The role of peripheral nerve stimulation in refractory non-operative chronic knee osteoarthritis.

This case series aimed to analyze the efficacy of a temporary peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) device implanted for 60 days at 60 days post-explant for patients with non-surgical osteoarthritic knee pain. 19 patients were selected for treatment with temporary PNS at an outpatient pain management clinic. Patients demonstrated improvement in their knee pain from baseline post-temporary PNS explant (p = 0.

Ant Communities and Ecosystem Services in Organic Versus Conventional Agriculture in the U.S. Corn Belt.

Reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides can limit negative impacts of agriculture on insects and is a crucial step towards sustainable agriculture. In the United States, organic agriculture has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, pollutant runoff, and biodiversity loss in the Midwestern Corn Belt-an area extending over 500,000 km2 devoted to intensive production of corn Zea mays (Linnaeus 1753) (Poales: Poaceae), often in rotation with soy Glycine max (Linnaeus 1753) (Fabales: Fabaceae) or wheat Triticum aestivum (Linnaeus 1753) (Poales: Poaceae). Working in 30-yr-long landscape experiments in this region, we tested for impacts of conventional versus organic agriculture on ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and potential ecosystem services they provide.

How long do population level field experiments need to be? Utilising data from the 40-year-old LTER network.

We utilise the wealth of data accessible through the 40-year-old Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network to ask if aspects of the study environment or taxa alter the duration of research necessary to detect consistent results. To do this, we use a moving-window algorithm. We limit our analysis to long-term (> 10 year) press experiments recording organismal abundance.

Bioenergy landscapes drive trophic shifts in generalist ants.

Changes in trophic niche-the pathways through which an organism obtains energy and nutrients-are a fundamental way in which organisms respond to environmental conditions. But the capacity for species to alter their trophic niches in response to global change, and the ways they do so when able, remain largely unknown. Here we examine food webs in three long-term and large-scale experiments to test how resource availability and nutritional requirements interact to determine an organism's trophic niche in the context of one of the largest global trends in land use-the rise in bioenergy production.

Predator foraging altitudes reveal the structure of aerial insect communities.

The atmosphere is populated by a diverse array of dispersing insects and their predators. We studied aerial insect communities by tracking the foraging altitudes of an avian insectivore, the Purple Martin (Progne subis). By attaching altitude loggers to nesting Purple Martins and collecting prey delivered to their nestlings, we determined the flight altitudes of ants and other insects.

Are invasive fire ants kept in check by native aerial insectivores?

Aerial predator-prey interactions may impact populations of many terrestrial species. Here, we use altitude loggers to study aerial foraging in a native insectivore, the purple martin (Progne subis), in the southern USA. Purple martins fed primarily on mating queens and males of the invasive red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), and doubled their foraging efficiency by doing so.

Dispersal Polymorphisms in Invasive Fire Ants.

In the Found or Fly (FoF) hypothesis ant queens experience reproduction-dispersal tradeoffs such that queens with heavier abdomens are better at founding colonies but are worse flyers. We tested predictions of FoF in two globally invasive fire ants, Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius, 1804) and S. invicta (Buren, 1972).