagued AUC innovation for the last 20 years. This ultracentrifuge will be equipped with multiple and interchangeable optical tracks so that state-of-the-art electronics and improved detectors will be available for a variety of optical systems. The instrument will be complemented by a new rotor, enhanced data acquisition and analysis software, as well as collaboration software. Described here are the instrument, the modular software components, and a standardized database that will encourage and ease integration of data analysis and interpretation software.     

sFas levels increase in response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy in lung cancer patients

The Fas/Fas Ligand (FasL) system and survivin have counteracting roles in cell survival. Therefore, we explored the role of circulating soluble Fas (sFas) and the tissue levels of Fas and survivin with regard to response to chemotherapy in lung cancer patients. Serum samples from 52 lung cancer patients and 54 control subjects (19 benign lung disease and 35 healthy control subjects) were collected prior to and 24 and 48 h after chemotherapy. sFas was statistically significantly higher in the cancer group than that in the control groups (p < 0.001). Baseline (before chemotherapy) sFas values showed a statistically significant inverse correlation with overall survival (r = ?0.599, p < 0.001). There was a significant increase in serum sFas levels 24 h after treatment (p < 0.05). Contrarily, tissue levels of Fas and survivin were not changed following the chemotherapy (p > 0,05). In conclusion, increased sFas may be an indicator of poor outcome in lung cancer patients. However, cisplatin‐based chemotherapy may not be effective via neither the Fas/FasL system nor survivin pathway. Indeed, larger sample size is required for further evaluation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential diagnosis of Charcot arthropathy and osteomyelitis

Foot problems are common causes of morbidity in patients with diabetes mellitus. Foot ulcers are the leading cause of hospitalization in diabetic patients. Bones may be involved in two different clinical conditions: osteomyelitis and Charcot osteoarthropathy. Osteomyelitis usually develops by spreading from contiguous soft tissue to underlying bone. Charcot foot is deformation of foot as a result of muscle athrophy, bone and joint structure changes in a joint as a secondary complication of neuropathy. To distinguish bone infection from non-infectious bone disorders as in Charcot joint may be difficult, especially if there is no skin ulceration. So, the mere absence of skin ulcers does not exclude the diagnosis of osteomyelitis.     

A new therapeutic approach in Alzheimer disease: some novel pyrazole derivatives as dual MAO-B inhibitors and antiinflammatory analgesics

The increasing life expectancy in our population makes Alzheimer's disease (AD) a growing public health problem. There is a great need to find a way to prevent and delay the disease. It was shown that monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) inhibitors and antiinflammatory agents might be effective in treating AD. Therefore, a novel series of 1-thiocarbamoyl-3-substituted phenyl-5-(2-pyrrolyl)-4,5-dihydro-(1H)-pyrazole derivatives as promising MAO-B inhibitors was synthesized and investigated for the ability to inhibit selectively the activity of the A and B isoforms of monoamine oxidase (MAO). Most of the synthesized compounds showed high activity against both the MAO-A (compounds 3e-3h) and the MAO-B (compounds 3i-3l) isoforms. All the synthesized compounds were also tested for their in vivo antiinflammatory activity by two different bioassays namely, carrageenan-induced oedema and acetic acid-induced increase in capillary permeability in mice. In addition, analgesic and ulcerogenic activities were determined. The combined antiinflammatory data from in vivo animal models showed that compound 3k exhibited anti-inflammatory activity comparable to that of indomethacin with no ulcerogenic effects. Since compound 3k exhibits both antiinflammatory-analgesic activity and MAO-B inhibition, it needs further detailed studies.     

The effect of osteoporosis on self-report sleep quality in postmenopausal women

We aimed to show the effect of osteoporosis on sleep quality in 59 postmenopausal women. The participants’ bone-mineral density levels were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). According to their DEXA results, participants were divided into two groups as osteoporotics and controls. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate sleep quality. Fourteen osteoporotic women (43.8%) and four controls (14.8%) were “poor” sleepers (p < 0.05). Postmeno-pausal women with osteoporosis scored greater on the “sleep latency” and “sleep duration” components of PSQI than controls. According to the findings of our study, osteoporosis is a risk factor for poor sleep quality in postmenopausal women.

     

Abundance of introduced species at home predicts abundance away in herbaceous communities

Many ecosystems worldwide are dominated by introduced plant species, leading to loss of biodiversity and ecosystem function. A common but rarely tested assumption is that these plants are more abundant in introduced vs. native communities, because ecological or evolutionary-based shifts in populations underlie invasion success. Here, data for 26 herbaceous species at 39 sites, within eight countries, revealed that species abundances were similar at native (home) and introduced (away) sites - grass species were generally abundant home and away, while forbs were low in abundance, but more abundant at home. Sites with six or more of these species had similar community abundance hierarchies, suggesting that suites of introduced species are assembling similarly on different continents. Overall, we found that substantial changes to populations are not necessarily a pre-condition for invasion success and that increases in species abundance are unusual. Instead, abundance at home predicts abundance away, a potentially useful additional criterion for biosecurity programmes.