Urbanisation generates multiple trait syndromes for terrestrial animal taxa worldwide.

Cities can host significant biological diversity. Yet, urbanisation leads to the loss of habitats, species, and functional groups. Understanding how multiple taxa respond to urbanisation globally is essential to promote and conserve biodiversity in cities.

Indwelling Peritoneal Catheter for Ascites Management in a UK District General Hospital: A Cohort Study.

Background: There is no national or local guidance for management of malignancy-related ascites (MRA). Modalities can include large volume paracentesis (LVP) and indwelling peritoneal catheter (IPeC) insertion.

Objectives: We set up a local IPeC service and performed a retrospective review with local ethical (Caldicott) approval.

Ecological impacts of the LED-streetlight retrofit on insectivorous bats in Singapore.

Cities around the world are transitioning to more efficient lighting schemes, especially retrofitting traditional, high-pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights with light-emitting diode (LED) lights. Although these initiatives aim to address the problems of urban sustainability and save money, the ecological impacts of these retrofits remain poorly understood, especially in brightly lit cities and in the tropics, where urbanisation is most rapid. We performed an experimental study of the retrofit in Singapore-focusing on insectivorous bats, whose activity we monitored acoustically along paired control (HPS-lit) and treatment (LED-lit) streets.

GIST-related malignant ascites with large-volume paracentesis complicated by myocardial infarction and tumour rupture.

This paper describes a patient with an inoperable gastrointestinal stromal tumour with moderate volume malignant ascites. A large-volume paracentesis caused haemodynamic instability and a myocardial infarction. An indwelling right-sided peritoneal catheter was inserted following further ascites build-up.

Influence of urbanization on demography of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in the prairies of North America.

Background: We address three key gaps in research on urban wildlife ecology: insufficient attention to (1) grassland biomes, (2) individual- and population-level effects, and (3) vertebrates other than birds. We hypothesized that urbanization in the North American Prairies, by increasing habitat complexity (via the proliferation of vertical structures such as trees and buildings), thereby enhancing the availability of day-roosts, tree cover, and insects, would benefit synanthropic bats, resulting in increased fitness among urban individuals.

Methodology/principal Findings: Over three years, we captured more than 1,600 little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in urban and non-urban riparian sites in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Membrane lipids of mesophilic anaerobic bacteria thriving in peats have typical archaeal traits.

The 16S ribosomal DNA based distinction between the bacterial and archaeal domains of life is strongly supported by the membrane lipid composition of the two domains; Bacteria generally contain dialkyl glycerol diester lipids, whereas Archaea produce isoprenoid dialkyl glycerol diether and membrane-spanning glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids. Here we show that a new group of ecologically abundant membrane-spanning GDGT lipids, containing branched instead of isoprenoid carbon skeletons, are of a bacterial origin. This was revealed by examining the stereochemistry of the glycerol moieties of those branched tetraether membrane lipids, which was found to be the bacterial 1,2-di-O-alkyl-sn-glycerol stereoconfiguration and not the 2,3-di-O-alkyl-sn-glycerol stereoconfiguration as in archaeal membrane lipids.

Lipid biomolecules in silica sinters: indicators of microbial biodiversity.

To explore further the diversity of the microorganisms and their relationship with geothermal sinters, we examined the lipids preserved in six sinters associated with four different hot spring (58-82 degrees C) areas of the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ), New Zealand. These sinters contain microbial remains, but the process of mineralization has rendered them largely unidentifiable. Dominant lipids include free fatty acids, 1,2-diacylglycerophospholipids, 1,2-di-O-alkylglycerols, glycerol dialkylglycerol tetraethers and 1-O-alkylglycerols.