Assessing prey provisioned to Common Buzzard Buteo buteo chicks: a comparison of methods

Capsule: Methods of assessing raptor diet carry significant inherent biases which can vary over time.

Aims: To compare methods of assessing Common Buzzard Buteo buteo diet composition and assess how any differences vary between years.

Methods: Diet was assessed at 32 Common Buzzard nests on an area of upland heather moorland in Britain, managed for Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica, over three years. Data obtained from nest cameras were compared with data from prey remains and regurgitated pellets.

Results: Diet composition differed between methods in all years. Methodological differences varied between years in relation to an almost twelve-fold change in Field Vole abundance, a key prey of Common Buzzards, while abundances of alternative prey changed little. Small mammals were underestimated by prey remains in all three years, while herpetofauna were underestimated by prey remains and pellets in two years. Large birds were overestimated by prey remains, significantly so in one year. Pellets overestimated invertebrates in all years. By combining prey remains and pellets, significant yearly variations in biases were eliminated, although the combined measure overestimated large birds and invertebrates.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that future studies should consider not only how chosen methods may affect results, but also how effects can differ between years.     

Habitat associations of young Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix broods

Capsule: In the Scottish Highlands, Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix females with young broods selected areas rich in wet flushes, grasses and Sphagnum mosses.

Aims: To identify associations between young Black Grouse broods and habitat characteristics.

Methods: We located brood-rearing Black Grouse females in four areas of moorland-forest mosaic in the Scottish Highlands. Each brood was paired with a random reference location 100?m away. We recorded cover of different habitats and fine-scale vegetation and structure within squares of 1 and 0.25?ha, respectively. Associations between brood occurrence and habitat and vegetation variables were examined at the two scales.

Results: Black Grouse broods were positively associated with wet flushes (1?ha), and with Heather Calluna vulgaris, sedges Carex spp., grasses, Sphagnum mosses and taller vegetation with intermediate levels of height variability (0.25?ha).

Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of wet habitats for young Black Grouse chicks. In addition, relatively tall field-layer vegetation comprising Heather, sedges, grasses over a layer of Sphagnum mosses attracted brood-rearing Black Grouse females. Many management practices associated with peatland restoration, including drain-blocking, Sphagnum re-establishment and the avoidance of burning on deep peat soils, are therefore consistent with favourable habitat management for Black Grouse.     

The role of habitat change in driving Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix population declines across Scotland

Capsule Black Grouse declines across Scotland were greatest on less heterogeneous moorland, at low to intermediate altitudes and, more weakly, around post-thicket woodland.

Aims To examine correlates of change in abundance of Black Grouse across Scotland.

Methods Changes in abundance within 5-km squares between national surveys in 1995/96 and 2005 were modelled in relation to measures of habitat cover and woodland age derived from satellite imagery.

Results Populations across Scotland were most stable where unenclosed moorland comprised rough grassland, intermediate heather cover and at higher altitude. Declines tended to be greatest in squares which had transitioned from pre-thicket to closed-canopy woodland.

Conclusion Moorland will be most beneficial where it is heterogeneous in composition, and the role of woodland maturation in driving regional declines has support, albeit more weakly, at a national scale.     

Assessing the impact of extreme flooding on survival in a southern European population of White-throated Dippers Cinclus cinclus

Capsule: There were only weak effects of winter flooding episodes on apparent annual survival of a White-throated Dipper breeding population in northern Iberia.

Aims: To test whether extreme winter flooding episodes affected survival in a breeding population of White-throated Dippers Cinclus cinclus.

Methods: Dippers were ringed during the breeding seasons of seven consecutive years on rivers in northern Iberia. Cormack–Jolly–Seber models were used to estimate apparent annual survival in relation to flooding during the winter periods.

Results: We obtained weak evidence for an effect of flooding during the winter on the surveyed population. Two of the six winters were characterized by having an exceptionally high discharge. Our models showed that survival in the subsequent breeding period tended to be lower, although models assuming constant survival were equally well supported.

Conclusion: Extreme flooding in winter may affect survival of some White-throated Dippers in northern Iberia, but its impact at the population level seems to be weak.     

Circulating levels of apoptotic markers and oxidative stress parameters in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a case-controlled descriptive study

Context: Apoptotic dysregulation plays a role in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Objective: To evaluate circulatory apoptotic markers and oxidative stress in patients with PCOS.

Materials and methods: Forty-four women with PCOS, and 44 healthy women as controls were enrolled in the study. Oxidative stress parameters and caspases levels were measured in serum.

Results: The caspase 9 level was significantly lower and related with oxidant status in patients with PCOS, while the circulating levels of caspases 3 and 7 were statistically similar in both groups.

Discussion: This study is the first report demonstrating the circulating levels of apoptotic markers and their relationship with oxidant status in PCOS.

Conclusion: The circulating caspase 9 and oxidant status might contribute to apoptotic dysregulation in PCOS.     

Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with higher carboxymethyllysine level in elderly women but not elderly men in the cardiovascular health study

Context: Carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) results from oxidative stress and has been linked to cardiovascular disease.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) – a source of oxidative stress – and CML.

Materials and methods: About 1002 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) were studied.

Results: Women with SDB had significantly higher CML concentration compared with those without SDB (OR?=?1.63, 95%CI?=?1.03–2.58, p?=?0.04). The association was not significant among men.

Discussion: SDB was associated with CML concentration among elderly women but not men in the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Conclusion: Accumulation of CML may be an adverse health consequence of SDB     

Trends in breeding phenology across ten decades show varying adjustments to environmental changes in four wader species

Capsule: During 1928–2016, initiation of egg-laying advanced in two wader species, remained unchanged in one, and was delayed in one species. The changes across years and variation among species can be explained by climatic variables and differences in migratory strategies.

Aims: To document possible changes in initiation of egg-laying in common Danish wader species since the early part of the 20th century and seek possible correlations between egg-laying, timing of arrival and environmental factors.

Methods: Annual records of the first eggs and chicks found on the scientific reserve of Tipperne in western Denmark 1928–2016 were analysed using linear regression to determine patterns in timing of egg-laying, pre-breeding length and influence of climate factors.

Results: Two short/medium-distance migrant wader species, Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus and Common Redshank Tringa totanus advanced breeding initiation by about one week, with winter North Atlantic oscillation Index and spring temperature as important predictors. By contrast, two long-distance migrants, Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa and Ruff Calidris pugnax, did not advance egg-laying, and Ruff actually delaying it. As a result, the pre-laying period was significantly prolonged in both Black-tailed Godwit (21 days) and Ruff (52 days), while there was no significant change for Common Redshank.

Conclusion: Long-distance migrants are able to adjust spring arrival but unlike short/medium-distance migrants, do not necessarily adjust breeding initiation.     

Biomarker discovery for drug-induced phospholipidosis: phenylacetylglycine to hippuric acid ratio in urine and plasma as potential markers

Context: Drug-induced phospholipidosis is one of the significant concerns in drug development, especially in safety assessment and noninvasive diagnostic tool is highly desirable.

Objective: The objective of this study is to explored novel biomarkers for phospholipidosis using a metabolomic approach.

Method: NMR spectrometry and LC/MS/MS analyses were applied to urine and plasma of rats administrated cationic amphiphilic drugs.

Results: The phenylacetylglycine to hippuric acid ratio in plasma was increased in time and dose-dependent manners; and it was well correlated with histopathological observation.

Conclusion: The plasma phenylacetylglycine to hippuric acid ratio is a potential marker in monitoring drug-induced phospholipidosis.     

Beta-2-glycoprotein-1 and alpha-1-antitrypsin as urinary markers of renal cancer in von Hippel–Lindau patients

Context: Von Hippel–Lindau disease (VHLD) is a rare inherited neoplastic syndrome. Among all the VHLD-associated tumors, clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the major cause of death.

Objective: The aim of this paper is the discovery of new non-invasive biomarker for the monitoring of VHLD patients.

Materials and methods: We compared the urinary proteome of VHLD patients, ccRCC patients and healthy volunteers.

Results: Among all differentially expressed proteins, alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) and APOH (beta-2-glycoprotein-1) are strongly over-abundant only in the urine of VHLD patients with a history of ccRCC.

Discussion and conclusion: A1AT and APOH could be promising non-invasive biomarkers.     

Seed depletion and landscape structure affect aggregative response in two wintering passerine birds

Capsule: Seed abundance but also seed depletion during winter modifies habitat use and aggregation behaviour of Eurasian Sky Lark Alauda arvensis and Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis.

Aims: To investigate the effect of seed abundance on the density of two passerine birds, the Eurasian Sky Larks and the Meadow Pipit, at an agricultural landscape scale during winter.

Methods: Bird counts as well as seed density measurements were carried out in winter to quantify the aggregative response of farmland birds to seed abundance from November to March.

Results: Seed resources varied by a factor of ten between crop types, but declined so sharply over the winter that seed abundance was low and similar among crop types by late winter. Sky Larks selected for higher seed density plots, but only at the end of winter when the resources were the lowest. Conversely, Meadow Pipits did not show any aggregative response to seed abundance.

Conclusion: These results show that an uptake of seed-rich habitats in agricultural landscape would be very beneficial for wintering granivorous birds, by fulfilling the late winter ‘hungry gap’. The inclusion of seed mixtures in habitats that attract high densities of birds and retain seeds until late winter is of primary interest.     

The invertebrate diet of Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix chicks: a comparison between northern England and the Scottish Highlands

Capsule: Conservation programmes for Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix need to consider managements that increase invertebrates for chicks.

Aims: To compare invertebrates in chick diet between habitat and region and to relate abundance of preferred invertebrates to Black Grouse breeding success.

Methods: Chick faeces were collected from roosts in the Pennines (northern England) and Perthshire (Scottish Highlands) to identify invertebrates eaten. Larval abundance was determined by sweep netting (Pennines) and related to Black Grouse breeding success.

Results: Invertebrates were recovered out of 98 faecal samples from 63 broods. Ants were more numerous in chick diet in Perthshire, with larvae (both sawflies and moths) more numerous in the Pennines. Sawfly larval abundance was positively correlated with Black Grouse breeding success in the Pennines.

Conclusions: Management for Black Grouse should promote high invertebrate abundance to maintain high breeding success. This may be achieved through creating low-intensity grazed moorland fringes to encourage Bilberry, and associated moth caterpillars, adjacent to areas of higher grazing intensity to retain grasses and rushes that host sawfly larvae.     

Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo feed on larger fish in late winter

Capsule: Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo prey on larger fish in late winter compared to early winter.

Aims: This study aimed to describe Cormorant diet and to discover whether prey size changed during winter.

Methods: The diet of Cormorants was studied using regurgitated pellets collected from roosting places at the upper Elbe River, Czech Republic, during winter (from December to March).

Results: The diet consisted of 24 fish species from 6 fish families. Roach Rutilus rutilus dominated in the diet (over 50% of biomass). Size of fish in the diet increased over time during the whole winter. Except for European Chub Squalius cephalus, the increased size applied for the majority of the most frequently consumed fish species: Roach, European Perch Perca fluviatilis and White Bream Abramis brama. Cormorants consumed mostly fish species of lower commercial and angling value.

Conclusion: Fisheries management should reflect on the fact that competition for larger-sized fish is the highest in late winter and in early spring. For that reason, stocking of potentially vulnerable fish could be delayed to the time when overwintering birds leave the area and recreational fishing could be restricted in late winter.     

Association of IL-10 (-819T/C, -592A/C and -1082A/G) and IL-6 -174G/C gene polymorphism and the risk of pneumonia-induced sepsis

Context: Association between inherited variants and the risks of sepsis is controversial.

Objective: To evaluate the risk of pneumonia-induced sepsis by examining its linkage with polymorphisms of IL-6 and IL-10.

Materials and methods: Samples were obtained from 188 pneumonia-induced sepsis patients, 162 pneumonia patients and 200 healthy controls.

Results: Subjects with IL-10 -1082 AA genotypes and IL-6 -174?CC genotype had a higher risk of sepsis and increased mRNA levels.

Conclusion: The variants of IL-10 -1082 A allele and IL-6 -174 C allele contributed to an increased risk of pneumonia-induced sepsis.     

Differential expression of circulating vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in subjects with coronary artery disease and cardiac syndrome X without known diabetes mellitus

Context: Inflammation is one of the mechanisms underlying cardiac syndrome X (CSX).

Objectives: Few studies have compared the expression of inflammatory or adhesion molecules between coronary artery disease (CAD) versus CSX.

Materials and methods: Ninety-two CSX and 145 CAD subjects without known diabetes mellitus underwent coronary angiogram for angina.

Results: Vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 (median, 507 versus 431?ng/ml, p?=?0.001) was significantly higher in the CAD group. In the binary regression, VCAM-1 was a significant differential factor for CAD versus CSX.

Discussion and conclusion: Adhesion molecules might be implicated in the differential expression of macro versus microvascular coronary disease.

Trial registration number: NCT01198730 at https://clinicaltrials.gov     

Soluble CD40 ligand in haemodialysis patients: survival impact and cardiovascular prognostic role

Context: Soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40l) can predict cardiovascular events (CVE) and mortality in haemodialysis (HD) patients (short-, medium-term follow-up studies).

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between sCD40l and survival, CVE and mortality in HD patients on long-term follow-up.

Methods: We registered 46?HD patients’ baseline characteristics, mortality and CVE for 108 months.

Results: SCD40l correlated positively with C-reactive protein, was higher in survivors, but had no impact on survival and was not predictive for CVE or CV mortality.

Conclusion: The levels of sCD40l have no influence on survival or CVE and mortality in HD patients in a long-term follow-up.     

Release kinetics of high-sensitivity cardiac troponins I and T and troponin T upstream open reading frame peptide (TnTuORF) in clinically induced acute myocardial infarction

Context: Troponin T upstream open reading frame peptide (TnTuORF) may be useful as a novel biomarker in acute cardiac syndromes.

Objective: The study examined the early release kinetics of TnTuORF.

Materials and methods: We analyzed the time course of the release of cardiac troponins I and T and TnTuORF in patients (n?=?31) with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy undergoing transcoronary ablation of septal hypertrophy (TASH).

Results: Fifteen minutes after TASH, the levels of both troponins increased significantly (cTnT median: 18?ng/L versus 27?ng/L; cTnI median: 15?ng/L versus 25?ng/L). TnTuORF showed no variation.

Discussion: We observed a significantly greater increase in cTnI compared with cTnT.

Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that troponin assays allow early detection of myocardial injury, whereas TnTuORF levels remain unchanged in this setting.     

Pre-fledging survival in a Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis population in northern Iberia is mostly determined by hatching date

Capsule: Pre-fledging survival in a Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis population in northern Iberia is negatively correlated to hatching date.

Aims: To explore which factors have more importance in determining the pre-fledging daily survival rates in a Yellow-legged Gull population from northern Iberia. Specifically, we tested for the effect of hatching date and order, body size and condition and meteorological conditions on pre-fledging survival.

Methods: Cormack–Jolly–Seber models with mixtures were used to model daily survival rates.

Results: Daily survival rates were mostly negatively affected by hatching date.

Conclusions: Hatching date was the most important factor affecting survival of chicks during the pre-fledging period in a Yellow-legged Gull colony from northern Iberia.     

Mutation in the beta3 subunit of Guanine nucleotide-binding protein (GNB3) gene is not associated with Type II diabetes mellitus risk: a case–control study of a North Indian population

Context: Genetics play a major role in development and pathophysiology of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Objective: To asses the association of Guanine nucleotide-binding protein (GNB3) (C825T) gene's polymorphism with T2DM.

Materials and methods: A case–control study including 400 North Indians was performed using Polymerase Chain Reaction–Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) approach to analyze genetic polymorphism.

Results: No significant difference was observed in genotype and allele frequencies of GNB3 gene on comparing cases with controls.

Discussion: Our study is in agreement with studies on Polish, Japanese, Hispanic-American and Danish populations who observed no significant association between GNB3 (C825T) polymorphism and T2DM.

Conclusion: GNB3 (C825T) polymorphism is not associated with T2DM.     

Elevated serum YKL-40 levels in patients with Kawasaki disease

Context: YKL-40 is an inflammatory biomarker for endothelial dysfunction that may have a role in Kawasaki disease (KD).

Objectives: We investigated the association of serum YKL-40 levels with KD and established laboratory parameters for YKL-40 levels and other inflammatory markers.

Methods: YKL-40 levels and other inflammatory markers of 23 KD patients, 9 disease control patients and 11 age-matched healthy controls.

Results: YKL-40 concentration in the serum of KD patients significantly increased during the acute disease phase compared with those of disease controls and healthy controls.

Conclusions: Increased YKL-40 levels may provide a useful inflammatory marker for patients with KD.     

Changes in upland bird abundances show associations with moorland management

Capsule: Changes in abundance of six bird species showed associations with moorland management.

Aims: To assess responses of breeding birds to moorland management over a 14-year period.

Methods: Vegetation and birds were surveyed at 2–3-year intervals and changes examined in relation to sheep and cattle grazing, vegetation burning and cutting.

Results: Seven correlations between change in management and change in bird abundance were detected, and six between change in vegetation and change in bird abundance. On plots where sheep numbers declined, Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria and Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe declined. Where a greater area was burned, Golden Plover increased in the initial post-burning period but Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica declined. Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata and Sky Lark Alauda arvensis increased where a greater area of moorland vegetation was cut. Whinchat Saxicola rubetra declined with increasing cattle numbers on a plot.

Conclusions: Bird populations respond to changes in moorland management, but these changes are not always associated with detectable changes in vegetation. These responses of moorland breeding birds to management could help refine agri-environment options and other conservation interventions on moorland. Responses differed between bird species, ideally requiring site-specific planning where managing for multiple species is a goal.