Willughby’s angel: the pintailed sandgrouse (Pterocles alchata)

Among paintings of birds thought to have been bought in 1663 in Nuremberg by Francis Willughby, and now housed in Nottingham University library, is the painting of a bird called Jangle de Languedoc. Unlike some of the other drawings, this particular one was never used by Ray in his Ornithology of Francis Willughby (1678), who had difficulty in identifying the bird. We show here that this painting was not bought in Nuremberg, but that it was obtained by Ray from Sir Thomas Crew, during his stay in Montpellier in 1665. Furthermore, had Ray looked at Gessner (Historiae animalium liber III qui est de avium natura. Christophus Froschoverus, Tiguri, 1555), Aldrovandi (Ornithologiae, tomus alter. Bononiae, apud Franciscum de Franciscis Senensem, 1600), Jonston (Historiae naturalis de avibus libri VI. Matthaeus Merianus, Frankfurt, 1650) and mostly at Charleton (Gualteri Charletoni Exercitationes de Differentiis & Nominibus Animalium. Theatro Sheldoniano, Oxford, 1677), he would have been able to identify the bird of the painting as alchata or “angel”, specifically a pintailed sandgrouse, Pterocles alchata.     

It’s a dog-eat-croc world: dingo predation on the nests of freshwater crocodiles in tropical Australia

Predation on eggs is an important source of mortality for many long-lived organisms, but causes of egg mortality from specific predators remain poorly known in most cases. Understanding the identity of predators, and the rates and determinants of their effects on a cohort of recruits, can provide a valuable background for attempts to exploit, control or conserve populations. We used remotely triggered cameras to study predation on the nests of freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni) inhabiting Lake Argyle, in tropical Australia. We also supplemented our work on natural crocodile nests with artificial nests. Overall, 80 of 111 natural nests were opened by predators, and predation occurred throughout the study period (7 weeks). Unlike in other parts of the species’ range, most nest-robbers were dingoes (Canis lupus dingo, responsible for 98% of all predator visits in the northern sites, and 54% in the Ord River site), with minimal additional predation by reptiles and birds. Contrary to expectation, rates of nest predation were not influenced by spatial clumping of nests: the probability of predation per nest did not change with total numbers of nests laid in an area, and artificially aggregated versus dispersed nests experienced similar levels of predation. Nest vulnerability was linked to abiotic features including slope of surrounding banks, compactness of nesting substrate, and distance from the nearest forest. Abundant aquatic food resources support a large crocodile population, but a lack of suitable nest-sites forces the crocodiles to concentrate nesting in small areas readily accessible to wide-ranging nest predators. Collectively, our results suggest that distinctive attributes of the lakeside landscape alter predator guilds and fashion unique predator–prey interactions.     

Seasonal and diel budgets of song: a study of Savi’s warbler (Locustella luscinioides)

Seasonal and diel patterns of singing activity of Savis warblers (Locustella luscinioides) were studied in two areas of Central Europe 300 km apart, over a period of 18 years. We assess about 4,600 records of individuals singing. Males were found to exhibit similar singing activity in both study sites. They started to sing after arrival at the beginning of April and peaked from the end of April to the beginning of May. Thereafter, their singing activity was lower but more stable for a relatively long period from mid-May to mid-July. At the end of July, males sang only sporadically and singing activity ceased at the beginning of August. At the beginning and towards the end of the song-period males sang sporadically whereas in the period of the highest singing activity they sang over the entire 24-h period. During the whole song-period, there was a significant difference in singing activity between daylight and the dark (67.2 and 32.8%, respectively). However, the period of daylight was longer. Average singing activity showed similar levels in daylight and the dark with mean numbers of 5.9 and 6.6 males per hour, respectively. Major changes in singing activity were related to the twilight periods. There were distinctive dawn and dusk choruses. In the morning, Savis warblers exhibited similar levels of singing activity over 3 h of the dark before twilight, singing reached its highest level at twilight and 1 h after twilight. During the evening, singing activity reached its highest-level 1 h before twilight, while during twilight it was decreasing, with a considerable decline 1 h after nightfall.     

Zinner’s syndrome: report of two cases and review of the literature

Background

Congenital malformations of the seminal vesicle are uncommon, and most of them are cystic malformations. If an insult occurs between the 4th and the 13 h gestational week, the embryogenesis of the kidney, ureter, seminal vesicle, and vas deferens could be altered. Cysts of the seminal vesicle may appear with a mass effect, dysuria, epididymitis, or obstruction of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts. Approximately two thirds of them are associated with ipsilateral renal agenesis, because both the ureteral buds and seminal vesicles originate from the mesonephric (Wolffian) duct. They were first described by Zinner in 1914, and 200 cases of seminal vesicle cysts associated with ipsilateral renal agenesis have been reported in the literature. Most patients with this anomaly are asymptomatic until the third or fourth decade of life. Some cases have nonspecific symptoms such as prostatism, urinary urgency, dysuria, painful ejaculation, and perineal discomfort. Transrectal ultrasonography provides good visualization of the pelvic structures and allows guidance for aspiration of the cysts.

Case presentation

We present two cases of seminal vesicle cyst. The first patient had dysuria, increased frequency of urination, and haematuria. He was operated and benefited from a removal of the cyst with right ureterectomy and left ureteral reimplantation. The second patient had disorder of the digestive transit and he benefited from a laparoscopic removal of the cyst.

Conclusions

Seminal vesicle cysts combined with ipsilateral renal agenesis are rare urological anomalies. Usual symptoms that are caused by the seminal vesicle cysts are bladder irritation and obstruction as well as pain in the perineum and scrotum. Epididymitis is frequently found. Treatment consists to removing the seminal vesicle cyst.

     

Neotropical Monogenoidea. 54. Proposal of Aetheolabes n. g. (Dactylogyrinea: Diplectanidae), with the description of A. goeldiensis n. sp. from the gills of ‘pescada’ Plagioscion sp. (Teleostei: Sciaenidae) in Brazil

Aetheolabes goeldiensis n. g., n. sp. (Diplectanidae) is described from the gills of ‘pescada’ Plagioscion sp. (Sciaenidae) collected from the Baía de Marajó, about 30 km north of Belém, Pará, Brazil. The monotypic Aetheolabes n. g. is characterised, in part, by its type-species having the haptor and haptoral sclerites modified as a clasp for attachment to the gill tissue of its host, the copulatory complex situated far posterior to the intestinal bifurcation near the mid-length of the trunk, the vaginal pore apparently within the genital atrium, the tegument lacking scales, anchors atypical for diplectanids, and by lacking peduncular spines and squamodiscs. A. goeldiensis n. sp. closely resembles Diplectanum umbrinum Tripathi, 1957 from India and China by the haptoral sclerites forming a clasp, but differs from it primarily by the orientation of the reproductive organs and absence of squamodiscs.     

Demography of the Heike firefly Luciola lateralis (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), a representative species of Japan’s traditional agricultural landscape

Populations of the Heike firefly, Luciola lateralis, a representative species of Japan’s traditional agricultural landscape (known as satoyama), have recently experienced rapid declines in many areas of Japan. Owing to the popularity of this firefly, many local communities have increased conservation efforts through the restoration of aquatic habitat complexes in satoyama. To provide fundamental parameters to predict population dynamics of the firefly, we conducted a mark–recapture study in restored paddy fields, and we estimated adult population parameters such as population size, survival, recruitment, sex ratio, and body size. We found that capture probability generally decreased as the season advanced, probably because of seasonal changes in detectability and/or firefly behavior. The daily survival rate of adults decreased over the season and may be related to a seasonal decline in adult body size. Adult population exhibited a highly male-biased sex ratio. Firefly abundance in the restored paddy fields doubled during the 4-year study period. Our analysis showed that adult detectability, recruitment, and survival rate are seasonally variable and could affect population size estimates obtained by a simple flash census. The mark–recapture technique can provide precise estimates of adult L. lateralis population characteristics and, thus, is a valuable method for predicting firefly populations and assessing the success of the restoration program.     

Ultrastructure and elemental composition of the eggshell of Reeve’s pheasant ( Syrmaticus reevesii )

The eggshell of Reeve’s pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) collected from the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve in Henan Province, China was studied. By using scanning electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry, the ultrastructure and elemental composition of the eggshell was determined. The study showed that the average thickness of the surface layer of crystals, the palisade and cone layer, and the eggshell membrane were 20.8, 220.8 and 62.5 μm, respectively, accounting for 6.8%, 72.6% and 20.6% of the total thickness of the eggshell. There were many vesicular holes in the palisade layer with an average diameter of 0.32 ± 0.08 μm (n = 30). The function of these holes might be significant to air exchange. The shape of the eggshell pore on the surface layer of crystals is round or elliptical. The fracture surface of the pore is funnel-shaped. Some granules filled the upper part of the eggshell pores. The content of 21 elements in the eggshell of wild and captive Reeve’s pheasants was compared and presented. It indicated that among the elements that made up the eggshell of the wild pheasant, the content of Ca, Mg, P and S was much higher, ω > 1 mg/g, with ω (Ca) being higher than 40% of the eggshell. The contents of Na, Si, Sr, K and Al were ω = 0.1–1 mg/g, while Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn, Cu, V and Ti had lower concentrations (ω = 1–100 μg/g). The ω of Ni, Cr, Co, Se, Cd were lower than 1 μg/g. The elemental composition in the eggshell of the captive Reeve’s pheasant kept in the Dongzhai National Natural Reserve was significantly different from that of the wild species, with a difference of over 20% on S, Cu, Fe, Al, Mn, Si, Sr, Se and Cr. The lower intake of Fe, Mn, Si and Sr on the one hand and the higher intake of S, Cu, Al and Cr on the other hand might be responsible for the low fertility of captive Reeve’s pheasants in the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve. In order to ensure that the pheasants are receiving the proper amount of nutrition and to improve their breeding success, the amount of certain elements in the food should be adjusted. Translated from Journal of Beijing Normal University (Natural Science), 2006, 42(1): 78–82 [译自: 北京师范大学学报 (自然科学版)]     

Cercarial chaetotaxy of Echinostoma miyagawai Ishii, 1932 (Digenea: Echinostomatidae), with a review of the sensory patterns in the ‘revolutum’ group

Systematic Parasitology - The chaetotaxy of cercaria of the echinostome Echinostoma miyagawai, found in naturally infected Planorbis planorbis in a brackish water lake in Bulgaria, is described and...     

Masson’s tumor of the kidney: a case report

Background

Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (known also as Masson’s tumor) is a benign vascular lesion that commonly occurs in the skin and is rarely found in solid organs, especially in the kidney. In what follows, we will look into the first case of an unexpectedly diagnosed Masson’s tumor of the kidney presenting as a suspicious renal cyst.

Case presentation

A 61-year-old Arab man presented with a left renal cyst, incidentally revealed by ultrasonography. The laboratory values were unremarkable. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a 38 mm left renal midportion Bosniak IV cyst. Our patient underwent a radical nephrectomy. Histopathology revealed the diagnosis of intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia. There was no recurrence detected after 9 years of follow-up.

Conclusions

Renal intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia is a rare benign tumor which can mimic a suspicious renal mass on radiological findings. Thus, this entity should be considered more often in the thick of the diagnostic possibilities in order to avoid unnecessary nephrectomies.

     

Diet and ingestion of synthetics by Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea off southern Brazil

Cory’s Shearwater, Calonectris diomedea, is a pelagic seabird that winters in the waters off the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. Elsewhere, its diet is comprised mostly of fish and cephalopods, but dietary details out of the breeding season are unknown. The present study analysed the diet of Cory’s Shearwater along the coast of Rio Grande do Sul based on the stomach contents of 185 birds found dead during beach surveys between July 1997 and July 1998. Food items were classified taxonomically and non-food items were categorized. The taxa identified included the cephalopods Argonauta nodosa and Histioteuthis sp. and the fish Paralonchurus brasiliensis, Porichthys porosissimus, and Prionotus punctatus. Cephalopods were present in 97% of stomachs and fish in 33% of stomachs. Synthetic materials were found in 81% of stomachs. Our data corroborate the general ideas of Procellariiform diet during migration. The high amount of synthetic materials indicates the pollution of the marine environments of southern Brazil and we call attention to this situation.     

Usefulness of core needle biopsy for the diagnosis of thyroid Burkitt’s lymphoma: a case report and review of the literature

Background

Thyroid lymphomas are an exceptional finding in patients with thyroid nodules. Burkitt’s lymphoma is one of the rarest and most aggressive forms of thyroid lymphomas, and its prognosis depends on the earliness of medical treatment. Given the rarity of this disease, making a prompt diagnosis can be challenging. For instance, fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology, which is the first-line diagnostic test that is performed in patients with thyroid nodules, is often not diagnostic in cases of thyroid lymphomas, with subsequent delay of the start of therapy.

Case presentation

Here we report the case of a 52-year-old woman presenting with a rapidly enlarging thyroid mass. Thyroid ultrasonography demonstrated a solid hypoechoic nodule. FNA cytology was only suggestive of a lymphoproliferative disorder and did not provide a definitive diagnosis. It is core needle biopsy (CNB) that helped us to overcome the limitations of routine FNA cytology, showing the presence of thyroid Burkitt’s lymphoma. Subsequent staging demonstrated bone marrow involvement. The early start of an intensive multi-agent chemotherapy resulted in complete disease remission. At 60 months after the diagnosis, the patient is alive and has not had any recurrence.

Conclusions

Clinicians should be aware that thyroid Burkitt’s lymphoma is an aggressive disease that needs to be treated with multi-agent chemotherapy as soon as possible. To diagnose it promptly, they should consider to order/perform a CNB in any patient with a rapidly enlarging thyroid mass that is suspicious for lymphoma.

     

Dynamic complexity of visuo-motor coordination: an extension of Bernstein’s conception of the degrees-of-freedom problem

 Extending Bernstein’s spatial conception of the degrees-of-freedom problem in the human motor system, we introduce a method developed from the theory of non-linear dynamics that allows one to quantify the spatio-temporal, i.e. dynamic, complexity of visuo-motor coordination. The correlation dimension D is used to measure the effective number of dynamic degrees of freedom in the coordination that a subject uses when performing a visuo-motor tracking task. The validity of the estimator employed is demonstrated. Visuo-motor coordination had a low-dimensional (mean D±SD=6.07 ±0.82) dynamic structure, which was consistent with deterministic chaos rather than with pure stochastic noise. D correlated with tracking performance, P. Both D and P were closely related to the degree of visuo-motor compatibility that the task presented to the subject. However, for short periods of training P increased, but D did not. As these seemingly contradictory results suggest, our dynamic conception of the degrees-of-freedom problem may reveal far more intricate visuo-motor interactions than Bernstein could identify on the basis of his spatial analyses of bodily movement patterns and by the methods of evaluation that were available to him at the time. Received: 19 April 1995/Accepted in revised form: 17 June 1996     

The impact of heat waves on children’s health: a systematic review

Young children are thought to be particularly sensitive to heat waves, but relatively less research attention has been paid to this field to date. A systematic review was conducted to elucidate the relationship between heat waves and children’s health. Literature published up to August 2012 were identified using the following MeSH terms and keywords: “heatwave”, “heat wave”, “child health”, “morbidity”, “hospital admission”, “emergency department visit”, “family practice”, “primary health care”, “death” and “mortality”. Of the 628 publications identified, 12 met the selection criteria. The existing literature does not consistently suggest that mortality among children increases significantly during heat waves, even though infants were associated with more heat-related deaths. Exposure to heat waves in the perinatal period may pose a threat to children’s health. Pediatric diseases or conditions associated with heat waves include renal disease, respiratory disease, electrolyte imbalance and fever. Future research should focus on how to develop a consistent definition of a heat wave from a children’s health perspective, identifying the best measure of children’s exposure to heat waves, exploring sensitive outcome measures to quantify the impact of heat waves on children, evaluating the possible impacts of heat waves on children’s birth outcomes, and understanding the differences in vulnerability to heat waves among children of different ages and from different income countries. Projection of the children’s disease burden caused by heat waves under climate change scenarios, and development of effective heat wave mitigation and adaptation strategies that incorporate other child protective health measures, are also strongly recommended.     

Evolution of the African slippery frogs (Anura: Conraua), including the world’s largest living frog

Although Conraua goliath is well known as the largest living frog species, the diversity and evolution of the genus Conraua across sub-Saharan Africa remain poorly understood. We present multilocus phylogenetic analyses of the six currently recognized species that provide insights into divergence times, biogeography, body size evolution and undescribed species. An analysis of divergence times demonstrates that crown-group Conraua arose some time during the latest Oligocene to mid-Miocene followed by divergence into major lineages in the mid-Miocene that may reflect the fragmentation of widespread tropical forests in Africa that began at this time. We find three pairs of sister species, C. crassipes + C. beccarii, C. alleni + C. derooi and C. goliath + C. robusta, each of which diverged during the Miocene. These relationships reject phylogenetic hypotheses based solely on biogeography as the geographically peripheral C. beccarii from north-eastern Africa is nested within western African species and the Central African species do not form a clade. Our species delimitation analyses provide support for undescribed species in C. alleni, C. beccarii and C. derooi, and possibly C. crassipes, suggesting that the current taxonomy substantially underestimates species diversity. There is no clear directional trend of either increasing or decreasing body size in Conraua and the three largest species do not form a clade. With a robust phylogenetic hypothesis in hand, further field-based studies are needed to understand the evolution of morphology and life history in this charismatic African anuran clade.     

Revisiting the ‘cornerstone of Amazonian conservation’: a socioecological assessment of Brazil nut exploitation

The Brazil nut (the seeds of the rainforest tree Bertholletia excelsa) is the only globally traded seed collected from the wild by forest-based harvesters across the Amazon basin. The large geographic scale of Brazil nut exploitation and the significant contributions to local livelihoods, national economies, and forest-based development over the last decades, merit a review of the “conservation-through-use” paradigm. We use Elinor Ostrom’s framework for assessing sustainability in socioecological systems: (1) resource unit, (2) users, (3) governance system, and (4) resource system, to determine how different contexts and external developments generate specific conservation and development outcomes. We find that the resource unit reacts robustly to the type and level of extraction currently practiced; that resource users have built on a self-organized system that had defined boundaries and access to the resource; that linked production chains, market networks and informal financing work to supply global markets; and that local harvesters have used supporting alliances with NGOs and conservationists to formalize and secure their endogenous governance system and make it more equitable. As a result, the Brazil nut model represents a socioecological system that may not require major changes to sustain productivity. Yet since long-term Brazil nut production seems inextricably tied to a continuous forest cover, and because planted Brazil nut trees currently provide a minimal contribution to total nut production basin-wide, we call to preserve, diversify and intensify production in Brazil nut-rich forests that will inevitably become ever more integrated within human-modified landscapes over time.     

Yeast: the soul of beer’s aroma—a review of flavour-active esters and higher alcohols produced by the brewing yeast

Among the most important factors influencing beer quality is the presence of well-adjusted amounts of higher alcohols and esters. Thus, a heavy body of literature focuses on these substances and on the parameters influencing their production by the brewing yeast. Additionally, the complex metabolic pathways involved in their synthesis require special attention. More than a century of data, mainly in genetic and proteomic fields, has built up enough information to describe in detail each step in the pathway for the synthesis of higher alcohols and their esters, but there is still place for more. Higher alcohols are formed either by anabolism or catabolism (Ehrlich pathway) of amino acids. Esters are formed by enzymatic condensation of organic acids and alcohols. The current paper reviews the up-to-date knowledge in the pathways involving the synthesis of higher alcohols and esters by brewing yeasts. Fermentation parameters affecting yeast response during biosynthesis of these aromatic substances are also fully reviewed.     

Going with the flow: a brief history of the study of the honeybee’s navigational ‘odometer’

Honeybees navigate to a food source using a sky-based compass to determine their travel direction, and an odometer to register how far they have travelled. The past 20 years have seen a renewed interest in understanding the nature of the odometer. Early work, pioneered by von Frisch and colleagues, hypothesized that travel distance is measured in terms of the energy that is consumed during the journey. More recent studies suggest that visual cues play a role as well. Specifically, bees appear to gauge travel distance by sensing the extent to which the image of the environment moves in the eye during the journey from the hive to the food source. Most of the evidence indicates that travel distance is measured during the outbound journey. Accumulation of odometric errors is restricted by resetting the odometer every time a prominent landmark is passed. When making detours around large obstacles, the odometer registers the total distance of the path that is flown to the destination, and not the “bee-line” distance. Finally, recent studies are revealing that bees can perform odometry in three dimensions.     

Micropropagation of Populus trichocarpa ‘Nisqually-1’: the genotype deriving the Populus reference genome

Populus serves as a model tree for biotechnology and molecular biology research due to the availability of the reference genome sequence of Populus trichocarpa (Torr. & Gray) genotype ‘Nisqually-1’. However, ‘Nisqually-1’ has been shown to be very recalcitrant to micropropagation, regeneration and transformation. In this study, a highly efficient micropropagation protocol from greenhouse-grown shoot tips of ‘Nisqually-1’ was established. The optimal micropropagation protocol involves growing in vitro shoots in plant growth regulator-free Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with 3% sucrose, 0.3% Gelrite^? and 5–10 g L⁻¹ of activated charcoal. Plants grown on this medium were significantly longer, and contained significantly higher concentrations of chlorophyll. This highly effective protocol provides a consistent supply of quality leaf and stem materials throughout the year for transformation experiments and other in vitro manipulations, therefore eliminating inconsistency due to seasonal and greenhouse environmental variations and the need for repetitive tissue sterilization.     

The rebound effect through industrial ecology’s eyes: a review of LCA-based studies

Purpose

Industrial ecology academics have embraced with great interest the rebound effect principle operationalised within energy economics. By pursuing more comprehensive assessments, they applied tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) to appraise the environmental consequences of the rebound effect. As a result, the mainstream rebound mechanism was broadened and a diversity of (sometimes inconsistent) definitions and approaches unveiled. To depict the state of play, a comprehensive literature review is needed.

Methods

A literature review has been carried out by targeting scientific documents relevant for the integration of the rebound effect into LCA-based studies. The search was conducted using two approaches: (1) via online catalogues using a defined search criterion and (2) via cross-citation analysis from the documents identified through the first approach.

Results and discussion

By analysing a total of 42 works yielded during our review, it was possible to bring together the various advantages of the life cycle perspective, as well as to identify the main inconsistencies and uninformed claims present in literature. Concretely, three main advantages have been identified and are discussed: (1) the representation of the rebound effect as a multi-dimensional, life cycle estimate, (2) the improvement of the technology explicitness and (3) the broadening of the consumption and production factors leading to the rebound effect. Also, inconsistencies on the definition and classification of the rebound effect have been found among studies.

Conclusions

The review contributes a number of valuable insights to understand how the rebound effect has been treated within the industrial ecology and LCA fields. For instance, the conceptual and methodological refinements introduced by these fields represent a step forward from traditional viewpoints, making the study of the rebound effect more comprehensive and meaningful for environmental assessment and policy making. However, the broadened scope of this new approach unveiled some conceptual inconsistencies, which calls for a common framework. This framework would help the LCA community to consistently integrate the rebound effect as well as to create a common language with other disciplines, favouring learning and co-evolution. We believe that our findings can serve as a starting point in order to delineate such a common framework.     

Mitochondrial DNA suggests independent evolutionary history and population decline of the Menzbir’s pipit (Anthus [gustavi] menzbieri)

In this study we use mtDNA ND2 gene (1041 bp) to evaluate the relationship between Menzbir’s (Anthus [gustavi] menzbieri) and Pechora (A. [g.] gustavi) pipits. Menzbir’s pipit is listed in the regional Red Data Book as a distinct, rare species with a small range. We obtained 18 Pechora pipit samples from two localities and 8 Menzbir’s pipit samples from a single locality. Sequences of the two taxa appear reciprocally monophyletic and are separated by 6 substitutions (0.6% divergence). Differences between the taxa explained 62.4% of the variation in our dataset. Differences among individuals within localities explained 34.8%, whereas differences between the two Pechora pipit localities explained only 2.8%. Mismatch distributions suggest that unlike the Pechora pipit localities, which either have experienced recent population growth or sustain a stable population size, the Menzbir’s pipit population may be declining. Our results suggest distinct taxonomic and conservation status for the Menzbir’s pipit.