Aims: To develop an index based on biological criteria which can be used to assess the sufficiency of protected area network coverage for national populations of individual bird species.
Methods: A Site Provision Index (SPI) was derived from data on species’ national and international distribution, population size, habitat use and site-fidelity. It was tested against the results of past UK policy and independent expert judgement.
Results: Index values were calculated for all regularly occurring UK birds for which the EU Birds Directive indicates that SPA provision should be considered. Index values and expert opinion on the percentage of populations of species expected to be found in a national network of protected areas were highly correlated. Indices also strongly correlated with existing provision of SPA protection for populations. Residuals from this regression relationship highlight objectively those species where consideration of further SPA provision may be necessary.
Conclusion: The SPI can provide a decision-support tool, through a form of gap analysis, to help identify where there is a significant difference between current protected area provision for a species and the level of provision that might be expected relative to other species with similar distribution and ecology. 相似文献
Aims: This study aims to determine whether Capercaillie vocalizations can be recognized in lek recordings, whether this can be automated using readily available software, and whether the number of calls resulting varies with location, weather conditions, date and time of day.
Methods: Unattended recording devices and semi-automated call classification software were used to record and analyse the display calls of Capercaillie at three known lek sites in Scotland over a two-week period.
Results: Capercaillie calls were successfully and rapidly identified within a data set that included the vocalizations of other bird species and environmental noise. Calls could be readily recognized to species level using a combination of unsupervised software and manual analysis. The number of calls varied by time and date, by recorder/microphone location at the lek site, and with weather conditions. This information can be used to better target future acoustic monitoring and improve the quality of existing traditional lek surveys.
Conclusion: Bioacoustic methods provide a practical and cost-effective way to determine habitat occupancy and activity levels by a vocally distinctive bird species. Following further testing alongside traditional counting methods, it could offer a significant new approach towards more effective monitoring of local population levels for Capercaillie and other species of conservation concern. 相似文献
Areas covered: Here, we review the MD literature, highlighting conserved molecular insights warranting mechanistic investigation for therapeutic potential. We also describe a workflow currently proving effective for efficient identification of biomarkers & therapeutic targets in other neurodegenerative conditions, upon which future MD proteomic investigations could be modelled.
Expert commentary: Studying disease models can be useful for identifying biomarkers and model specific degenerative cascades, but rarely offer translatable mechanistic insights into disease pathology. Conversely, direct analysis of human samples undergoing degeneration presents challenges derived from complex chronic degenerative molecular processes. This requires a carefully planed & reproducible experimental paradigm accounting for patient selection through to grouping by disease severity and ending with proteomic data filtering and processing. 相似文献
Objective: To determine whether serum miR-1165-3p can serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker for allergic asthma.
Methods: Serum miR-1165-3p was quantified via quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in asthmatic and control samples. Serum miR-1165-3p levels were compared between groups and the clinical diagnostic abilities of miR-1165-3p were evaluated. The analyses utilized included a student’s t test, one-way ANOVA, and the generation of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.
Results: Serum miRNA-1165-3p levels were significantly elevated in asthmatics when compared to the healthy controls. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity of serum miR-1165-3p were found to be 83% and 68.2%. Additionally, serum miR-1165-3p levels were also found to be significantly elevated in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) or allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA).
Conclusions: This study showed that serum miR-1165-3p can potentially be utilized as a noninvasive biomarker that is able to aid in the diagnosis and characterization of allergic asthma. 相似文献
Area covered: Azidohomoalanine (AHA), an analog of methionine, can be accepted by cellular translational machinery and incorporated into newly synthesized proteins (NSPs). AHA-NSPs can be coupled to biotin via CuAAC-mediated click-chemistry and enriched using avidin-based affinity purification. Thus, AHA-containing proteins or peptides can be enriched and efficiently separated from the whole proteome. In this review, we describe the development of mass spectrometry (MS) based AHA strategies and discuss their potential to measure proteins involved in immune response, secretome, gut microbiome, and proteostasis as well as their potential for clinical uses.
Expert commentary: AHA strategies have been used to identify synthesis activity and to compare two biological conditions in various biological model organisms. In combination with instrument development, improved sample preparation and fractionation strategies, MS-based AHA strategies have the potential for broad application, and the methods should translate into clinical use. 相似文献
Aims: We evaluated the future vulnerability of the Black Guillemot by predicting the impact of climate change on the geographic distribution of its breeding and foraging range in the Baltic Sea.
Methods: We used MaxEnt, a species distribution modelling technique, to predict the current and future breeding grounds and foraging sites.
Results: We found that although the foraging range is expected to increase in the southern Baltic Sea in future, these areas will no longer be suitable as breeding grounds due to a changing climate, creating a spatial mismatch.
Conclusion: Our predictions indicate where threats to the species may be most severe and can be used to guide conservation planning. We advocate conservation measures which integrate potential future threats and focus on breeding sites across the current and future potential geographic range of the Black Guillemot. 相似文献
Objective: Quantitation of urinary metabolites of four PAHs, selected on the basis of their significance, with reduced costs and high sensitivity.
Materials and methods: HPLC-MS/MS was used and pure standards and isotope-labeled internal analogs of the analytes. Two hundred samples were tested after enzymatic hydrolysis.
Results: Accuracy was higher than 90% and variability lower than 19%; LODs permit to measure 1-hydroxypyrene, 1 and 2-hydroxynaphthalene in all subjects, 6-hydroxynitropyrene in the 65% and 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene in the 70%.
Discussion and conclusion: The method is suitable both for occupational and for environmental studies. This is the first paper reporting urinary levels of 6-hydroxynitropyrene in European subjects, nonoccupationally exposed to nitro-PAHs. 相似文献
The methodology of recording and systematization includes the following parameters: coal deposits; climate parameters; roads; rivers; land and surrounding objects; air polluters; water polluters; and soil polluters. Methods for calculating land deformation, air polluter emissions, and noise impact are also presented.
Based on the number and specificity of analyzed data, the paper provides a concept of the IS and an overview of environmental impact of underground coal mine technological units. The concept was used to present the results of a research conducted at the underground coal mine “Soko” in Serbia.
The results of this research can help many potential users realize their goals. Those goals are preventive by nature, since negative environmental impact can be predicted, which enables the environmental protection experts to take appropriate measures. 相似文献
Aims: Here, the leafy liverwort Herbertus hutchinsiae, a representative species of oceanic-montane liverwort-rich heath, was translocated to unoccupied habitat within its current range, to establish whether its restricted distribution is due to habitat or dispersal limitation.
Methods: Feasibility of establishing new populations outside the current distribution range was assessed, to test the suitability of the species for assisted colonisation. Furthermore, transplants were grown at degraded sites where the species had declined to assess potential for restoration.
Results: Although maximal growth rates occurred within-range, transplants grew at all sites, indicating that the species could be dispersal limited; a conclusion supported by distribution modelling.
Conclusions: Assisted colonisation is thus an option for this species to overcome dispersal limitation and to track future climate space. Reinforcement of populations at degraded sites is only recommended if the pressure causing the degradation has been removed. These findings provide an evidence base for practical conservation management. 相似文献
Objective: The aim of this work was to investigate whether serum methionine and its related compounds like homocysteine, cysteine, glutathione and asymmetric dimethylarginine were changed in multiple sclerosis patients.
Materials and methods: Sulphur-containing compounds were determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection in a single run for providing more complex view on methionine metabolism and asymmetric dimetylarginine was measured by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit.
Results: Methionine and glutathione were decreased, but homocysteine, asymmetric dimethylarginine and cysteine were unchanged in patients with multiple sclerosis compared with controls.
Conclusions: Methionine and glutathione seem to be potential biomarkers for prognosis of the disease. 相似文献
Objective: In this study, we have reviewed the recent updates on the association of JNK pathway with OA.
Methods: In this review, we have explored the databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, Medline, Scopus, etc., and collected the most relevant papers of JNK signaling pathway involved in the pathogenesis and therapeutics of OA
Results: JNK has been shown by scientific studies to be activated (phosphorylated) in OA that can play a key role in the cartilage destruction. Activation of JNK causes the phosphorylation of c-Jun that causes decreased proteoglycan synthesis and enhanced production of matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13). Overproduction of MMP-13 by chondrocytes plays a central role in cartilage degeneration in OA. Thus, targeting JNK pathway might be a promising therapeutic application for the prevention and treatment of OA. A number of JNK-inhibitors have been used in vitro and in vivo studies; however, not yet been translated into human use.
Conclusions: This review study indicates that JNK pathway plays an important role in development and progression of OA, and targeting the JNK pathway might be a potential approach for the treatment of OA in future. 相似文献