Exotic vine invasions following cyclone disturbance in Australian Wet Tropics rainforests: A review

The Australian Wet Tropics region extends for almost 900 000 ha along the coastline of north‐east Queensland. The rainforests in this region have a rich and unique biodiversity and are World Heritage listed by UNESCO. Disturbance from tropical cyclones is a significant driver of the rainforest dynamics in this area, and when frequent or intense can facilitate the recruitment and expansion of exotic invasive species. Exotic vines are of particular concern for forest conservation as they can be highly competitive with native vegetation and may prevent forest regeneration. This literature review found evidence that fragmented forests, which are very common in the Australian Wet Tropics, are vulnerable to post‐cyclone vine invasion. In particular, although the diversity and abundance of herbaceous vines tend to decline as the canopy closes 2 years post‐cyclone disturbance, woody exotic vines and scramblers may persist for much longer or even increase in numbers. Since forest recovery in these systems is influenced by the severity and recurrence of disturbance, an increase in cyclone intensity under climate change may cause rapid changes in rainforest structure, composition and diversity, and increase exotic vine invasion. Post‐cyclone management of vines appears to require direct intervention, with manual cutting being currently the most effective method. However, there are a number of difficulties to its wide implementation in Australia, and further study on options for control is needed. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.     

The influence of different aspects of grouse moorland management on nontarget bird assemblages

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Song and brain development in canaries raised under different conditions of acoustic and social isolation over two years

Early isolation experiments indicate that male songbirds learn their songs during an early sensitive period, although later work has shown that some open-ended learners modify songs in later years. Recent isolation experiments suggest that in some species song has a stronger genetic basis than previously thought. This study raised domestic canaries under different combinations of acoustic and social isolation and followed song development into the second year. Males raised alone in acoustic isolation developed songs with normal syllables, but larger repertoires and also produced syllables with lower repetition rates when compared to controls. The smallest repertoire occurred in males raised in a peer group. Isolate males had a smaller song control nucleus HVC than controls, but there was no effect on nucleus RA or on brain weight in general. In the second year, after introduction into a large normal colony, isolate and peer group males adjusted their syllable repertoire to normal size. In particular, the isolates reduced their repertoire even though the size of HVC showed a significant increase in volume. However, songs of isolate and peer group males still differ in repetition rate and number of single syllables in the common aviary. In contrast, control males showed low syllable turnover and no significant change in repertoire size. Nor did they show any significant change in the volumes of song control nuclei. It seems that complete isolation affects only some aspects of song and brain development, and later socialization corrects some but not all of these in the second year.     

Bacteriophages: A weapon against mixed-species biofilms in the food processing environment

Mixed-species biofilms represent the most frequent actual lifestyles of microorganisms in food processing environments, and they are usually more resistant to control methods than single-species biofilms. The persistence of biofilms formed by foodborne pathogens is believed to cause serious human diseases. These challenges have encouraged researchers to search for novel, natural methods that are more effective towards mixed-species biofilms. Recently, the use of bacteriophages to control mixed-species biofilms have grown significantly in the food industry as an alternative to conventional methods. This review highlights a comprehensive introduction of mixed-species biofilms formed by foodborne pathogens and their enhanced resistance to anti-biofilm removal strategies. Additionally, several methods for controlling mixed-species biofilms briefly focused on applying bacteriophages in the food industry have also been discussed. This article concludes by suggesting that using bacteriophage, combined with other ‘green’ methods, could effectively control mixed-species biofilms in the food industry.     

Electrogenetics: Bridging synthetic biology and electronics to remotely control the behavior of mammalian designer cells

Electrogenetics, the combination of electronics and genetics, is an emerging field of mammalian synthetic biology in which electrostimulation is used to remotely program user-designed genetic elements within designer cells to generate desired outputs. Here, we describe recent advances in electro-induced therapeutic gene expression and therapeutic protein secretion in engineered mammalian cells. We also review available tools and strategies to engineer electro-sensitive therapeutic designer cells that are able to sense electrical pulses and produce appropriate clinically relevant outputs in response. We highlight current limitations facing mammalian electrogenetics and suggest potential future directions for research.     

Alterations in peripheral joint muscle force control in adults with musculoskeletal disease,injury, surgery,or arthroplasty: A systematic review and meta-analysis

PurposeTo systematically review and analyse whether musculoskeletal conditions affect peripheral joint muscle force control (i.e. magnitude and/or complexity of force fluctuations).MethodsA literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus databases (from inception-8th April 2021) for studies involving: 1) participants with musculoskeletal disease, injury, surgery, or arthroplasty in the peripheral joints of the upper/lower limb; 2) comparison with an unaffected control group or unaffected contralateral limb; and 3) measures of the magnitude and/or complexity of force fluctuations during targeted isometric contractions. The methodological quality of studies was evaluated using a modified Downs and Black Quality Index. Studies were combined using the standardized mean difference (SMD) in a random-effects model.Results14 studies (investigating 694 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. There was a significant effect of musculoskeletal conditions on peripheral joint muscle force coefficient of variation (CV; SMD = 0.19 [95 % CI 0.06, 0.32]), whereby individuals with musculoskeletal conditions exhibited greater CV than controls. Subgroup analyses revealed that CV was only greater: 1) when comparison was made between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals (rather than between affected and contralateral limbs; SMD = 0.22 [95 % CI 0.07, 0.38]); 2) for conditions of the knee (SMD = 0.29 [95 % CI 0.14, 0.44]); and 3) for ACL injury post-surgery (SMD = 0.56 [95 % CI 0.36, 0.75]).ConclusionMusculoskeletal conditions result in an increase in peripheral joint muscle force CV, with this effect dependent on study design, peripheral joint, and surgical status. The greater force CV is indicative of decreased force steadiness and could have implications for long-term tissue health/day-to-day function.     

Daphnia and Toxic Blooms of Microcystis aeruginosa in Bautzen Reservoir (GDR)

As a part of a whole-lake, long-term experiment in biomanipulation in. the hypertrophic Bautzen reservoir (G.D.R.), during three years (1984–1986) the dynamics of mouse-related LD 50 of Microcystis aeruginosa was compared with the biomass development of this blue-green and the grazing pressure exerted by Daphnia galeata. Since the three summer averages of the biomass of D. galeata revealed strong differences due to decreasing predation activity of fish from 1984 to 1986, the effects of different grazing pressure on Microcystis toxicity could be investigated under field conditions. Microcystis was nontoxic at the beginning of the growing season and developed high toxicity during its first strong biomass increase in summer in all three years. But this decrease of the LD 50 together with the first biomass increase of the season is found in quite different periods in different years (1984: August, 1985: July, 1986: June). It is obvious that the higher the mean effective filtration rate of D. galeata during summer is found the faster the toxicity of Microcystis is formed. If these observations are combined with findings of other authors, the conclusion can be drawn that the development of toxic Microcystis blooms seems to be promoted by a combination of five conditions: (1) Presence of a mixture of toxic and nontoxic Microcystis strains at the beginning of the growing season even if the portion of toxic strains is very low, (2) physical and chemical growth conditions which favour Microcystis over other phytoplankton, (3) high grazing pressure by zooplankton on edible food particles over a rather long period, (4) patchy distribution of the different Microcystis strains if nonselective filtrators such as Daphnia dominate the zooplankton, and (5) absence of defense mechanisms of Microcystis against grazing which are not coupled with toxicity (e.g. large colony size). These conclusions contribute to a better understanding of the possibilities and limits of in-lake eutrophication control by biomanipulation and emphasize the need to combine top-down and bottom-up control mechanisms in eutrophic and hypertrophic waters.     

Sacituzumab govitecan in metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC): Four design features in the ASCENT trial potentially favored the experimental arm

The ASCENT trial reports impressive results with a median overall survival (OS) increased from 6.7 months to 12.1 months with sacituzumab govitecan over single-agent chemotherapy, in metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients in second and subsequent line of therapy.We described design features in the ASCENT trial casting doubt on the extrapolation of the reported results to real world patients. First, the open-label design may exaggerate the effect of the experimental arm. Second, the choice of progression-free-survival (PFS) as a primary endpoint, debatable in metastatic TNBC, can lead to biases: early stopping rules may exaggerate efficacy results and informative censoring can bias PFS results interpretation. Third, the control arm was not a complete “physician''s choice”: it was restricted, preventing from using effective agents in this setting, and leading to a substandard control arm. Fourth and lastly, dose reduction and supportive care recommendations for the experimental drug were different between the trial protocol and the FDA labels, and favored the experimental arm as compared with the control arm.In conclusion, we described four design features in the ASCENT trial having the potential to favor the experimental arm or to penalize the control arm. It thus remains uncertain in which extent the reported outcomes will translate in the real world. Efforts should be made to avoid trial biases that will eventually prevent to conclude about their true impact in patients when applied broadly.