Foraging behavior of three species of songbirds during stopover in southeastern Morocco during spring migration

Investigators studying the stopover ecology of migrating birds typically use the capture–recapture method to examine important parameters such as fuel deposition rates (FDR) and stopover duration. However, such studies can be constrained by the number of recaptures. An alternative method is to calculate a regression of mass over time of day, but this method may not be reliable because patterns of mass change of individual birds through the day may not reflect that of the whole population. Given the potential constraints of these methods, using them in combination with other methods, such as behavioral observations of foraging birds, may improve our understanding of the patterns of fuelling in birds at stopover sites. We observed the foraging behavior of three songbird species, including Western Bonelli's (Phylloscopus bonelli), Subalpine (Sylvia cantillans), and Willow (Phylloscopus trochilus) warblers, from 15 March to 30 April 2011 at a small oasis at the northern border of the Sahara desert in southeast Morocco. Given the location of our study site at the northern edge of the Sahara desert, birds migrating north likely needed to replenish their energy reserves at this stage of their journey. We assessed foraging effort by determining the rate (number per unit time) at which birds pecked at substrates or made aerial forays after flying insects. Peck rates were higher for Western Bonelli's Warblers than for Subalpine and Willow warblers, suggesting either species‐specific adaptations to feeding in arid environments or differences in the motivation to feed. In addition, Western Bonelli's Warblers had FDRs that were negative or close to zero and, therefore, were apparently unable to refuel successfully (i.e., increase their fuel stores) despite greater effort, possibly indicating less efficiency in obtaining food (i.e., more unsuccessful pecks). The lower peck rates of Subalpine and Willow warblers suggest either that they were less efficient at finding prey or were simply foraging at lower rates. For all three species, peck rates were lower at higher wind speeds, suggesting that wind may alter prey availability and detectability, especially of flying insects. Interactions among species‐specific migration strategies, environmental conditions, and habitat quality ultimately define the success of migration. Our results suggest that using observational data in combination with capture data may improve our understanding of these interactions at migration stopover sites.     

Hand Mycetoma: The Mycetoma Research Centre Experience and Literature Review

Mycetoma is a devastating, neglected tropical disease characterised by extensive tissue involvement resulting in destruction, deformities and disabilities in the affected patients. The hand is commonly affected by mycetoma thus compromises its functionality and hinder the patient’s daily activities of living. In this communication, we report on 533 patients with hand mycetoma managed over a period of 24 years at the Mycetoma Research Centre, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan. Eumycetoma was the commonest type of mycetoma (83.3%) encountered. Males were predominately affected (69.2%) with a sex ratio of 2.2:1. The majority of the patients (84%) were young adult below the age of 40 years old at presentation. The generality of patients (86.4%) were from the Sudan mycetoma belt. Children and adolescents (28.1%), farmers (18.2%) and workers (17.4%) were more frequently affected. The majority of patients (67.4%) had disease duration of less than 5 years at presentation. The study, did not document significant history of local trauma, familial tendency, concomitant medical diseases or other predisposing cause for mycetoma in this population. Pain (23.1%) was not a disease feature in this series and 52% of patients had past surgery for mycetoma and recurrence. The right hand was affected most (60.4%), and 64% of them had small lesion at presentation. Conventional x-ray was only helpful in patients with advanced disease and the MRI accurately determined the disease extension. Cytological smears, surgical biopsies histopathological examination and grains culture were the principal diagnostic tools for causative organisms’ identification. In the present series it was difficult to determine the treatment outcome due to high patients follow up dropout.     

Microbial interaction with and tolerance of radionuclides: underlying mechanisms and biotechnological applications

Radionuclides (RNs) generated by nuclear and civil industries are released in natural ecosystems and may have a hazardous impact on human health and the environment. RN-polluted environments harbour different microbial species that become highly tolerant of these elements through mechanisms including biosorption, biotransformation, biomineralization and intracellular accumulation. Such microbial–RN interaction processes hold biotechnological potential for the design of bioremediation strategies to deal with several contamination problems. This paper, with its multidisciplinary approach, provides a state-of-the-art review of most research endeavours aimed to elucidate how microbes deal with radionuclides and how they tolerate ionizing radiations. In addition, the most recent findings related to new biotechnological applications of microbes in the bioremediation of radionuclides and in the long-term disposal of nuclear wastes are described and discussed.