Diving is an ecologically important behaviour that provides air-breathing predators with opportunities to capture prey, but that also increases their exposure to incidental mortality (bycatch) in ...commercial fisheries. In this study, we characterised the diving behaviour of 26 individuals of three species, the black-browed albatross
Thalassarche melanophris,
grey-headed albatross
T. chrysostoma
and light-mantled albatross
Phoebetria palpebrata,
breeding at Bird Island, South Georgia. Individuals were tracked using Global Location Sensor (GLS)-immersion loggers and time-depth recorders (TDRs) and, for two species, Global Positioning System (GPS) loggers. Although the TDRs recorded 589 dives (defined in this paper as submersion > 1 m), average dive depths and durations were just 1.30–1.49 m and 2.5–3.3 s, respectively, for the three species. In addition, many individuals (22% of black-browed, 20% of grey-headed, and 57% of light-mantled albatrosses; total
n
= 9, 10 and 7 individuals, respectively) did not dive at all. Most dives occurred at the distal end of foraging trips and were rare during the commuting phase. No dives took place in darkness, despite long periods spent on water at night. The limited and shallow dive activity contrasts with impressions from a previous study using capillary-tube depth gauges (which are less accurate than TDRs) and has implications for the susceptibility of albatrosses to bycatch on longlines. This study provides further support for regulations requiring night setting and increased sink rates of baited hooks to help mitigate albatross bycatch.
Background and purpose:
A nonpsychoactive constituent of the cannabis plant, cannabidiol has been demonstrated to have low affinity for both cannabinoid CB
1
and CB
2
receptors. We have shown ...previously that cannabidiol can enhance electrically evoked contractions of the mouse vas deferens, suggestive of inverse agonism. We have also shown that cannabidiol can antagonize cannabinoid receptor agonists in this tissue with a greater potency than we would expect from its poor affinity for cannabinoid receptors. This study aimed to investigate whether these properties of cannabidiol extend to CB
1
receptors expressed in mouse brain and to human CB
2
receptors that have been transfected into CHO cells.
Experimental approach:
The
35
SGTP
γ
S binding assay was used to determine both the efficacy of cannabidiol and the ability of cannabidiol to antagonize cannabinoid receptor agonists (CP55940 and
R
‐(+)‐WIN55212) at the mouse CB
1
and the human CB
2
receptor.
Key results:
This paper reports firstly that cannabidiol displays inverse agonism at the human CB
2
receptor. Secondly, we demonstrate that cannabidiol is a high potency antagonist of cannabinoid receptor agonists in mouse brain and in membranes from CHO cells transfected with human CB
2
receptors.
Conclusions and implications:
This study has provided the first evidence that cannabidiol can display CB
2
receptor inverse agonism, an action that appears to be responsible for its antagonism of CP55940 at the human CB
2
receptor. The ability of cannabidiol to behave as a CB
2
receptor inverse agonist may contribute to its documented anti‐inflammatory properties.
British Journal of Pharmacology
(2007)
150
, 613–623. doi:
10.1038/sj.bjp.0707133
The migratory movements of seabirds (especially smaller species) remain poorly understood, despite their role as harvesters of marine ecosystems on a global scale and their potential as indicators of ...ocean health. Here we report a successful attempt, using miniature archival light loggers (geolocators), to elucidate the migratory behaviour of the Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus, a small (400 g) Northern Hemisphere breeding procellariform that undertakes a trans-equatorial, trans-Atlantic migration. We provide details of over-wintering areas, of previously unobserved marine stopover behaviour, and the long-distance movements of females during their pre-laying exodus. Using salt-water immersion data from a subset of loggers, we introduce a method of behaviour classification based on Bayesian machine learning techniques. We used both supervised and unsupervised machine learning to classify each bird's daily activity based on simple properties of the immersion data. We show that robust activity states emerge, characteristic of summer feeding, winter feeding and active migration. These can be used to classify probable behaviour throughout the annual cycle, highlighting the likely functional significance of stopovers as refuelling stages.
Neural tube defects are among the most common major congenital anomalies in the United States and may lead to a range of disabilities or death. Daily folic acid supplementation in the ...periconceptional period can prevent neural tube defects. However, most women do not receive the recommended daily intake of folate from diet alone.
To update the 2009 US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation on folic acid supplementation in women of childbearing age.
In 2009, the USPSTF reviewed the effectiveness of folic acid supplementation in women of childbearing age for the prevention of neural tube defects in infants. The current review assessed new evidence on the benefits and harms of folic acid supplementation.
The USPSTF assessed the balance of the benefits and harms of folic acid supplementation in women of childbearing age and determined that the net benefit is substantial. Evidence is adequate that the harms to the mother or infant from folic acid supplementation taken at the usual doses are no greater than small. Therefore, the USPSTF reaffirms its 2009 recommendation.
The USPSTF recommends that all women who are planning or capable of pregnancy take a daily supplement containing 0.4 to 0.8 mg (400-800 µg) of folic acid. (A recommendation).
Summary
Background
Regulated alteration of connexin expression has been shown to be integral to acute wound repair. Downregulation of the gap‐junction protein connexin 43 at the wound edge has been ...correlated with keratinocyte and fibroblast migration, while abnormal overexpression of connexin 43 significantly perturbs healing, as shown in the streptozotocin diabetic rodent impaired healing model.
Objectives
To examine the protein expression levels of connexin 43, in addition to connexins 26 and 30, in a variety of human chronic wounds.
Methods
Wound‐edge punch biopsies and a matched control from the arm were taken from a cohort of patients with venous leg, diabetic foot or pressure ulcers. Wound connexin expression in each patient was compared with that in a matched, nonwounded arm punch. Tissue was sectioned, stained and imaged by confocal microscopy using identical parameters per patient to permit quantification.
Results
Epidermal connexin 43, connexin 26 and connexin 30, and dermal connexin 43 were discovered to be strikingly upregulated in every ulcer from all three wound types, pointing to connexin upregulation as a common feature between chronic wounds.
Conclusions
This result supports efforts to target connexin 43 to promote cell migration and wound healing in chronic ulcers.
What's already known about this topic?
Connexin 43 (Cx43) protein levels are reduced at the wound edge, enabling migration of keratinocytes and fibroblasts to aid wound healing.
In wounded diabetic rats, Cx43 is elevated in the wound edge and healing is delayed.
In human diabetic epidermal wound edge, Cx43, Cx26 and Cx30 are detectable.
What does this study add?
We quantify the wound‐edge expression of Cx43, Cx26 and Cx30 in chronic venous, diabetic foot and pressure ulcers and show their tissue distribution.
Cx43 is massively upregulated in the epidermis and dermis.
Linked Comment: Martin, Br J Dermatol 2015; 173: 1123–24.
Abstract A total of 146 patients were identified from a prospective database of all hip fractures over a 10-year period at a United Kingdom teaching hospital. The financial costs were calculated and ...analysed and then compared with the money recovered through the tariff produced by Payment by Results. A total of 62% of the study group were female; mean age of 79 years; mean length of stay of 39 days. Fractures occurred around total hip replacement (THR) in 63 cases, revision THR in 27 cases and hemiarthroplasty in 56 cases. Fixation of the fracture was performed in 61 cases, revision arthroplasty in 62 cases and 23 were treated non-operatively. The mean cost of treatment was £23,469 per patient (range £615–£223,000; median £18,031). Ward costs were responsible for 80.3%, theatre costs 5.7%, implants 6.7% and investigations 7.3%. The difference in cost was statistically significant when further surgery was required ( p = 0.01) and length of stay was greater than 30 days ( p < 0.0001), and when compared with the money recovered by the Trust (mean £3702; p < 0.0001). These results reveal the significant economic impact of treating this group of patients at specialist centres.
Information on predator and prey distributions is integral to our understanding of migratory connectivity, food web dynamics and ecosystem structure. In marine systems, although large animals that ...return to land can be fitted with tracking devices, minimum instrument sizes preclude deployments on small seabirds that may nevertheless be highly abundant and hence major consumers. An increasingly popular approach is to use N and C stable isotope analysis of feathers sampled at colonies to provide information on distribution and trophic level for the preceding, and generally little-known, nonbreeding period. Despite the burgeoning of this research, there have been few attempts to verify such relationships. In this study, we demonstrate a clear correspondence between isotope ratios of feathers and nonbreeding distributions of seven species from South Georgia tracked using loggers. This generated a rudimentary isoscape that was used to infer the habitat preferences of eight other species ranging in size from storm petrels to albatrosses, and which could be applied, with caveats, in other studies. Differences in inferred distribution within and between species had major implications for relative exposure to anthropogenic threats, including climate change and fisheries. Although there were no differences in isotope values between sexes in any of the smaller petrels, mean stable C (δ¹³C), but not stable N isotope ratios (δ¹⁵N), tended to be greater in females than males of the larger, and more sexually size-dimorphic species. This indicates a difference in C source (distribution), rather than trophic level, and a correspondence between the degree of sexual size dimorphism in Procellariiformes and the level of between-sex niche segregation.
We summarise the contemporary carbon budget of South America and relate it to its dominant controls: population and economic growth, changes in land use practices and a changing atmospheric ...environment and climate. Component flux estimate methods we consider sufficiently reliable for this purpose encompass fossil fuel emission inventories, biometric analysis of old-growth rainforests, estimation of carbon release associated with deforestation based on remote sensing and inventories, and agricultural export data. Alternative methods for the estimation of the continental-scale net land to atmosphere CO2 flux, such as atmospheric transport inverse modelling and terrestrial biosphere model predictions, are, we find, hampered by the data paucity, and improved parameterisation and validation exercises are required before reliable estimates can be obtained. From our analysis of available data, we suggest that South America was a net source to the atmosphere during the 1980s (~ 0.3–0.4 Pg C a−1) and close to neutral (~ 0.1 Pg C a−1) in the 1990s. During the latter period, carbon uptake in old-growth forests nearly compensated for the carbon release associated with fossil fuel burning and deforestation. Annual mean precipitation over tropical South America as inferred from Amazon River discharge shows a long-term upward trend. Although, over the last decade dry seasons have tended to be drier, with the years 2005 and 2010 in particular experiencing strong droughts. On the other hand, precipitation during the wet seasons also shows an increasing trend. Air temperatures have also increased slightly. Also with increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, it is currently unclear what effect these climate changes are having on the forest carbon balance of the region. Current indications are that the forests of the Amazon Basin have acted as a substantial long-term carbon sink, but with the most recent measurements suggesting that this sink may be weakening. Economic development of the tropical regions of the continent is advancing steadily, with exports of agricultural products being an important driver and witnessing a strong upturn over the last decade.
The final chapter in the long-standing mystery of the gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) centres on the origin of the short-hard class of bursts, which are suspected on theoretical grounds to result from the ...coalescence of neutron-star or black-hole binary systems. Numerous searches for the afterglows of short-hard bursts have been made, galvanized by the revolution in our understanding of long-duration GRBs that followed the discovery in 1997 of their broadband (X-ray, optical and radio) afterglow emission. Here we present the discovery of the X-ray afterglow of a short-hard burst, GRB 050709, whose accurate position allows us to associate it unambiguously with a star-forming galaxy at redshift z = 0.160, and whose optical lightcurve definitively excludes a supernova association. Together with results from three other recent short-hard bursts, this suggests that short-hard bursts release much less energy than the long-duration GRBs. Models requiring young stellar populations, such as magnetars and collapsars, are ruled out, while coalescing degenerate binaries remain the most promising progenitor candidates.
Septic arthritis (SA) of the native knee joint is associated with significant morbidity. This review compared post-operative functional outcomes (patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and range ...of movement (ROM)) following arthroscopic washout (AW) and open washout (OW) amongst adult patients with SA of the native knee. The need for further operative intervention was also considered.
Electronic databases of PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science and Scopus were searched between 16 February 2023 and 18 March 2023. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and comparative observational analytic studies comparing function (reflected in PROMs or ROM) at latest follow-up following AW and OW were included. A narrative summary was provided concerning post-operative PROMs. Pooled estimates for mean ROM and re-operation rates were conducted using the random-effects model. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool-2 for RCTs and the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions tool for observational analytic studies.
Of 2580 retrieved citations, 7 articles (1 RCT and 6 cohort studies) met the inclusion criteria. Of these, five had some concerns/moderate risk of bias, and two had serious risk. There was a slight tendency for superior mean PROMs following AW compared with OW, but due to small effect sizes, this was unlikely clinically relevant. Additionally, the use of four different PROMs scales made direct comparisons impossible. AW was associated with superior ROM (mean difference 20.18° (95% CI 14.35, 26.02; p < 0.00001)), whilst there was a tendency for lower re-operation requirements following AW (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.26, 1.57, p = 0.44).
AW was associated with equivalent to superior post-operative function and lower requirement for further intervention compared with OW. Results need to be interpreted cautiously, taking into consideration the methodological and clinical heterogeneity of the included studies.
PROSPERO 2022, CRD42022364062.
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