The microbiome shapes many host traits, yet the biology of microbiomes challenges traditional evolutionary models. Here, we illustrate how integrating the microbiome into quantitative genetics can ...help untangle complexities of host-microbiome evolution. We describe two general ways in which the microbiome may affect host evolutionary potential: by shifting the mean host phenotype and by changing the variance in host phenotype in the population. We synthesize the literature across diverse taxa and discuss how these scenarios could shape the host response to selection. We conclude by outlining key avenues of research to improve our understanding of the complex interplay between hosts and microbiomes.
The history of ferrites comes from many centuries and was fundamental in many fields. Initially, ferrites were extracted directly from nature, but in the last century, scientists learned to produce ...ferrites with different properties that gave origin to many advances in industrial and instrumental applications. More recently, the designed preparation of ferrites with nanometric size revealed remarkable characteristics. In the last years, different spinel ferrites were used as electroactive layers to build high-performance modified electrodes. In this review, it is presented a critical overview of the utilization of spinel ferrites (with a general formula MFe2O4, where M2+ = Mg2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Mn2+ and Zn2+) to create differentiated voltammetric sensors. The association of these materials with graphene, glassy carbon, carbon nitride, ionic liquids, nanoparticles of noble metals, oxides of transition metals and other materials can produce notable synergic responses towards electrochemical activity. Some of these sensors can produce very sensitive signals and ample concentration ranges for compounds such hydrogen peroxide, glucose and bisphenol A, and present potential for many other applications. Along this review, all these aspects will be discussed and the main results are organized in tables, using as a base the metal associated with the ferrite.
•We review the contributions of MFe2O4 materials to obtain enhanced electrochemical sensors.•We present and compare the main strategies to develop MFe2O4-based electrochemical sensors.•The main preparation methods in the design of MFe2O4 materials and electrode modification.•Quo Vadis: The top 10 materials for the main target species (glucose, H2O2 and bisphenol A).•Recent trends and perspectives on electrochemical sensors based on MFe2O4.
•Individual behavior is integral to the organization of ecological systems.•Automated image-based tracking offers novel opportunities to study behavior.•Tracking data allows linking individual to ...higher-level ecological processes.•A diverse range of taxa have now been tracked in a variety of habitats.•Automated image-based tracking has an important role in ecology.
The behavior of individuals determines the strength and outcome of ecological interactions, which drive population, community, and ecosystem organization. Bio-logging, such as telemetry and animal-borne imaging, provides essential individual viewpoints, tracks, and life histories, but requires capture of individuals and is often impractical to scale. Recent developments in automated image-based tracking offers opportunities to remotely quantify and understand individual behavior at scales and resolutions not previously possible, providing an essential supplement to other tracking methodologies in ecology. Automated image-based tracking should continue to advance the field of ecology by enabling better understanding of the linkages between individual and higher-level ecological processes, via high-throughput quantitative analysis of complex ecological patterns and processes across scales, including analysis of environmental drivers.
On a daily basis, large-scale disruptions require infrastructure managers and railway operators to reschedule their railway timetables together with their rolling stock and crew schedules. This ...research focuses on timetable rescheduling for passenger train services on a macroscopic level in a railway network. An integer linear programming model is formulated for solving the timetable rescheduling problem, which minimizes the number of cancelled and delayed train services while adhering to infrastructure and rolling stock capacity constraints. The possibility of rerouting train services to reduce the number of cancelled and delayed train services is also considered. In addition, all stages of the disruption management process (from the start of the disruption to the time the normal situation is restored) are taken into account. Computational tests of the described model on a heavily used part of the Dutch railway network show that the model is able to find optimal solutions in short computation times. This makes the approach applicable for use in practice.
Soils are losing increasing amounts of carbon annually to freshwaters as dissolved organic matter (DOM), which, if degraded, can offset their carbon sink capacity. However, the processes underlying ...DOM degradation across environments are poorly understood. Here we show DOM changes similarly along soil-aquatic gradients irrespective of environmental differences. Using ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry, we track DOM along soil depths and hillslope positions in forest catchments and relate its composition to soil microbiomes and physico-chemical conditions. Along depths and hillslopes, we find carbohydrate-like and unsaturated hydrocarbon-like compounds increase in abundance-weighted mass, and the expression of genes essential for degrading plant-derived carbohydrates explains >50% of the variation in abundance of these compounds. These results suggest that microbes transform plant-derived compounds, leaving DOM to become increasingly dominated by the same (i.e., universal), difficult-to-degrade compounds as degradation proceeds. By synthesising data from the land-to-ocean continuum, we suggest these processes generalise across ecosystems and spatiotemporal scales. Such general degradation patterns can help predict DOM composition and reactivity along environmental gradients to inform management of soil-to-stream carbon losses.
Understanding how communities respond to perturbations requires us to consider not only changes in the abundance of individual species but also correlated changes that can emerge through ...interspecific effects. However, our knowledge of this phenomenon is mostly constrained to situations where interspecific effects are fixed. Here, we introduce a framework to disentangle the impact of species correlated responses on community sensitivity to perturbations when interspecific effects change over time due to cyclic or chaotic population dynamics. We partition the volume expansion rate of perturbed abundances (community sensitivity) into contributions of individual species and of species correlated responses by converting the time‐varying Jacobian matrix containing interspecific effects into a time‐varying covariance matrix. Using population dynamics models, we demonstrate that species correlated responses change considerably across time and continuously alternate between reducing and having no impact on community sensitivity. Importantly, these alternating impacts depend on the abundance of particular species and can be detected even from noisy time series. We showcase our framework using two experimental predator–prey time series and find that the impact of species correlated responses is modulated by prey abundance—as theoretically expected. Our results provide new insights into how and when species interactions can dampen community sensitivity when abundances fluctuate over time.
Here, we investigated the biocompatibility of a bioactive sodium calcium silicate glass containing 2.6 mol% Nb2O5 (denoted BGPN2.6) and compare the results with the archetypal 45S5 bioglass. The ...glass bioactivity was tested using a range of in vitro and in vivo experiments to assess its suitability for bone regeneration applications. in vitro studies consisted of assessing the cytocompatibility of the BGPN2.6 glass with bone‐marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM‐MSCs). Systemic biocompatibility was verified by means of the quantification of biochemical markers and histopathology of liver, kidneys, and muscles. The glass genotoxicity was assessed using the micronucleus test. The regeneration of a calvarial defect was assessed using both qualitative and quantitative analysis of three‐dimensional microcomputed tomography images. The BGPN2.6 glass was not cytotoxic to BM‐MSCs. It is systemically biocompatible causing no signs of damage to high metabolic and excretory organs such as the liver and kidneys. No mutagenic potential was observed in the micronucleus test. MicroCT images showed that BGPN2.6 was able to nearly fully regenerate a critical‐sized calvarial defect and was far superior to standard 45S5 Bioglass. Defects filled with BGPN2.6 glass showed over 90% coverage compare to just 66% for 45S5 Bioglass. For one animal the defect was completely filled in 8 weeks. These results clearly show that Nb‐containing bioactive glasses are a safe and effective biomaterial for bone replacement.
Elephants have been structuring woodlands along the Chobe Riverfront, changing them to shrublands. Along with the loss of woodland cover, impala populations seem to be increasing along the Chobe ...Riverfront. We tested the prediction that elephant‐induced loss in woodland cover has increased preferred habitats for impalas along the Chobe Riverfront. We found that home range sizes of impala breeding herds did not differ among seasons at all spatial scales. Impala breeding herds were more selective at broader spatial scales than finer spatial scales in all seasons. Impala breeding herds selected shrublands more than the other habitats throughout the year. The Baikiaea woodland and the riparian woodland were the most avoided habitats, with mixed combretum shrublands and relationships between habitat selectivity and group size, inter‐herd encounter and habitat fidelity. The results of our study suggest that impala breeding herds used elephant‐transformed habitats throughout the year. Season did not influence habitat selectivity, suggesting that the preferred habitat had higher required resources relative to the other habitats throughout the year.
Résumé
Les éléphants ont structuré les zones boisées le long de la rive du fleuve Chobe, les transformant en zones arbustives. Parallèlement à la perte de la couverture boisée, les populations d'impalas semblent augmenter le long de la rive du fleuve Chobe. Nous avons testé la prédiction selon laquelle la perte de couverture boisée induite par les éléphants a augmenté les habitats préférés des impalas le long de la rive du fleuve Chobe. Nous avons constaté que la taille des domaines vitaux des troupeaux d'impalas reproducteurs ne différait pas d'une saison à l'autre à toutes les échelles spatiales. Les troupeaux reproducteurs d'impalas étaient plus sélectifs à des échelles spatiales plus larges qu'à des échelles spatiales plus fines, quelle que soit la saison. Les troupeaux reproducteurs d'impalas sélectionnaient les zones arbustives plus que les autres habitats tout au long de l'année. La zone boisée de Baikiaea et les bois riverains étaient les habitats les plus évités, avec les fruticée mixtes de combretum et les relations entre la sélectivité de l'habitat et la taille du groupe, les rencontres entre les troupeaux et la fidélité à l'habitat. Les résultats de notre étude suggèrent que les troupeaux reproducteurs d'impalas utilisent les habitats transformés par les éléphants tout au long de l'année. Les saisons n'ont pas influencé la sélectivité de l'habitat, ce qui suggère que l'habitat préféré avait des ressources requises plus élevées par rapport aux autres habitats tout au long de l'année.
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) allow a user to interact with a computer system using thought. However, only recently have devices capable of providing sophisticated multi-dimensional control been ...achieved non-invasively. A major goal for non-invasive BCI systems has been to provide continuous, intuitive, and accurate control, while retaining a high level of user autonomy. By employing electroencephalography (EEG) to record and decode sensorimotor rhythms (SMRs) induced from motor imaginations, a consistent, user-specific control signal may be characterized. Utilizing a novel method of interactive and continuous control, we trained three normal subjects to modulate their SMRs to achieve three-dimensional movement of a virtual helicopter that is fast, accurate, and continuous. In this system, the virtual helicopter's forward-backward translation and elevation controls were actuated through the modulation of sensorimotor rhythms that were converted to forces applied to the virtual helicopter at every simulation time step, and the helicopter's angle of left or right rotation was linearly mapped, with higher resolution, from sensorimotor rhythms associated with other motor imaginations. These different resolutions of control allow for interplay between general intent actuation and fine control as is seen in the gross and fine movements of the arm and hand. Subjects controlled the helicopter with the goal of flying through rings (targets) randomly positioned and oriented in a three-dimensional space. The subjects flew through rings continuously, acquiring as many as 11 consecutive rings within a five-minute period. In total, the study group successfully acquired over 85% of presented targets. These results affirm the effective, three-dimensional control of our motor imagery based BCI system, and suggest its potential applications in biological navigation, neuroprosthetics, and other applications.
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