The intensification of agriculture has resulted in changes to mowing techniques. Slow manual cutting gave wild animals time to move to safer habitat patches and left hiding places for them. With the arrival of much faster mowing machinery this is no longer the case. To date, there are few ways of measuring direct mortality of new mowing capabilities on wildlife. In our study we aimed to answer whether a search dog, previously trained to find carcasses, could be used to assess mowing mortality of various species in different vegetation types in Hungary. Working with a handler, a carcass-trained dog fitted with a GPS surveyed several habitats post-mowing. All the animal remains detected were identified and recorded. 149 killed individuals were detected on 12 land parcels studied (158.2 carcasses/100 ha). The most affected vertebrate group was the reptiles (57%), all with protected status in Hungary, followed by mammals (30%) and birds (6%). Reptiles were predominantly represented by lizards, while rodents were the most common mammals found (91% and 70%, respectively). The dog also found dead brown hares, pheasants and roe deer (11% of all carcasses), which has implications for local wildlife managers. There was no statistical difference in the density of dead individuals between grassy meadows and leguminous vegetation, or in those found in the morning or afternoon. The mortality rate was not associated with the area of the mowed field. Our findings suggest that this is a viable use of carcass detection dogs. We recommend additional work of this kind to reveal the fatal impacts of new, faster mowing practices on wildlife living in agricultural landscapes to help mitigate conservation and game management conflicts.
Even before the 2008/9-crisis, and certainly after, trends in labour markets combined with housing and mortgage market developments made it more difficult for each new cohort of young Europeans (25-34) to complete the transition to ‘residential independence’, and to homeownership in particular. Using EU-SILC-data (2005-2018), I find that young adults’ homeownership opportunities have indeed declined across Europe, but to varying extents. Furthermore, it seems that a more socially selective group of highly educated young homeowners are entering properties, and the properties they are entering are of lower quality and in locations with fewer services. I also find indications that the transition to homeownership is being pushed beyond the commonly used age-threshold of 34. Across countries, deteriorating homeownership opportunities are more strongly associated with housing and mortgage market turmoil than with the declined employment and income security of young adults. Taken together, these findings may indicate that housing market developments, such as restricted access to mortgage credit, have become a more important explanatory factor.
To examine whether exposure to sodium salicylate disrupts expression of vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3) and whether the alteration in expression corresponds to increased risk for tinnitus. Rats were treated with saline (control) or sodium salicylate (treated) Rats were examined for tinnitus by monitoring gap-pre-pulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex (GPIAS). Auditory brainstem response (ABR) was applied to evaluate hearing function after treatment. Rats were sacrificed after injection to obtain the cochlea, cochlear nucleus (CN), and inferior colliculus (IC) for examination of VGLUT3 expression. No significant differences in hearing thresholds between groups were identified (p>0.05). Tinnitus in sodium salicylate-treated rats was confirmed by GPIAS. VGLUT3 encoded by solute carrier family 17 members 8 (SLC17a8) expression was significantly increased in inner hair cells (IHCs) of the cochlea in treated animals, compared with controls (p<0.01). No significant differences in VGLUT3 expression between groups were found for the cochlear nucleus (CN) or IC (p>0.05). Exposure to sodium salicylate may disrupt SLC17a8 expression in IHCs, leading to alterations that correspond to tinnitus in rats. However, the CN and IC are unaffected by exposure to sodium salicylate, suggesting that enhancement of VGLUT3 expression in IHCs may contribute to the pathogenesis of tinnitus.
During bone development, FasL acts not only through the traditional apoptotic mechanism regulating the amount of boneresorbing osteoclasts, but there is also growing evidence about its effect on cell differentiation. Expression of osteoblastic factors was followed in non-differentiated and differentiating primary calvarial cells obtained from FasL-deficient (gld) mice. The gld cells showed decreased expression of the key osteoblastic molecules osteocalcin (Ocn), osteopontin (Opn), and alkaline phosphatase (Alpl) in both groups. Notably, receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (Rankl) was unchanged in nondifferentiated gld vs. wild type (wt) cells but decreased in differentiating gld cells. Osteoprotegerin (Opg) in the gld samples was increased in both groups. Opg vs. Rankl expression levels favored Opg in the case of non-differentiated cells but Rankl in differentiating ones. These results expand information on the involvement of FasL in non-apoptotic cell pathways related to osteoblastogenesis and consequently also osteoclastogenesis and pathologies such as osteoporosis.
If the eyes are windows into the soul, then the pupils represent at least the gateway to the brain and can provide a unique insight into the human mind from several aspects. The changes in the pupil size primarily mediated by different lighting conditions are controlled by the autonomic nervous system regulated predominantly at the subcortical level. Specifically, parasympathetically-linked pupillary constriction is under the Edinger-Westphal nucleus control and sympathetically-mediated pupillary dilation is regulated from the posterior hypothalamic nuclei. However, the changes in the pupil size can be observed at resting state even under constant lighting, these pupillary changes are mediated by global arousal level as well as by various cognitive factors. In this context, autonomic pathways modulating changes in the pupil size in response to the different light levels can be influenced by multiple central descending inputs driving pupillary changes under steady lighting conditions. Moreover, as the pupillary response is involved in emotional (task-evoked pupillary dilation as an index of emotional arousal) and cognitive (task-evoked pupillary dilation as an index of cognitive workload) stimulation, it can be used to detect the impact of mutual subcortical and cortical structures (i.e. overlapping brain structures included in autonomic, emotional and cognitive regulation) on the pupillary innervation system. Thus, complex understanding of the baseline pupil size´ and pupillary dynamics´ mechanisms may provide an important insight into the central nervous system functioning pointing to the pupillometry as a promising tool in the clinical application.
The Uluguru Mountains, which are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, is a hotspot for diversity and an important area for the conservation of biodiversity in Tanzania, but faces increasing disturbance due to anthropogenic activities leading to a high rate of forest degradation and fragmentation. Changes in habitat structure have caused significant changes in the faunal assemblage of the region. However, information on these effects in the Uluguru Mountains is currently lacking. We conducted a survey of the small rodent assemblage on the Uluguru Mountains in three different habitats: forest, fallow, and cultivated land along two elevation gradients: 900-1,400 and 1,500-2,000 m a.s.l. Additionally, we recorded the habitat structure for each transect by looking at grass cover, tree density and shrub density. Generalised linear mixed models were used to examine the effects of habitat structure on both species richness as well as abundance. Our results revealed that, even while species richness remained similar over the whole study area, the species composition significantly changed depending on habitat structure. This finding arose particularly from changes in the numbers of Praomys delectorum and Mastomys natalensis, with the latter more abundant in cultivated and fallow land but not in forest, where P. delectorum is more abundant. This outcome may indicate that an increase in forest degradation and expansion of agriculture could have an impact on rodent assemblage and potentially on their population dynamics.
Values of the calcium retention capacity (CRC) of rat liver mitochondria are highly dependent on the experimental conditions used. When increasing amounts of added calcium chloride are used (1.25-10 nmol), the values of the CRC increase 3-fold. When calcium is added in 75 s intervals, the CRC values increase by 30 % compared with 150 s interval additions. CRC values are not dependent on the calcium/protein ratio in the measured sample in our experimental design. We also show that a more detailed evaluation of the fluorescence curves can provide new information about mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening after calcium is added.
To determine the causes of the variation in the seasonal dynamics of Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) in Central Europe, numbers of adults and larvae of this invasive species were recorded on trees (Acer, Betula, Tilia) throughout the growing seasons from 2011 to 2016. Each year beetles were collected every two weeks, using a standardized sweeping method. The seasonal dynamics was expressed as plots of abundance (number of individuals per 100 sweeps) against time (Julian day) and these plots (seasonal profi les) were compared in terms of their size (area under the seasonal profi le curve), range, timing and height of the mode (maximum abundance). Timing and size of seasonal profi les varied among hostplants, years and sites. Abundance of larvae paralleled aphid occurrence and peak abundance of adults followed that of larvae 10 to 20 days later. Population dynamics before and after the peak were determined by dispersal. Adults arrived at sites before the start of aphid population growth and persisted there long after aphid populations collapsed. The abundance of H. axyridis decreased from 2011 to 2013 and then increased, achieving the previous levels recorded in 2015 and 2016. The variation in seasonal profi les revealed that H. axyridis, in terms of its response to environmental conditions, is a plastic species and this fl exibility is an important factor in its invasive success.
Small rodents are increasingly gaining importance as agricultural pests, with their distribution and abundance known to vary across landscapes. This study aimed at identifying ecological factors in the landscape that may influence small rodent distribution and abundance across agricultural landscapes in Uganda. This information may be used to inform the development of adaptive control measures for small rodent pests. Small rodent trapping surveys were conducted in three agro-ecosystem landscapes: Butaleja, Mayuge and Bulambuli districts in Eastern Uganda between November 2017 to June 2018 covering both dry and wet seasons. Data on small rodent abundance and richness, vegetation characteristics, land use/cover characteristics, farm management practices and soil characteristics were collected from quadrats. Additionally, Geographic Information System and remote sensing were used to determine vegetation characteristics (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index – NDVI) and land use/cover from satellite images. and Our results showed that crop field state (including hygiene, crop type and growth stage) is the most important variable with an overall relative importance of 34.4% prediction value for the abundance of Mastomys natalensis across the landscape studied. In terms of number of species encountered (species richness), results showed field crop status scoring highest with an overall relative importance of 39.8% at predicting small rodent species richness. Second in importance for overall rodent abundance was percentage composition soil silt particles with 15.6% and 18.1% for species richness and abundance respectively. Our findings have important implications for small rodent management, where land use characteristics, especially field crop state, is a critical factor as different conditions tend to affect rodent abundances differently. The study thus recommends that control efforts should be planned to consider field crop state; i.e. field hygiene where fields should be kept free of weeds to eliminate potential rodent breeding/habitation sites thus lowering rates of reproduction and population increase.
Until recently, the Canadian distribution of the blueberry maggot, Rhagoletis mendax Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), was restricted to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. The insect was first mentioned in southern Quebec in 1996 and, to date, it has not reached the Lac St-Jean region, where 34% of Canadian blueberry acreage is located. Two questions concerning the northern limit of distribution of the blueberry maggot in Quebec were addressed. First, are wild plants suitable hosts for larval development? We collected the fruit of five wild plants, (e.g. Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium angustifolium, Vaccinium myrtilloides, Gaylussacia baccata, and Aronia melanocarpa) growing in southern Quebec and allowed larvae to complete their development into pupae. Blueberry maggot pupae were recovered from Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium angustifolium, and Gaylussacia baccata, indicating that these plants are suitable for larval development. Second, are harsh winter temperatures a factor limiting the northern distribution of the blueberry maggot? Pupae collected in Quebec and Nova Scotia were put in the soil in the fall and were brought back to the laboratory to determine their supercooling points at different times during winter. The supercooling points of pupae collected in Quebec and Nova Scotia averaged -22.6°C. In natural conditions, air temperatures <-20°C are frequently observed in Quebec in January, February and March. However, due to snow cover, soil temperatures are rarely <-12°C. If -22.6°C constitutes the lower limit for the survival, then winter temperatures are probably not a limiting factor to its northern distribution in Quebec, because blueberry maggot pupae overwinter in the soil., Charles Vincent, Pierre Lemoyne, Sonia Gaul, Kenna Mackenzie., and Obsahuje bibliografii