Growth of lowland native children of European Ancestry during sojourn at high altitude (3,200 m)

The moderate growth retardation frequently observed among children living at high altitude is usually assumed to result from hypoxic stress. However, such children are frequently from the poorer socioeconomic strata of their societies and may suffer malnutrition, poor hygiene, inadequate medical care, and overcrowding—factors also associated with growth retardation. The objective of this study was to determine if there is a statistically observable alteration in the growth of middle-class children of European ancestry during sojourn at high altitude. Semilongitudinal height/weight measurements were gathered retrospectively from medical records of 18 boys and 17 girls who were born at low altitude, were well-nourished and clinically normal, and who had lived at Achoma, Peru (altitude 3,200 m), continuously for 9–36 months. Measurements were divided, by sex, into four cohorts: I (3–6 months at Achoma), II (6–12 months), III (12–18 months), and IV (18–24 months); initial, presojourn, height and weight were also obtained. All heights and weights were normalized with age-specific reference values. Changes in Z scores (ΔZ) during sojourn were calculated for each subject by subtracting the score of the presojourn value from those of cohorts I–IV. Paired t-tests revealed, among the boys, a significant decline in Z score for weight during sojourn in all four cohorts. Weight scores for the girls also declined in all four cohorts, although only the change in cohort III was significant. Height scores showed a decline with time at sojourn in the boys, but in girls there is an initial drop followed by a steady increase to presojourn levels. These results are consistent with the view that moderate hypoxia exerts a primary growth-limiting effect even on healthy, well-nourished children.     

Traits help explain species' performance away from their climate niche centre

Aim

Climate change impacts on biota are variable across sites, among species and throughout individual species' ranges. Niche theory predicts that population performance should decline as site climate becomes increasingly different from the species' climate niche centre, though studies find significant variation from these predictions. Here, we propose that predictions about climate responses can be improved by incorporating species' trait information.

Location

Europe.

Methods

We used observations of plant species abundance change over time to assess variation in climate difference sensitivity (CDS), defined as how species performance (colonization, extinction and abundance change) relates to the difference of site climate from the mean temperature and precipitation of each species' range. We then investigated if leaf economics, plant size and seed mass traits were associated with the species' CDS.

Results

Species that performed better (e.g. increased in abundance) towards sites progressively cooler than their niche centre were shorter and had more resource-acquisitive leaves (i.e. lower leaf dry matter content or LDMC) relative to species with zero or the opposite pattern of temperature difference sensitivity. This result supports the hypothesis that if sites cooler than niche centres are more stressful for a species, then shorter stature is advantageous compared with taller species. The LDMC result suggests the environment selects for more resource-acquisitive leaf strategies towards relatively cooler climates with shorter growing seasons, counter to expectations that conservative strategies would be favoured in such environments. We found few consistent relationships between precipitation difference sensitivities and traits.

Main Conclusions

The results supported key a priori foundations on how trait-based plant strategies dictate species responses to climate variation away from their niche centre. Furthermore, plant height emerged as the most consistent trait that varied with species CDS, suggesting height will be key for theory development around species response to climate change.     

Development of hyperspectral imaging as a bio-optical taxonomic tool for pigmented marine organisms

Reflection spectra obtained from hyperspectral imaging can be used as a bio-optical taxonomic identification tool if the pigment composition and the corresponding optical absorption signatures of an organism are known. In this study we elucidate species-specific absorption and corresponding reflection signatures of marine organisms and discuss optical fingerprints from underwater hyperspectral imaging (UHI) for future automated identification of organisms on the seafloor. When mounted on underwater robots, UHI has the potential to be a time- and cost-efficient identification and mapping method covering large areas over a short time. Hyperspectral imaging in vivo and in situ were used to obtain species-specific reflection signatures (optical fingerprints). High performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance were used for pigment identification and to obtain species-specific absorption signatures of four marine benthic species; the spoonworm Bonellia viridis, and the sponges Isodictya palmata, Hymedesmia paupertas and Hymedesima sp. Species-specific optical fingerprints based on a UHI-based reflectance signature were verified successfully in the organisms investigated.     

Feeding interactions between the introduced ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi and juvenile herring Clupea harengus in the Wadden Sea

We analysed feeding interactions between Mnemiopsis leidyi and juvenile Clupea harengus in the Wadden Sea. Biomass, diet overlap, prey selectivity, predation impact and stable isotope composition (C, N) of both species were assessed from June to September 2010. High biomass of C. harengus was found in June and July (wet weight 3.0 ± 1.8 g m^?3) followed by a steep decline from August to September (wet weight 0.01 ± 0.01 g m^?3), coinciding with a dramatic increase in M. leidyi biomass (wet weight 18.3 ± 16.1 g m^?3 during August). These two species showed a high overlap in their respective diets (copepods, meroplankton) during the study period. Predation impact of C. harengus on calanoid copepods was highest in June and July where 84 and 41 % of the standing stock were eaten per day in June and July, respectively. Predation impact of M. leidyi on calanoid copepods was highest in September (16 %). Based on stable isotope analysis C. harengus and M. leidyi were assigned to a trophic level of 3.08 and 2.47, respectively. Furthermore, we assessed the potential of competition between M. leidyi and C. harengus in a mesocosm experiment. Results indicated that at present zooplankton densities intraspecific competition in C. harengus seemed to be greater than interspecies competition with M. leidyi. Due to the low predation impact of M. leidyi and the reduced temporal overlap, competition between M. leidyi and C. harengus during the study period was estimated as low. Nevertheless, considering the high dietary overlap and the inter-annual variation in biomass and occurrence of both species and their zooplankton prey, competition in the Wadden Sea area cannot be excluded.     

Actinobacillus Pleuropneumoniae Serotype 5, Subtypes a and b: Cross Protection Experiments

Vaccination of pigs with a killed culture of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 5, strain K17 (subtype a) afforded a high degree of protection against challenge with strains L20 and T928 (subtype b). The reverse experiment showed that strain L20 gave good protection against challenge with strain K17 whereas strain T928 did not afford an acceptable protection against challenge with this strain. The considerable cross immunity shown to exist between strains K17 and L20 indicates a high degree of homogeneity of the antigenic determinants of the two strains involved in induction of protective immunity and suggest that antibodies to capsular subtype specific determinants may not play a significant role in the specific defence against A. pleuropneumoniae strains belonging to serotype 5. The finding that a vaccine prepared from strain T928 did not afford an acceptable protection against challenge with strain K17 indicates a variable expression among serotype 5 strains of the antigenic determinants which induce protective immunity against A. pleuropneumoniae infection.     

From a crisis to an opportunity: Eight insights for doing science in the COVID‐19 era and beyond

The COVID‐19 crisis has forced researchers in Ecology to change the way we work almost overnight. Nonetheless, the pandemic has provided us with several novel components for a new way of conducting science. In this perspective piece, we summarize eight central insights that are helping us, as early career researchers, navigate the uncertainties, fears, and challenges of advancing science during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We highlight how innovative, collaborative, and often Open Science‐driven developments that have arisen from this crisis can form a blueprint for a community reinvention in academia. Our insights include personal approaches to managing our new reality, maintaining capacity to focus and resilience in our projects, and a variety of tools that facilitate remote collaboration. We also highlight how, at a community level, we can take advantage of online communication platforms for gaining accessibility to conferences and meetings, and for maintaining research networks and community engagement while promoting a more diverse and inclusive community. Overall, we are confident that these practices can support a more inclusive and kinder scientific culture for the longer term.     

What’s in the body? Children’s annotated drawings

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a study of children’s ideas of the body’s internal structure. Children between four and 13 years (N = 170) individually produced drawings. During each drawing session the children explained their drawings to a facilitator and added written labels either by themselves or, if they were too young to write, with the facilitator’s help. The results provide an updated comprehensive picture of children in different age groups and their views on the internal structure of the body. The type and numbers of organs drawn are similar to those documented in previous studies. However, in comparison to recent studies, the children drew more organs, the brain was indicated almost as often as the heart, and the Valentine heart was frequently used as a symbol. In contrast with previous research, children drew connections between organs. This result calls for caution regarding conclusions made from decontextualized questions. The importance of providing children with the opportunity to clarify their drawings is emphasised since it otherwise becomes a question of the researcher’s interpretation. The connections they draw, and explanations they give to their drawings, have interesting implications for understanding children’s ideas, and hence both for teaching and learning and for science education research.