Vertebrate responses to fruit production in Amazonian flooded and unflooded forests

We document patterns of fruit and vertebrate abundance within an extensive, virtually undisturbed mosaic of seasonally flooded (várzea and igapó) and unflooded (terra firme) forests of central Amazonia. Using phenological surveys and a standardised series of line-transect censuses we investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of immature and mature fruit availability and how this may affect patterns of habitat use by vertebrates in the landscape. All habitats showed marked peaks in fruiting activity, and vertebrate detection rates varied over time for most species both within and between forest types. Many arboreal and terrestrial vertebrates used both types of flooded forest on a seasonal basis, and fluctuations in the abundance of terrestrial species in várzea forest were correlated with fruit availability. Similarly, the abundance of arboreal seed predators such as buffy saki monkeys (Pithecia albicans) and macaws (Ara spp.) were closely linked with immature fruit availability in terra firme forest. We conclude that highly heterogeneous landscapes consisting of terra firme, várzea and igapó forest appear to play an important role in the dynamics of many vertebrate species in lowland Amazonia, but the extent to which different forest types are used is highly variable in both space and time.     

Optimizing carbon storage and biodiversity protection in tropical agricultural landscapes

With the rapidly expanding ecological footprint of agriculture, the design of farmed landscapes will play an increasingly important role for both carbon storage and biodiversity protection. Carbon and biodiversity can be enhanced by integrating natural habitats into agricultural lands, but a key question is whether benefits are maximized by including many small features throughout the landscape (‘land‐sharing’ agriculture) or a few large contiguous blocks alongside intensive farmland (‘land‐sparing’ agriculture). In this study, we are the first to integrate carbon storage alongside multi‐taxa biodiversity assessments to compare land‐sparing and land‐sharing frameworks. We do so by sampling carbon stocks and biodiversity (birds and dung beetles) in landscapes containing agriculture and forest within the Colombian Chocó‐Andes, a zone of high global conservation priority. We show that woodland fragments embedded within a matrix of cattle pasture hold less carbon per unit area than contiguous primary or advanced secondary forests (>15 years). Farmland sites also support less diverse bird and dung beetle communities than contiguous forests, even when farmland retains high levels of woodland habitat cover. Landscape simulations based on these data suggest that land‐sparing strategies would be more beneficial for both carbon storage and biodiversity than land‐sharing strategies across a range of production levels. Biodiversity benefits of land‐sparing are predicted to be similar whether spared lands protect primary or advanced secondary forests, owing to the close similarity of bird and dung beetle communities between the two forest classes. Land‐sparing schemes that encourage the protection and regeneration of natural forest blocks thus provide a synergy between carbon and biodiversity conservation, and represent a promising strategy for reducing the negative impacts of agriculture on tropical ecosystems. However, further studies examining a wider range of ecosystem services will be necessary to fully understand the links between land‐allocation strategies and long‐term ecosystem service provision.     

Climate warming and land‐use changes drive broad‐scale floristic changes in Southern Sweden

Land‐use changes, pollution and climate warming during the 20th century have caused changes in biodiversity across the world. However, in many cases, the environmental drivers are poorly understood. To identify and rank the drivers currently causing broad‐scale floristic changes in N Europe, we analysed data from two vascular plant surveys of 200 randomly selected 2.5 × 2.5 km grid‐squares in Scania, southernmost Sweden, conducted 1989–2006 and 2008–2015, respectively, and related the change in frequency (performance) of the species to a wide range of species‐specific plant traits. We chose traits representing all plausible drivers of recent floristic changes: climatic change (northern distribution limit, flowering time), land‐use change (light requirement, response to grazing/mowing, response to soil disturbance), drainage (water requirement), acidification (pH optimum), nitrogen deposition and eutrophication (N requirement, N fixation ability, carnivory, parasitism, mycorrhizal associations), pollinator decline (mode of reproduction) and changes in CO₂ levels (photosynthetic pathway). Our results suggest that climate warming and changes in land‐use were the main drivers of changes in the flora during the last decades. Climate warming appeared as the most influential driver, with northern distribution limit explaining 30%–60% of the variance in the GLMM models. However, the relative importance of the drivers differed among habitat types, with grassland species being affected the most by cessation of grazing/mowing and species of ruderal habitats by on‐going concentration of both agriculture and human population to the most productive soils. For wetland species, only pH optimum was significantly related to species performance, possibly an effect of the increasing humification of acidic water bodies. An observed relative decline of mycorrhizal species may possibly be explained by decreasing nitrogen deposition resulting in less competition for phosphorus. We found no effect of shortage or decline of pollinating lepidopterans and bees.     

Evidence for one-electron transfer by the Fe protein of nitrogenase

The number of electrons transferred per molecule of the Fe protein of nitrogenase from $\text{Clostridium pasteurianum}$ was determined. The Fe protein was enzymically oxidized in the presence of MgATP and a small amount of MoFe protein, and dithionite was introduced to reduce part of the Fe protein. From the decrease in absorbance at 430 nm upon addition of dithionite and the amount of dithionite added, we conclude that one oxidized Fe protein molecule (dimer of 55,000 dalton) accepts one electron from dithionite. These calculations were based on our value of 6,600 M^?1cm^?1 for the extinction coefficient at 430 nm of the difference spectrum between oxidized and reduced Fe protein.     

Birds of Two Oceans? Trans-Andean and Divergent Migration of Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger cinerascens) from the Peruvian Amazon

Seasonal flooding compels some birds that breed in aquatic habitats in Amazonia to undertake annual migrations, yet we know little about how the complex landscape of the Amazon region is used seasonally by these species. The possibility of trans-Andes migration for Amazonian breeding birds has largely been discounted given the high geographic barrier posed by the Andean Cordillera and the desert habitat along much of the Pacific Coast. Here we demonstrate a trans-Andes route for Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger cinerascens) breeding on the Manu River (in the lowlands of Manu National Park, Perú), as well as divergent movement patterns both regionally and across the continent. Of eight skimmers tracked with satellite telemetry, three provided data on their outbound migrations, with two crossing the high Peruvian Andes to the Pacific. A third traveled over 1800 km to the southeast before transmissions ended in eastern Paraguay. One of the two trans-Andean migrants demonstrated a full round-trip migration back to its tagging location after traveling down the Pacific Coast from latitude 9° South to latitude 37° S, spending the austral summer in the Gulf of Arauco, Chile. This is the first documentation of a trans-Andes migration observed for any bird breeding in lowland Amazonia. To our knowledge, this research also documents the first example of a tropical-breeding waterbird migrating out of the tropics to spend the non-breeding season in the temperate summer, this being the reverse pattern with respect to seasonality for austral migrants in general.     

Face Recognition and Visual Search Strategies in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Amending and Extending a Recent Review by Weigelt et al.

The purpose of this review was to build upon a recent review by Weigelt et al. which examined visual search strategies and face identification between individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and typically developing peers. Seven databases, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE, ERIC, Medline, Proquest, PsychInfo and PubMed were used to locate published scientific studies matching our inclusion criteria. A total of 28 articles not included in Weigelt et al. met criteria for inclusion into this systematic review. Of these 28 studies, 16 were available and met criteria at the time of the previous review, but were mistakenly excluded; and twelve were recently published. Weigelt et al. found quantitative, but not qualitative, differences in face identification in individuals with ASD. In contrast, the current systematic review found both qualitative and quantitative differences in face identification between individuals with and without ASD. There is a large inconsistency in findings across the eye tracking and neurobiological studies reviewed. Recommendations for future research in face recognition in ASD were discussed.     

CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells Can Act Separately in Tumour Rejection after Immunization with Murine Pneumotropic Virus Chimeric Her2/neu Virus-Like Particles

Background

Immunization with murine pneumotropic virus virus-like particles carrying Her2/neu (Her2MPtVLPs) prevents tumour outgrowth in mice when given prophylactically, and therapeutically if combined with the adjuvant CpG. We investigated which components of the immune system are involved in tumour rejection, and whether long-term immunological memory can be obtained.

Methodology and Results

During the effector phase in BALB/c mice, only depletion of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ in combination, with or without NK cells, completely abrogated tumour protection. Depletion of single CD4⁺, CD8⁺ or NK cell populations only had minor effects. During the immunization/induction phase, combined depletion of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ cells abolished protection, while depletion of each individual subset had no or negligible effect. When tumour rejection was studied in knock-out mice with a C57Bl/6 background, protection was lost in CD4^−/−CD8^−/− and CD4^−/−, but not in CD8^−/− mice. In contrast, when normal C57Bl/6 mice were depleted of different cell types, protection was lost irrespective of whether only CD4⁺, only CD8⁺, or CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ cells in combination were eradicated. No anti-Her2/neu antibodies were detected but a Her2/neu-specific IFNγ response was seen. Studies of long-term memory showed that BALB/c mice could be protected against tumour development when immunized together with CpG as long as ten weeks before challenge.

Conclusion

Her2MPtVLP immunization is efficient in stimulating several compartments of the immune system, and induces an efficient immune response including long-term memory. In addition, when depleting mice of isolated cellular compartments, tumour protection is not as efficiently abolished as when depleting several immune compartments together.     

Prevalence of Night Eating in Obese and Nonobese Twins

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of night eating (NE) and associated symptoms in a population‐based sample of Swedish twins. A total of 21,741 individuals aged 20–47 years completed a questionnaire in 2005/2006. NE was defined as ≥25% of daily food intake after the evening meal and/or awakening at least once per week with eating episodes. The prevalence of NE was 4.6% in men and 3.4% in women. Among obese men and women, the prevalence was 8.4 and 7.5%, respectively. Men and women with NE had 3.4 and 3.6 times higher risk of binge eating compared to individuals without NE. The risk of sleep‐related problems was 1.6–3.4 times higher in men and 2.5–3.3 times higher in women with NE compared to those without NE. This epidemiological study has estimated the prevalence of NE in a twin population. It revealed that NE is 2.5 and 2.8 times more common in obese men and women compared to normal weight men and women. Furthermore that NE is associated with binge eating and sleep‐related problems.     

Solution structures of human and porcine beta-microseminoprotein

Beta-microseminoprotein (MSP) is a small cysteine-rich protein (molecular mass about 10 kDa) first isolated from human seminal plasma and later identified in several other organisms. The function of MSP is not known, but a recent study has shown MSP to bind CRISP-3, a protein present in neutrophilic granulocytes. The amino acid sequence is highly variable between species raising the question of the evolutionary conservation of the 3D structure. Here we present NMR solution structures of both the human and the porcine MSP. The two proteins (sequence identity 51%) have a very similar 3D structure with the secondary structure elements well conserved and with most of the amino acid substitutions causing a change of charge localized to one side of the molecule. MSP is a beta-sheet-rich protein with two distinct domains. The N-terminal domain is composed of a four-stranded beta-sheet, with the strands arranged according to the Greek key-motif, and a less structured part. The C-terminal domain contains two two-stranded beta-sheets with no resemblance to known structural motifs. The two domains, connected to each other by the peptide backbone, one disulfide bond, and interactions between the N and C termini, are oriented to give the molecule a rather extended structure. This global fold differs markedly from that of a previously published structure for porcine MSP, in which the two domains have an entirely different orientation to each other. The difference probably stems from a misinterpretation of ten specific inter-domain NOEs.