Caligus brevicaudatus Scott, 1901, a common but poorly known species of parasitic copepod, is redescribed from newly collected specimens of both sexes. The new material was collected from the body surface of tub gurnards, Chelidonichthys lucerna (Linnaeus), caught in eastern Mediterranean waters off the Turkish coast. Inadequately described female structures from earlier descriptions are redescribed and illustrated in detail and the male of C. brevicaudatus is described for the first time. The new material of C. brevicaudatus is compared with material collected by A. Scott and stored in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London. In addition, a voucher specimen of Caligus uranoscopi Vaissière, 1955, stored in the collections of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris is re-examined. Caligus uranoscopi is recognised as a junior subjective synonym of C. brevicaudatus since it does not differ in any substantive characters., İbrahim Demirkale, Argun Akif Özak, Geoffrey Allan Boxshall., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This paper questions the uncritical transfer of neoliberal concepts, such as financialisation and overreliance on conceptual dichotomies like formal/informal, as the lenses through which to understand practices of housing provision and consumption in the post-communist space. To this end, it introduces the newly-established ‘diverse economies’ framework, which has been used elsewhere to reveal existing and possible alternatives to advanced capitalism. Applied to the Romanian case, the lens of diverse economic practices helps shed light on the ways in which the current housing system was historically constituted, with implications for how housing consumption is now stratified across some related housing typologies. The paper invites debate on the theoretical usefulness of the diverse economies framework to study housing phenomena, particularly its implications for understanding patterns of inequality and poverty, its potential to devise useful analytical categories, and its effect of directing attention to acts of resistance to neoliberal capitalism.
Food webs are of crucial importance for understanding any ecosystem. The accuracy of food web and ecosystem models rests on the reliability of the information on the feeding habits of the species involved. Water boatmen (Corixoidea) is the most diverse superfamily of water bugs (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha), frequently the most abundant group of insects in a variety of freshwater habitats worldwide. In spite of their high biomass, the importance of water boatmen in aquatic ecosystems is frequently underestimated. The diet and feeding habits of Corixoidea are unclear as published data are frequently contradictory. We summarise information on the feeding habits of this taxon, which exemplify the difficulties in evaluating published data on feeding habits in an invertebrate taxon. It is concluded that Corixoidea are, unlike other true bugs, capable of digesting solid food, but their feeding habits are still insufficiently known. The dominant feeding strategy in this taxon is zoophagy, but several species consume other foods, particularly algae and detritus. Only members of the subfamily Cymatiainae seem to be exclusively predators. In other subfamilies, the diet of different species and different sexes or populations of a single species may vary depending on the food available or is still unknown. We conclude, that a multi-method approach is needed to elucidate the feeding habits of aquatic insects and invertebrates in general., Christian W. Hädicke, Dávid Rédei, Petr Kment., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Honey bees are not only important for honey production but also as pollinators of wild and cultivated plants. The Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana) is more resistant to several pathogens than the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera), and the genomes of two strains of the nominotypical subspecies, A. cerana cerana, northern (Korea) and southern (China) strains, have been sequenced. Apis cerana japonica, another subspecies of A. cerana, shows many specific features (e.g. mildness, low honey production and frequently absconds) and it is important to study the molecular biological and genetic aspects of these features. To accelerate the genetic research on A. cerana japonica, we sequenced the genome of this subspecies. The draft genome sequence of A. cerana japonica presented here is of high quality in terms of basic genome status (e.g. N50 is 180 kbp, total length is 211 Mbp, and largest contig length is 1.31 Mbp) and BUSCO results. The gene set of A. cerana japonica was predicted using AUGUSTUS software and the set of genes was annotated using Blastp and InterProScan, and GO terms were added to each gene. The number of genes is higher than in A. mellifera and in the two strains of A. cerana cerana sequenced previously. A small number of transposable elements and repetitive regions were found in A. cerana japonica, which are also in the genomes of A. mellifera and the northern and southern strains of A. cerana cerana. Apis cerana is resistant to several pathogens that seriously damage A. mellifera. We searched for 41 orthologs related to the IMD and Toll pathways, which have key roles in the immune reaction to invading pathogens. Some orthologs were not identified in the genome of the northern strain of A. cerana cerana. This indicates that the Toll and IMD pathways function in the same way as in A. mellifera and Drosophila melanogaster., Kakeru Yokoi, Hironobu Uchiyama, Takeshi Wakamiya, Mikio Yoshiyama, Jun-Ichi Takahashi, Tetsuro Nomura, Tsutomu Furukawa, Shunsuke Yajima, Kiyoshi Kimura., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) are used across the world to reduce livestock depredation by free-ranging predatory wildlife. In doing so, they reduce the need for lethal predator control and are considered beneficial for conservation. However, LGDs might be perceived as predators by wildlife and induce a multitude of both positive and negative ecological effects. We conducted a literature review to evaluate the ecological effects of LGDs and found 56 publications reporting LGDs interacting with or affecting wildlife. Featuring in 77% of the publications, LGDs were widely reported to chase and kill wildlife, leading to species-specific behavioural responses. A total of 80 species were affected by LGDs, 11 of which are listed as Near Threatened or higher on the IUCN Red List. Of the affected species, 78% were non-target species, suggesting that any benefits arising from the use of LGDs likely occur simultaneously with unintended ecological effects. However, the frequency of LGD-wildlife interactions and the magnitude of any resulting ecological effects have rarely been quantified. Therefore, more empirical studies are needed to determine the net ecological outcome of LGD use, thereby ensuring that negative outcomes are minimised, while benefiting both farmers and wildlife.
Herbivory on liverworts is rarely reported. We studied the effects of feeding by larvae of the sciarid fly Scatopsciara cunicularius on the growth of the thalloid liverwort Marchantia polymorpha at two different constant temperatures, 12°C and 22°C. Larvae reared at the lower temperature fed slower and over a longer period of time, which resulted in more damage and a greater reduction in the growth of the liverwort than that caused by those reared at the higher temperature. The reduction in growth of the liverwort was positively density-dependent in terms of number of larvae at both temperatures. These results indicate that the larvae of S. cunicularius are likely to be an effective means of controlling M. polymorpha, which is a common weed in plant nurseries and greenhouse cultures., Weerachon Sawangproh, Johan Ekroos, Nils Cronberg., and Obsahuje bibliografii
With the gradual increase of coal mining intensity, many coal pillars need to be left near the stope. The stability of the composite structure of coal pillars and their overlying strata determines the safety of the whole stope and the surface. This paper conducts uniaxial compression tests on coal-rock composite structures with the same lithology and the same coal-rock height ratio and finds the coal-rock composite structure’s mechanical properties and failure characteristics have greater discreteness. Combining the CT images of rock and coal, it is concluded that the main reason for the discreteness of the composite structure test results is the different crack characteristics in the rock specimen and the coal specimen. Therefore, this paper uses the PFC numerical simulation software to analyzes the influence of the crack characteristics on the mechanical properties, failure characteristics, and impact energy index of the coal-rock composite structure. The sensitivity factors are used to analyze the influence of crack angle, crack length, crack number and crack position on the peak stress, total crack number, and impact energy index of the coal-rock composite structure. The research results can provide a theoretical basis and guidance for preventing the instability and failure of the coal pillar-roof composite structure.
Key adaptations enabling mammals to cope with oxygen deficiency at high elevations relate to oxygen transfer into the blood. Among others, the efficiency of this mechanism depends on haematocrit (Hct, the volumetric fraction of red blood cells in blood). Although blood of high-elevation mammals is usually characterised by normal or slightly increased Hct, there are contradictory findings from studies along different elevational gradients. The aim of this study was to explore variability of Hct at both inter- and intraspecific levels in six rodent species from lower and higher elevations of Choke Mountain in Ethiopia. We found that Stenocephalemys sp. A from higher elevation had higher Hct than its congener Stenocephalemys albipes from lower elevation and a similar but weaker tendency was observed intraspecifically in Lophuromys simensis. Furthermore, Hct among four species occupying the high-elevation Afroalpine zone was comparable, and higher than in animals from lower elevations. Higher Hct in the three Afroalpine specialists probably contributes to local adaptations for life in high elevation environments under hypobaric hypoxia.
The average soil temperature was significantly lower in plots covered with hay. Hay mulching, however, did not increase significantly the total number of soil micro-arthropods collected using a soil pin trap and a soil sampler. Significant increases in the number of individuals was recorded only for certain groups. 64% of all the arthropods collected using soil pin traps were collected in hay-covered plots and 36% in control plots. This increase was statistically significant for the orders Entomobryomorpha and Poduromorpha of the subclass Collembola and surface-dwelling (epigeic) Coleoptera. For the samples collected using the soil sampler, 57% of the specimens were collected from hay-covered plots and 43% from control plots. As for the pin traps this was reflected in differences in the numbers of the orders Entomobrhyomorpha and Poduromorpha of the subclass Collembola and Pauropoda, collected in the treated and control plots. We conclude that mulching affected the different arthropod groups differently., Péter Dudás, László Menyhárt, Csongor Gedeon, Gergely Aambrus, Ferenc Tóth., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This study aimed to evaluate the changes in the erythropoietin
level and hematological variables in wrestlers after intermittent
hypoxic exposure (IHE). Twelve wrestlers were assigned into two
groups: hypoxia (sports training combined with IHE, n=6) and
control (sports training, n=6). An IHE was performed for
10 days, with one day off after 6 days, once a day for about
an hour. The concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2),
nitric oxide (NO), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
and erythropoietin (EPO), as well as total creatine kinase
activity (CK) were measured. Also, the hematological markers
(Hb -hemoglobin, Ht - hematocrit, RBC - red blood cell, WBC -
white blood cell, Ret - reticulocytes) were analyzed. The 6-day
IHE caused an increase in the levels of H2O2, NO and VEGF.
Similarly, the EPO level and WBC count reached the highest value
after 6 days of IHE. The total Ret number increase constantly
during 10 days of IHE. The hypoxia group showed a higher CK
activity compared to the control. In conclusion, 10-day IHE in
combination with wrestling training elevates levels of H2O2, NO
and VEGF, and improves the oxygen transport capacity by the
release of EPO and Ret in circulation.