Outmigration pathways of stocked juvenile European sturgeon (Acipenser sturio L., 1758) in the Lower Rhine River,as revealed by telemetry

Working towards a future Rhine Sturgeon Action Plan the outmigration pathways of stocked juvenile European sturgeon (Acipenser sturio L., 1758) were studied in the River Rhine in 2012 and 2015 using the NEDAP Trail system. A total of 87 sturgeon of 3 to 5 years old (n = 43 in 2012, n = 44 in 2015) were implanted with transponders and released in May and June in the river Rhine at the Dutch‐German border, approximately 160 km from the sea. In total three sturgeons (3%) were found dead on river banks within seven days after the release. Based upon their wounds these sturgeons were likely hit by ship‐propellers. Tracking results were obtained from 57 (66%) of the sturgeons, of which 39 (45%) indicated movement into the Port of Rotterdam. Here the sturgeons remained for an average of two weeks, which suggests they spent time to acclimatize to higher salinities before entering the North Sea. Of the 45 (52%) sturgeons that were confirmed to have entered the North Sea, ten (22%) were recaptured (mainly by shrimpers and gill‐nets) close to the Dutch coastline; nine were alive and were released. From the results we obtained the preferred outmigration pathways, movement speeds and an indication of impacting factors (i.e. ship propellers and bycatch). Bycatches provided also localisations information in the coastal area. A next step to complete this work would be to assess habitat selection in freshwater and downstream migration of young of the year (YOY sturgeons) in the Lower Rhine.     

School performance in Danish children exposed to maternal type 1 diabetes in utero: A nationwide retrospective cohort study

BackgroundConflicting results have been reported concerning possible adverse effects on the cognitive function of offspring of mothers with type 1 diabetes (O-mT1D). Previous studies have included offspring of parents from the background population (O-BP), but not offspring of fathers with type 1 diabetes (O-fT1D) as the unexposed reference group.Methods and findingsThis is a population-based retrospective cohort study from 2010 to 2016. Nationally standardized school test scores (range, 1 to 100) were obtained for public school grades 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 in O-mT1D and compared with those in O-fT1D and O-BP. Of the 622,073 included children, 2,144 were O-mT1D, and 3,474 were O-fT1D. Multiple linear regression models were used to compare outcomes, including the covariates offspring with type 1 diabetes, parity, number of siblings, offspring sex, smoking during pregnancy, parental age, and socioeconomic factors. Mean test scores were 54.2 (standard deviation, SD 24.8) in O-mT1D, 54.4 (SD 24.8) in O-fT1D, and 56.4 (SD 24.7) in O-BP. In adjusted analyses, the mean differences in test scores were −1.59 (95% CI −2.48 to −0.71, p < 0.001) between O-mT1D and O-BP and −0.78 (95% CI −1.48 to −0.08, p = 0.03) between O-fT1D and O-BP. No significant difference in the adjusted mean test scores was found between O-mT1D and O-fT1D (p = 0.16). The study’s limitation was no access to measures of glycemic control during pregnancy.ConclusionsO-mT1D achieved lower test scores than O-BP but similar test scores compared with O-fT1D. Glycemic control during pregnancy is essential to prevent various adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with type 1 diabetes. However, the present study reduces previous concerns regarding adverse effects of in utero hyperglycemia on offspring cognitive function.

Anne Lærke Spangmose and colleagues examine the association between school performance and exposure to maternal or paternal type 1 diabetes in utero in Denmark.     

Browsing herbivores improve the state and functioning of savannas: A model assessment of alternative land‐use strategies

Changing climatic conditions and unsustainable land use are major threats to savannas worldwide. Historically, many African savannas were used intensively for livestock grazing, which contributed to widespread patterns of bush encroachment across savanna systems. To reverse bush encroachment, it has been proposed to change the cattle‐dominated land use to one dominated by comparatively specialized browsers and usually native herbivores. However, the consequences for ecosystem properties and processes remain largely unclear. We used the ecohydrological, spatially explicit model EcoHyD to assess the impacts of two contrasting, herbivore land‐use strategies on a Namibian savanna: grazer‐ versus browser‐dominated herbivore communities. We varied the densities of grazers and browsers and determined the resulting composition and diversity of the plant community, total vegetation cover, soil moisture, and water use by plants. Our results showed that plant types that are less palatable to herbivores were best adapted to grazing or browsing animals in all simulated densities. Also, plant types that had a competitive advantage under limited water availability were among the dominant ones irrespective of land‐use scenario. Overall, the results were in line with our expectations: under high grazer densities, we found heavy bush encroachment and the loss of the perennial grass matrix. Importantly, regardless of the density of browsers, grass cover and plant functional diversity were significantly higher in browsing scenarios. Browsing herbivores increased grass cover, and the higher total cover in turn improved water uptake by plants overall. We concluded that, in contrast to grazing‐dominated land‐use strategies, land‐use strategies dominated by browsing herbivores, even at high herbivore densities, sustain diverse vegetation communities with high cover of perennial grasses, resulting in lower erosion risk and bolstering ecosystem services.     

DNA mini‐barcodes in taxonomic assignment: a morphologically unique new homoneurous moth clade from the Indian Himalayas described in Micropterix (Lepidoptera,Micropterigidae)

Lees, D. C., Rougerie, R., Zeller‐Lukashort, C. & Kristensen, N. P. (2010). DNA mini‐barcodes in taxonomic assignment: a morphologically unique new homoneurous moth clade from the Indian Himalayas described in Micropterix (Lepidoptera, Micropterigidae). —Zoologica Scripta, 39, 642–661. The first micropterigid moths recorded from the Himalayas, Micropterix cornuella sp. n. and Micropterix longicornuella sp. n. (collected, respectively, in 1935 in the Arunachel Pradesh Province and in 1874 in Darjeeling, both Northeastern India) constitute a new clade, which is unique within the family because of striking specializations of the female postabdomen: tergum VIII ventral plate forming a continuous sclerotized ring, segment IX bearing a pair of strongly sclerotized lateroventral plates, each with a prominent horn‐like posterior process. Fore wing vein R unforked, all Rs veins preapical; hind wing devoid of a discrete vein R. The combination of the two first‐mentioned vein characters suggests close affinity to the large Palearctic genus Micropterix (to some species of which the members of the new clade bear strong superficial resemblance). Whilst absence of the hind wing R is unknown in that genus, this specialization is not incompatible with the new clade being subordinate within it. A 136‐bp fragment of Cytochrome oxidase I successfully amplified from both of the 75‐year‐old specimens strongly supports this generic assignment. Translated to amino acids, this DNA fragment is highly diagnostic of this genus, being identical to that of most (16 of the 26) Micropterix species studied comparatively here, 1–4 codons different from nine other species (including Micropterix wockei that in phylogenetic analyses we infer to be sister to other examined species), whilst 7–15 codons different to other amphiesmenopteran genera examined here. A dating analysis also suggests that the large clade excluding M. wockei to which M. cornuella belongs appeared <31 million years ago. These findings encourage discovery of a significant radiation of Micropterix in the Himalayan region. Our analysis has more general implications for testing the assignment of DNA mini‐barcodes to a taxon, in cases such as museum specimens where the full DNA barcode cannot be recovered.     

Changes in EEG Power Spectra During Biofeedback of Slow Cortical Potentials in Epilepsy

The goal of the study was to explore parallel changes in EEG spectral frequencies during biofeedback of slow cortical potentials (SCPs) in epilepsy patients. Thirty-four patients with intractable focal epilepsy participated in 35 sessions of SCP self-regulation training. The spectral analysis was carried out for the EEG recorded at the same electrode site (Cz) that was used for SCP feedback. The most prominent effect was the increase in the 2 power (6.0–7.9 Hz) and the relative power decrement in all other frequency bands (particularly 1, 2, and 2) in transfer trials (i.e., where patients controlled their SCPs without continuous feedback) compared with feedback trials. In the second half of the training course (i.e., sessions 21–35) larger power values in the , , and bands were found when patients were required to produce positive versus negative SCP shifts. Both across-subject and across-session (within-subject) correlations between spectral EEG parameters, on the one hand, and SCP data, on the other hand, were low and inconsistent, contrary to high and stable correlations between different spectral variables. This fact, as well as the lack of considerable task-dependent effects during the first part of training, indicates that learned SCP shifts did not directly lead to the specific dynamics of the EEG power spectra. Rather, these dynamics were related to nonspecific changes in patients' brain state.     

Semilunar courtship rhythm of the fiddler crab<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Uca lactea</Emphasis> in a habitat with great tidal variation

Semilunar courtship rhythm is a widely distributed phenomenon among fiddler crabs in the genus Uca (Decapoda, Ocypodidae). Typically, synchronous courtship has been reported to peak near spring tides. To determine whether a region of large tidal variation shifts reproductive activity, we measured the frequency of specific courtship behaviors including claw-waving and semidome building for U. lactea males on Kanghwa Island, Korea. We found that synchronized courtship for U. lactea peaked near neap tides, whereas near the spring tides, seawater flooded the habitat and males predominantly fed on the mudflat. Although active females, which hold their burrows and usually feed on the mudflat, are abundant near to spring tides, males rarely claw-waved to attract females. This pattern is atypical for the species because other populations of U. lactea on Japan and Taiwan are synchronous around spring tides. We suggest that males invest most of their time in feeding during spring tides because foraging is limited during neap tides. During neap tides, males feed infrequently and thus expend stored energy on courtship signals. We conclude that patterns of reproductive synchrony may be dependent on food availability in periodically changing environments.     

Fkbp8: novel isoforms, genomic organization, and characterization of a forebrain promoter in transgenic mice

The immunophilin homolog FKBP8 has been implicated in the regulation of apoptosis. Here we show that the 38-kDa form of FKBP8 (FKBP38) derives from a truncated ORF. The extended FKBP8 ORFs are 46 and 44 kDa in mouse and 45 kDa in human. Although the genomic organization of mouse and human FKBP8 is evolutionarily conserved, additional first exons are encoded by the murine locus. A 4.4-kb murine Fkbp8 gene fragment, containing a GC-rich potential promoter, directed expression of a LacZ reporter gene to forebrain neurons in transgenic mice. Expression of the transgene was observed in CA1 pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus in transgenic mice from three lines. One transgenic founder mouse exhibited widespread forebrain expression of the LacZ transgene that resembles the pattern for the endogenous Fkbp8 gene. Thus promoter/enhancer elements for forebrain expression are located around the first exons of the mouse Fkbp8 gene.     

Cerebral carbohydrate cost of physical exertion in humans

Above a certain level of cerebral activation the brain increases its uptake of glucose more than that of O(2), i.e., the cerebral metabolic ratio of O(2)/(glucose + 12 lactate) decreases. This study quantified such surplus brain uptake of carbohydrate relative to O(2) in eight healthy males who performed exhaustive exercise. The arterial-venous differences over the brain for O(2), glucose, and lactate were integrated to calculate the surplus cerebral uptake of glucose equivalents. To evaluate whether the amount of glucose equivalents depends on the time to exhaustion, exercise was also performed with beta(1)-adrenergic blockade by metoprolol. Exhaustive exercise (24.8 +/- 6.1 min; mean +/- SE) decreased the cerebral metabolic ratio from a resting value of 5.6 +/- 0.2 to 3.0 +/- 0.4 (P < 0.05) and led to a surplus uptake of glucose equivalents of 9 +/- 2 mmol. beta(1)-blockade reduced the time to exhaustion (15.8 +/- 1.7 min; P < 0.05), whereas the cerebral metabolic ratio decreased to an equally low level (3.2 +/- 0.3) and the surplus uptake of glucose equivalents was not significantly different (7 +/- 1 mmol; P = 0.08). A time-dependent cerebral surplus uptake of carbohydrate was not substantiated and, consequently, exhaustive exercise involves a brain surplus carbohydrate uptake of a magnitude comparable with its glycogen content.     

Dosimetric analysis of the carousel setup for the exposure of rats at 1.62 GHz

The so-called carousel setup has been widely utilized for testing the hypotheses of adverse health effects on the central nervous system (CNS) due to mobile phone exposures in the frequency bands 800-900 MHz. The objectives of this article were to analyze the suitability of the setup for the upper mobile frequency range, i.e., 1.4-2 GHz, and to conduct a detailed experimental and numerical dosimetry for the setup at the IRIDIUM frequency band of 1.62 GHz. The setup consists of a plastic base on which ten rats, restrained in radially positioned tubes, are exposed to the electromagnetic field emanating from a sleeved dipole antenna at the center. Latest generation miniaturized dosimetric E field and temperature probes were used to measure the specific absorption rate (SAR) inside the brain of three rat cadavers of the Lewis strain and two rat cadavers of the Fisher 344 strain. A numerical analysis was conducted on the basis of three numerical rat phantoms with voxel sizes between 1.5 and 0.125 mm3 that are based on high resolution MRI scans of a 300 g male Wistar rat and a 370 g male Sprague-Dawley rat. The average of the assessed SAR values in the brain was 2.8 mW/g per W antenna input power for adult rats with masses between 220 and 350 g and 5.3 mW/g per W antenna input power for a juvenile rat with a mass of 95 g. The strong increase of the SAR in the brain with decreasing animal size was verified by simulations of the absorption in numerical phantoms scaled to sizes between 100 and 500 g with three different scaling methods. The study also demonstrated that current rat phantom models do not provide sufficient spatial resolution to perform absolute SAR assessment for the brain tissue. The variation of the SAR(brain)(av) due to changes in position was assessed to be in the range from +15% to -30%. A study on the dependence of the performance of the carousel setup on the frequency revealed that efficiency, defined as SAR(brain)(av) per W antenna input power, and the ratio between SAR(brain)(av) and SAR(body)(av) are optimal in the mobile communications frequency range, i.e., 0.8-3 GHz.